First Trailer for THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR

"Just remember all the good the purge does." This trailer reminds us of that sentiment as it comes to a close and in much the same way reminds us how necessary these films are for the sake of horror franchises at the moment. Writer/director James DeMonaco has been at the helm of this surprise saga since the beginning and while the concept has always been prime and the possibilities ripe for large social commentary it has felt like a turtle race to get to the point of actually realizing that potential. That said, I did like the second film much more than the first and can understand where, when taken as a trilogy of films, how that first contained story might seem necessary to understand the full impact of what this annual "purge night" does not only in the larger sense of things, but on the smallest of scales. While DeMonaco took a year off last year it seems that was purely intentional as he and Universal clearly had the idea of capitalizing on this years election by choosing that as their subtitle for this third installment. Growing in scale even more, this third Purge movie takes on the shifting ideals not only of the poor who are the ones largely being murdered during this evening of crime forgiveness, but of those with potential political power. Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost) stars as Senator Roan, one of the few politicians who wants to end the purge. Frank Grillo is also returning after his stint in the second film gave way to a revelation that has led him to take the necessary action to head up Roan's security presence as she begins her campaign for President. All in all, while neither of the previous films have left much of an impression there is slight anticipation here as it is clear DeMonaco is ambitious in expanding this universe. The Purge: Election Year also stars Mykelti Williamson, Raymond J. Barry, Ethan Phillips, Terry Serpico, David Aaron Baker, Edwin Hodge, and opens on July 1st, 2016.

THE PURGE: ANARCHY Review

Having re-watched the first Purge before going to see this quickly developed sequel I was reminded of what a good premise had been so messily squandered in execution. The idea of focusing in on one situation or opening up the world and giving a more well-rounded view is a difficult dilemma. Had the writer/director of both films, James DeMonaco, done with his premise the first time what he's done here he might have been criticized for trying to do too much. After having seen the sequel though it is clear that with such a layered and complicated world the possibilities might have been overwhelming to DeMonaco who chose to keep things simple the first time around. With the first film becoming a financial success though the studio was quick to greenlight and push into development a follow-up less than a year later which can, presumably, only boost a guys confidence. With that confidence DeMonaco has opened up his slightly futuristic world into what his one lawless night a year might be like not only for different individuals, but different classes of people according to society's structure. Given expectations weren't high for The Purge: Anarchy I'll try not to get too excited about how much better it is than the original while hopefully re-enforcing the fact it's still not a great or exceptional piece of cinema. Instead, this is a film that knows its end goal and accomplishes those goals well and does in fact deliver more on the promise of its interesting premise than its predecessor. From the advertising to the blatant acts of violence described as patriotism these films have always had a commentary in the back of their minds on the class systems of society and where our current situation may lead us. In this vein of thinking these films are more science fiction than horror in the way they preach nonviolence with violence and describe how escalating violence and economic issues brought the country to a breaking point that resulted in this annual event. These are naturally the more interesting aspects of the film and in Anarchy DeMonaco plays each of them up as he highlights the experiences of different groups of people from different ethnic and economic backgrounds creating a more captivating story and strong jeopardy we can all relate to.

THE PURGE Review

When Ethan Hawke showed up in last years legitimately scary Sinister I was happy to see the actor branch out slightly and give the genre picture a go. I was also glad he paired with the director of one of my other favorite scary movies of the last ten years, The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Upon seeing the first trailers and promotional materials for The Purge though I thought he might have jumped in head first too quickly and began splurging on the kinds of roles in the kinds of movies that might eventually end up in the five dollar bin. While this second trip into scary movie-land is not as intriguing or mysterious as the aforementioned Sinister it has an interesting enough premise to draw people towards it (and the creepy, over exaggerated face masks are always a plus in home invasion thrillers). Director James DeMonaco, who has only directed one previous feature before this, has also composed a script that contains a fair amount of potential in the points it is trying to make and the message it is trying to get across, but unfortunately we never really see any of the gritty realities of this new found way of life. No, instead of diving into that real potential the film could have brought to the experience it instead quickly dissolves into that standard home invasion film where we see every plot twist coming and every supposed scare is as obvious as how this whole thing is going to end up. There were times the movie almost had me fooled, had me thinking it was going to go a different way, but heaven forbid it do such a thing as to dare to make the audience unhappy. This timid nature ultimately results in the most typical conclusion led up to by the least surprising and least effective set of circumstances. Worse than all of this is the fact there are no likable characters here. We don't like our supposed protagonists from the beginning because they've succumbed to this annual event that makes little sense and we don't like their kids or their new enemies because they all make dumb decisions. In the end, there is only one word that comes to mind when I reflect on what this turned out to be: pointless.