The Purge 2013 - REVIEW

Since The Gore Whore will not go see home invasion type movies I had to be the one to go see this, I would have anyway.  There was a ton of build up for this before it came out but then it seemed to deflate pretty quickly.  Getting a few good reviews here and there and a lot of not so good reviews.  I went in with pretty low expectations not knowing what really to expect: A movie I was going to enjoy or another waste of 10 bucks.

It's the year 2022 and America's crime and murder is down drastically.  The reason being is once day a year from 7PM to 7AM the citizens of the U.S. are able to Purge.  That is no police or fire dept for 12 hours to do anything you want.  Designed to be able to take out all your hate and aggression in one risk free night.  The homeless and the poverty stricken are the ones that get the brunt of the beatings and murders because they do not have the means to defend themselves.  James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) sells top of the line security systems with steel doors to keep out the unwanted purge parties.  As the Sandin's eat their dinner they get up to go into lockdown mode and get ready for the purge.  They have security camera's so they can see the whole neighborhood.  As they look to have a relaxing and peaceful evening Charlie Sandin (Max Burkholder) notices a beaten man running down the street screaming for help.  Charlie disarms the security system to raise the steel doors and let this stranger into their house.  This does not make the group of multiple purgers happy in the least.  They give the Sandin's a proposition to bring the homeless guy out by the time they get the equiptment to break in their house and kill everyone in it.  The power to the house is now cut off and finding the stranger in the house that ran as soon as he got in will be tough.  They do not have much time to find him and get him outside before they become the purged themselves.

I said this when I reviewed Sinister so I'll say it again, I am not an Ethan Hawke fan at all.  For some reason though he seems to be in the movies I really want to see.  He was O.K. in this one not being a fan of his I am never going to give his level of acting a very favorable review.  Being O.K is about the nicest thing I can really say about his performance.  This really wasn't about good acting though it was about the suspense and making the audience jump from time to time much like The Strangers did.  I definitely recommend seeing this in a movie theater if you plan on seeing it just for the sound effects.  It seems to make a few scenes more intense than they would be if you watched it at home.

Ultimately I really did enjoy this movie.  One of the big reasons was because I thought it was well written as well as original.  With all of the regurgitation that Hollywood tends to feed us.  The Purge was a nice change of pace.  You could argue that it is similar to some films that have come out in the past couple years but the story is at least good.  I did enjoy the creepiness of the main villain in the film as well.  Just has one of those faces that kind of gives you chills when he looks at you.  This movie is definitely worth a watch although if you are expecting pure horror you will be let down.  This is more of a Thriller that might give you a few twitches.  I would give this one 6.5 out of 10 stars which is a little more favorable than some of the other reviews I have seen but I enjoyed this one.  Stay twisted everyone!