The Purge (2013, James DeMonaco)

Finally checked out "The Purge". I had put off seeing this one mainly because I kept hearing people shit on it for a variety of reasons, for which, I now can't really see why. I actually dug this flick much more than I expected. Could it have been better? Yes. But I found it to be a fairly entertaining take on the 'home invasion' horror sub-genre.

According to the film's premise, in the not-so distant future of 2022, the American government will encourage an annual 12-hour crime spree, free of any and all judicial or moral accountability. Apparently, this is how the U.S. has figured out how to sustain a lower crime rate and economical prosperity - by simply allowing a free-for-all of legal murder and havoc in order for the public to "purge" their ugly souls and get it out of their systems. Those who choose not to "purge" have to have a top of the line security system and/or be armed to the teeth, such as the rich family of the guy who actually sells purge-preventing home-defence security barricades, which is still infiltrated by a gang of bloodthirsty"purgers"...

I definitely enjoyed this flick for the most part. My only real problem was that the outlandish premise - which I thought made for a really cool set-up - is restricted heavily to a much too customary 'home invasion' formula. There seemed to be a lot more they could've done with the whole 'crime is legal for a night' concept, but I'll have to check out the sequel, I guess... Either way, I dug "The Purge" more than other recent 'home invasion' horror flicks, like "The Strangers" and "You're Next".