The Purge (2013) [Movie Review]

For 12 hours every year, every crime is legal. Even murder. Of course, the higher-ups in government are exceptions. This concept is a very cool concept, and there are so many ways they could have gone with the film. They chose horror, and well, I have to say they made the wrong decision.

First of all, this film does a terrible job explaining anything. It explains why the "Purge" exists, and briefly touches how it helps the country, but doesn't get to the big issues. One of the biggest problems that I found with this film is the simple fact that just because murder is now legal doesn't mean everyone will turn into murderous beasts. Laws are not what are stopping people from killing people, it's their morals. You still have to be psychotic to actually want to kill someone, especially in the brutal ways portrayed in this film.

The other major problem is the characters and their decisions.

The following contains spoilers, read at your own risk!

For whatever reason, filmmakers try to make horror movies characters as stupid as possible. More power to them, smart people don't let bad things happen to them. But they need to make these things believable. The truly unbelievable thing about this film is the atrocious security system which, by the way, is the central plot point of the movie. If you have enough money to afford a boat with a garage on it, and there is one day a year where people can do literally whatever they want, how do you not have precautions in place for an instance where people get into your house? I would have camera's in every damn room. But again, these people are stupid because it's a horror movie. 

And continuing with the stupid; when their home is broken into, what do they do? Split up, of course. Hide under beds, don't look behind. Every damn horror cliché is in this movie. And to top it all off, the neighbors save the day! But not really, because their mad that the main family has money. Do you know why said family has money? Because the neighbor all purchased their security systems from them. They made the decision to give them money, then they were mad about them having money.

This movie could have been an adult version of Home Alone, but they went this route. Oh well, some other time, I guess.

Rating: 5/10

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Discussion topic: What would your bunker consist of?