10 Brilliant Horror Movie Concepts Not Taken Far Enough
3. The Purge (2011)
Blumhouse's The Purge presented a very unique premise that seemed to offer endless possibilities for carnage.
Every year all crime is legal for twelve hours in a bid to "purge" society of its "undesirable" characters. What a premise. Unfortunately, one can't help but feel unsatisfied upon completing this film as it just... doesn't deliver on any of the promise its innovative concept holds.
The main problem with this film and what limits it from taking full advantage of the concept of a "purge", is the setting. The entire film is confined to one house with a very small cast of characters. We are aware that the world is erupting in a 12 hour swath of violence around these characters but we only see the tiny portion of the carnage that comes to their door. One just can't help but feel let down.
Star Ethan Hawke does his best with the material, but most of the characters are written somewhat one-note and one tends to find some of their decisions questionable at best. In this film, audiences expected society-gone-wild, but what they got was more than a little tame.
It's fair to say that this film may not deliver on the carnage the concept promises, but thankfully, the sequels do. With more money and more time, The Purge: Anarchy in particular ventures out into the streets and shows us the chaos we wanted to see here.