5. The Purge
Still doing the rounds at your local cinema, The Purge represents a fantastic idea. If you dont know the premise yet (and Im shocked if you dont, the adverts have been all over the internet for a long, long time), it concerns itself with a near-future America where crime has effectively been stopped by introducing the purge, one night a year where everyone can do what they want without consequences. I know what youre thinking thats a cool premise. But what the film does with that idea is nothing short of pig-headed. Youve set up a grand, swooping scene concerning ethics, morals and national policy. You could do anything with this film it could focus on moral decline, what happened for the USA to get to this sort of position, or even how the rich are benefitting from this annual murder-day. After all, Ethan Hawkes character has done well out of this horrible event as a home security provider. But what The Purge chooses to do instead is keep things formulaic, creating a siege story weve seen countless times before from Dawn of the Dead to The Purges most likely inspiration, The Strangers. This plot can be used well what made The Strangers so good was how nihilistic the whole thing was, but with The Purges sprawling set-up, its impossible to establish the same sense of taut fear.