Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The Purge (2013)

11/11/2023

The Purge (2013) - or, Depressive Violence in America

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A sinister mask in a murky darkness makes up this ill-boding poster for James DeMonaco's The Purge

In 2022 the US enjoys almost no unemployment or crime, because on one day of the year, all citizens are allowed to 'purge' all of their illegal tendencies unpunished.

The Purge is written and directed by James DeMonaco (Little New York (2009)).

If The Purge is built on deeper thoughts or insights into the human condition then the film doesn't reveal it. It drops us within a family who are in favor of the 'purge' ritual, but who get into trouble as a homeless person in danger is given shelter during the purge, and soon also a rich kind of fascist attack.

The concept here seems like something from a dubious 1970s exploitation flick, and DeMonaco has forgotten to add some fun or colors to the proceedings. The Purge is instead an endlessly murky ride into dour, violent ugliness, unmitigated aesthetically.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 3 mil. $

Box office: 91.2 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 30.4 times its cost)

[The Purge premiered 2 May (Stanley Film Festival, US) and runs 85 minutes. Ethan Hawke (Training Day (2001)) reportedly accepted the role for just 10k $ and slept on co-producer Jason Blum's couch during filming, later receiving 2 mil. $ in back-end compensation pay. Shooting took place around February 2012 in Los Angeles, California. The film opened #1 to a 34 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#5), grossing 64.4 mil. $ (70.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest market was the UK with 5.3 mil. $ (5.8 %) and Germany with 2.9 mil. $ (3.2 %). The film additionally made estimated 12.9 mil. $ on the North-American home video market alone. It spurred a franchise with 4 sequels and a 2 season (2018-19) TV-series. DeMonaco returned with the first sequel, The Purge: Anarchy (2014). Hawke returned in Getaway (2013). The Purge is rotten at 40 % with a 5.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Purge?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

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Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

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Wolfgang Petersen has died

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Philip Baker Hall has died

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Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (15-24)

11/11/2023

The Purge (2013) - or, Depressive Violence in America

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