31 on 31 for Halloween Day 9: The Purge Election Year

The Purge Election Year

Election Year is an interesting installment of The Purge franchise.

When I had first seen it, I didn’t like it. It felt over the top like it was too much. This time, it was a different experience.

Election Year is the culmination of the themes that was presented in The First Purge and The Purge. It was the natural conclusion.

We see Frank Grillo return as Leo. Years have passed since we had see him last in Anarchy. He is definitely a changed man as he is head of security for a Senator. He believes in the Senator who is trying to change the system and have Purge Night disbanded.

The Senator is such a threat that The New Founding Fathers seek to stop her as she could become the next president.

This is the story as in this installment we are treated to an all out war between The Resistance and The New Founding Fathers for America.

Honestly at certain parts, this felt very much like Die Hard in The Purge universe. And that’s what helped make this installment pretty enjoyable.

We are also treated to Edwin Hodges returning in a much larger role than the previous two films. He is the voice of The Resistance. And over the course of the film we are treated to seeing that spark of hope reignited as he helps the Senator.

The action seemed bigger but also bit scaled back. It felt like the action was a mash of The Purge and Anarchys action.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I recommend watching in chronological order.

Follow BlazinBlue's Horror Review on Facebook and Twitter.

31 on 31 for Halloween Day 8: The Purge Anarchy

The Purge Anarchy

When The Purge: Anarchy was released I fell in love with it, it opened up the world that was established in the first film. Now we were witness to Purge Night in the city – whereas we were just in the Burbs before.

This film is like a rollercoaster. Each of the different storylines weave wonderfully till they collide. My personal favorite of those storylines is Frank Grillo’s Leo. It is such a dark story but Grillo brings such heart to it. He is also a one man army. Almost like The Purge’s version of The Punisher. Except for he’s even more of a reluctant hero than Frank Castle.

It was also nice seeing the ‘family’ that is created by Purge Night with Leo and the two sisters.

The action is a bit more heavy than the previous film. Actually Anarchy steps it up in terms of all aspects. Which is why it does work well.

It was also interesting seeing Edwin Hodges character from The Purge return in a more direct role as a resistance fighter.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Follow BlazinBlue's Horror Review on Facebook and Twitter

31 on 31 for Halloween Day 7: The Purge (2014)

The Purge (2014)

Continuing our look at The Purge franchise, we look at The Purge. This was the initial film that has started it all.

The set up is very simple.

A family’s night of peace on Purge Night is thrown into chaos when their son offers shelter to a man. It is at that point that the night really begins as the attackers find their way to the doorstep.

Watching this series in chronological order, it adds to the experience. We understand a small piece of what had lead to Purge Night. So, the stakes are set as the attackers arrive at the doorstep asking for their prey to be released to them.

It’s interesting watching it these years later to see how their society is displayed. And looking at real life, it is very eerie seeing the parallels.

One of the true standouts to me is the humanity that is ultimately displayed as the family chooses to help a man that they do not know. It’s incredible.

Another is just how much society has embraced Purge Night. It is a bit unnerving to think that this is something people feel they need so strongly. And the terror of not necessarily knowing where an attack may come from. Case in point is seeing how two faced people can be as you may have your neighbors being nice one minute than coming to attack you.

Another aspect that I enjoyed was the character of the son. He is a true innocent that wishes to help if he can. He represents the hope and the good that is still in this largely dark world.

Largely this is a film that is not built on the kills. It is built upon the interactions between the characters in this world. And that is where the film shines.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Follow BlazinBlue's Horror Review on Facebook and Twitter

31 on 31 Day 6: The First Purge (2018)

Welcome back to 31 on 31 for Halloween. For the next few entries, I decided it was time to share my thoughts for the first four installments of The Purge franchise. When I viewed these films, I watched them in chronological order this time around. So join me as I discuss

The First Purge (2018)

The First Purge is the fourth film released in the Purge franchise – yet it is the first film chronologically.

It had been a while since I had seen the previous three entries in The Purge franchise. It allowed me to come to The First Purge with a bit of an open mind.

The First Purge follows America’s third political party, the New Founding Fathers of America, comes to power and conducts an experiment: no laws for 12 hours on Staten Island. No one has to stay on the island, but $5,000 is given to anyone who does.

This was a bit of a strong set up. We were finally going to be seeing something of what lead to The Purge becoming a national holiday. This was our glimpse into the ‘experiment’ that kicked everything off.

The film follows Dmitri (the local kingpin on Staten Island), Nya and her brother Isaiah, and some members of the New Founding Fathers.

The film did a really good job with each of the various storylines. There were some that felt a little lacking (the New Founding Fathers) compared to the strong storylines of Dmitri and Nya.

I understand that ultimately we know where the story is going to go. But the motivations of The New Founding Fathers could have been a bit more fleshed out.

The addition of the contact lenses for the participants was very welcome. It added a new aspect of the Purge mythos that we had never seen in the previous three entires. However, that is something that could feel a little out of place for others. Something that was never really addressed in the film was the various colors of the contacts.

However with much discussion, the Mrs. and I were able to come up with a hypothetical theory regarding those different colors. Each of the different colors represents a different level of what The New Founding Fathers expected from that participant. Blue is the innocent and least active in the experiment. All the way to the Purple that is displayed by Skeletor, who is one of the most active participants of this experiment.

This one part of the mythos would have been nice to see in the past installments. It added a bit of layers and terror. Plus the visual of the contacts was very striking.

Apart from the New Founding Fathers, the other characters were all strong and unique. For myself, I found myself caring about what would happen to Dmitri, Nya, and Isaiah. By the end of the film, it had showed us how The Purge had started as well as how the Resistance may have started as well.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Follow BlazinBlue's Horror Review on Facebook and Twitter