For all its willingness to serve the viewer generous dollops of violence, noise, and terror, The Purge is oddly lacking in energy.

| Feb 11, 2021

... though the film struggles to flesh out this rather Dystopian concept (something nearly every futuristic film has these days), it succeeds in its gripping suspense and romantic eye for violence.

| Original Score: C+ | Sep 7, 2017

An entertaining and deeply unsettling premonition of the state the US's obsession with guns may leave it in.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 5, 2017

What should be a taut thriller stretches into an overextended slog with periodic scolding lectures.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 11, 2013

DeMonaco clearly hopes to make a significant moral statement on the level of Shirley Jackson's literary masterpiece The Lottery. Alas, his aim at political conservatives who support the gun lobby falls flat before he can pull the trigger.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Jun 12, 2013

If The Purge is as far-sighted as Network proved to be, we are in for very ugly times.

| Jun 10, 2013

That old horror-movie standard, a homestead besieged by psychos, gets remixed with a bit of Occupy-era class-conflict satire in the disappointing future-set thriller The Purge.

| Jun 7, 2013

Gimmicky chiller lacks the robustness and distinction needed to support its social-commentary ambitions.

| Jun 7, 2013

The blunt instrument plot allows for a few sneaky moments of satire and social commentary lite.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 7, 2013

Instead of being a creepy B-movie about the necessity of suppressing one's animalistic urges, "The Purge" is just a product of uninspired filmmaking.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Jun 7, 2013

In its own clumsy, exaggerated way, The Purge takes a strong stand against our cultural obsession with violence and our tendency to conflate justice with vengeance.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 7, 2013

Fans, gear up for rock-em-sock-em action, yet don't be disappointed if much of the goonery seems a bit tepid and, dare I say, staged.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 7, 2013

A nutty if bloody lark, with a strange artificiality to the behaviors it portrays. That blunts the sharpness of any cultural critique it might aspire to.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 7, 2013

The message just gets louder and louder, cruder and cruder, which is too bad because Mr. DeMonaco knows how to set a stage.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jun 6, 2013

The Purge is not subtle. But why should it be? It's not a movie about class or morality, but about the need for violence -- our own. We are the audience, after all, and we must be purged, too.

| Jun 6, 2013

Audiences will feel the need for a good cleansing after experiencing The Purge.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 6, 2013

It's cultural commentary as blunt instrument - and as blunt instruments are wont to do, it achieves an end while making a bloody mess.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 6, 2013

The great premise in "The Purge" - and it is a great premise, while being no "Hunger Games" - is squandered on a few levels.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 6, 2013

The vague posters for "The Purge" won't prepare you for how sharp and shockingly subversive this home-invasion flick can be.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 6, 2013

Its premise requires more sophisticated layering for the audience to really get on board with the notion that people leading very comfortable lives will suddenly go on a murder bender just because they can.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 6, 2013