- Actors: Y'lan Noel, Lex Scott Davis, Joivan Wade, Steve Harris, Marisa Tomei
- Director: Gerard McMurray
- Writer: James DeMonaco
- Producers: Jason Blum, Michael Bay, Andrew Form, Brad Fuller, Sebastien K. Lemercier
- Format: 4K
- Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), French (DTS 5.1), Spanish (DTS 5.1)
- Subtitles: French, Spanish, English
- Region: Region A/1
- Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
- Rated: R
- Studio: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
- Release Date: October 2, 2018
- Run Time: 98 minutes
Horror movies
are an indicator of their times, and there seems to be no better example in the
past decade than The Purge franchise.
Following the unexpected attacks of 9/11, The
Purge captured those anxieties in a home invasion thriller. And as the
sequels continued the narrative, they only became more political, with the last
installment utilizing a tagline that was blatantly borrowed from Donald Trump’s
political campaign slogan. The First
Purge is a prequel, but it is every bit as politically and socially
relevant, even if it lacks the focus of previous installments.
With none of the
main characters from the previous movies returning, The First Purge relies heavily on the established structure of the
films. There is a lot of buildup and many character introductions before the
carnage starts, especially since this is the very first. Established as a
social experiment taking place on Staten Island,
there is plenty of discussion about the purge, allowing for conspiracy theories
and accusations of fake news. Basically, all of the people who are too poor to
leave town before the purge are convinced that the event is simply a way to
eliminate lower class citizens. And in this film, lower class also equates to
being a minority.
The difficulty
with the film’s representation of its lower class characters is the somewhat
contradictory way that they utilize the basest of stereotypes. Many of the
innocent characters in The First Purge
stay in the city to protect someone they love or out of desperation because of
the cash reward for those citizens willing to participate. But the most heroic
of the characters ends up being a drug dealer named Dmitri (Y’lan Noel) who is
somehow shown to be a moralistic defender of the community that he profits off
of. The logic of this is certainly questionable, but it is a representation
easier to defend than the crazed psychopaths who fully embrace the violence of
the experiment. In the end, it would seem that lower income areas are full of
sinners, saints, and psychopaths.
Although the
first film was clearly a home invasion horror film, the franchise has veered
more and more towards horror action in recent installments. There may be a more
pronounced embellishment of the violence and gore than your typical action
movie, but there are also far fewer scares than many might hope for from a
straightforward horror film. The First
Purge is far more interested in social commentary and thinly veiled digs at
the current administration than it is in cheap scares.
Though it is
shot in a way that is often unsettling, the way a horror movie should be, The First Purge is also surprisingly
colorful and vibrant at times. This comes across magnificently in 4K Ultra HD,
as do the deeper blacks in the night sequences. I only wish that I cared for
the film more, because the 4K treatment is rather impressive. The package comes
with a Blu-ray copy of the film also, which is the disc that also has the
special features. There are three promotional featurettes and a handful of
deleted scenes, which are pretty underwhelming. A digital copy of the movie is
also included with the two discs.
Entertainment Value:
6.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6/10
Historical
Significance: 5/10
Special Features: 4/10
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