I think of The Purge, the 2013 dystopian horror flick from writer/director James DeMonaco, as a “wouldn’t it be cool if…” movie. That is, its central conceit is a whimsical, almost childish idea that doesn’t stand up to much scrutiny, but still makes a cool movie. Think something along the lines of, “Wouldn’t it be cool if a class of students was shipped to an island and there was a winner take all, survival to the death challenge?” And that’s how we got Battle Royale. Or, “Wouldn’t it be cool if it turned out reality was really a simulation?” That idea gave us The Matrix. Or, one of my personal favorites, “Wouldn’t it be cool if Manhattan was a maximum security prison?” That idea got audiences Escape from New York. Continue reading “The Purge”