‘The Purge: Anarchy’ views perilous hours on the streets

Writer-director James DeMonaco has said a road-rage incident with a drunken driver, and a muttering by his wife in the immediate aftermath about a chance to get even, planted the seed for the idea that developed into “The Purge,” a sleeper hit of 2013. The premise was that in the near future in the United States, the New Founders of America have sanctioned a 12-hour period in which all crime, including murder, is legal. This is ostensibly to allow people to work out their aggression, but obviously there is a more sinister society-cleansing objective involved.

Because of budget limitations, DeMonaco had to pare his story down and focus on one family, James and Mary Sandin (Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey) and their two children. James Sandin has become wealthy as a seller of home security systems necessary to survive The Purge. But when his daughter Zoey (Adelaide Kane) provides sanctuary for a desperate man targeted by killers, he learns that even with all the technology at hand, everything can break down because of human failings.

The success of the movie resulted in more financial muscle for DeMonaco, and he was able to move the action out to the streets in “The Purge: Anarchy,” and tell the story of those who do not have the the means to turn their homes into fortresses. The result is a high-tension horror show that explores the worst, and best, in humans.

“Anarchy” focuses on five people who find themselves with no safe haven as darkness falls on the day of the annual purge. Eva Sanchez (Carmen Ejogo) is a single mom of a teen girl, Cali (Zoe Soul), struggling to make ends meet as a server at a coffee shop. Shane and Liz (real-life couple Zach Gilford and Kiele Sanchez) are having financial and marital difficulties and while en route to Shane’s sister’s house their car breaks down, leaving them stranded as The Purge commences.

The fifth person is Leo, also known as Sergeant (Frank Grillo), the only one of the group who voluntarily is on the streets, armed and on some sort of a revenge mission.

Not surprisingly, The Purge also becomes a source of entertainment and amusement for those with the monetary resources to pay for such services. Thus, people like Eva and Cali who don’t have secure homes are vulnerable to invasions and purgings.

Luckily, Eva and Cali, and Shane and Liz encounter Leo, who has to set aside his own objectives and help the four people get through the night.

And what a night it is. But not a fun one for these five people. Lethal danger lurks around every corner. There are a few deranged loners intent on picking off people via sniper strategies,  a gang of masked marauders who have set their sights on Shane and Liz, and a menacing guy named Big Daddy (Jack Conley), cruising around in an 18-wheeler loaded with weaponry and technology that has tapped into surveillance cameras, and accompanied by armed goons on motorcycles.

Leo’s weapons do not match these deadly adversaries, so he has to be resourceful, and it gets even crazier when supposedly safe sanctuaries turn perilous.

DeMonaco keeps the suspense in high gear while also providing a sobering message about decent people in the lower class that are deemed expendable. As the movie ends, The Purge is over for now but seems embedded in the new reality of this future America.

In an interview with Fangoria magazine, DeMonaco was asked if there was a third “Purge” in the works. He declined to comment, saying he did not want to jinx anything. But “The Purge” gets a grip on you, and fans will heartily welcome another installment, especially with an additional story line that is left open.

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