Somehow, this wasn’t as frightening as the real-life election year we’ve got going on.  I had a hard time paying attention to the politicians debating Purge Night on something like the 20th year of its occurrence, until a car blasting Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA” rolled down the middle of an empty street and three chicks in masks carrying guns got out.

The Purge movies are always great for creepy masked people.  This time we have an insane Uncle Sam and a psycho Statue of Liberty and a blood-spattered Abe Lincoln.  And they’re Russian, come to America just to enjoy Purge Night!  I even understood some of their swearing!

The timeline seems a bit off in this movie.  The first Purge movie (in which the main character of this movie, Presidential candidate Charlie Roan watched her family die) took place in 2019, 18 years ago.  The Purge: Anarchy took place in 2023, but apparently has had a huge impact on this particular election?  13 years later?  (When Frank Grillo has only aged two years?)

The Purge movies are also great for having people seem like victims when they turn out to be pretty awful themselves.  For a while this seemed super conservatives vs. liberals, the conservatives with their NRA supporters enjoying their guns to hunt down this female presidential candidate, who seems to have the backing of the minorities.  But naturally, things are not what they seem.  And even the Catholic Church gets involved, as they seem to have in this election.

If you’re not into watching the real-life horror on the news, vote for some of these films:

• Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012) – Is this what they mean when they say “Make America Great Again”?
• FDR: American Badass (2012) – I actually haven’t seen this, but it’s going into my Netflix queue, because FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT FIGHTING NAZI WEREWOLVES.
• Freddy vs. Jason (2003) – If you’re tired of The Donald vs. Hilary…
• The Hunger Games (2012) – (Interesting how so many of these I’m recommending came out the last election year??).  Instead of Purging, this government randomly selects 2 children from each district to enter a fight to the death.  The only unfortunate thing about these movies is how Hollywood glossed over the horror of children murdering each other and made this basically what the Capitol showed as entertainment.
• The Running Man (1987) – Based on a Stephen King story about criminals (“runners”) who have to survive professional hunters in order to be pardoned by the state, it’s interesting that this movie is set in 2017… A hint of what’s coming?