Gerard McMurray's The First Purge

"fourth instalment of the successful series that could go on forever, because so far, they've always managed to keep the story fresh and bring something new to the table."

Directed by: 

• Gerard McMurray

Written by:

• James DeMonaco

Cast: 

• Lex Scott Davis as Nya
• Joivan Wade as Isaiah
• Y'lan Noel as Dmitri
• Mugga as Dolores
• Marisa Tomei as Dr. May Updale
• Rotimi Paul as Skeletor

Length:

• approx. 97 min

Genre:

• Horror
• Action

The First Purge is the second directorial effort for Gerard McMurray after Burning Sands and is the first Purge movie not to be directed by creator James DeMonaco. It is also the fourth instalment of the successful series that could go on forever, because so far, they've always managed to keep the story fresh and bring something new to the table. There are a number of angles they can still explore and maybe the fact that The First Purge is the highest grossing entry in the franchise, means that there are many other people that agree with the way I think.

Chronologically set before the original film, The First Purge sees us in the US where a radical third political party called the New Founding Fathers of America have won the election, and first on the agenda is a plan to get rid of crime - but how? By making it legal for 12 hours one night per year. Before opening this fun evening to the whole country, they decide to test the idea on Staten Island.
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D, a bad man finally doing some good.

Are the citizens going to pull together or go against each other? Is there another motive behind the creation of the Purge? Who will turn out to be the unlikely hero?
 
There are a few badass fight scenes worthy of top action flicks, but not many new or noteworthy kills… after bringing out a guillotine in Election Year, everything else feels a bit too ordinary now. Guns don’t really impress me, but some of you might enjoy the heavy artillery shown off here.
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The end lady, definitely the end.

Skeletor in real life with no makeup looking sweet as pie.

Who wins ‘best mask’ for this film? Well, the one that stands out is without a doubt the horned one from the poster, that even if in the film is a bit different and scarier, is still not the freakiest one.

The award for creepiest goes to the dude that goes by Skeletor, who didn’t even need a mask to look sinister af. That badly scarred face, together with rotten teeth and crazy eyes gave me the heebie-jeebies, I would not be comfortable face to face with that psycho in a dark alley... or anywhere else.

To think that he rode the train in full make up on his way to his audition makes me feel bad for the poor New Yorkers that were in the same carriage as him on that day!

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Another thing I really loved about The First Purge is all the neon used in the dark night, those colours were popping!

If you are into Hip-Hop it’s also impossible to ignore the awesome soundtrack featuring the likes of Lil Jon, Offset, 2 Chainz, Desiigner, Rich the Kid and Kendrick Lamar.
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7.5/10

Written by Mags.

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