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This past Friday I met up with some friends to see the new film, The Purge. The previews seemed promising albeit a lot like 2008’s The Strangers. Was all the buzz (both on-line and on the big screen) worth a trip to the theater? How does this film stack up against the similarly themed The Strangers?

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Buckle up, horror fans, it’s time for another Terror Dave mash-up!

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 THE STRANGERS: Features a dysfunctional couple dealing with internal tension before being stalked by a group of masked maniacs.

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THE PURGE: Features a dysfunctional family dealing with internal tension before being stalked by a group of masked maniacs.

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 THE STRANGERS: Victims isolated in a vacation cottage

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THE PURGE: Victims isolated in their palatial fortress-turned-prison, with a security system rivaling that of Fort Knox.

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 THE STRANGERS: Features lead female character, Liv Tyler, most notable for her fantasy role in Lord of the Rings.

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THE PURGE: Features lead female character, Lena Headey, most notable for her fantasy role on Game of Thrones.

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THE STRANGERS: Budget $9 Million…brought in a total of $82 Million at the Box Office.

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THE PURGE: Shoe-string budget of $3 Million brings in an impressive $36 Million its opening weekend alone!

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THE STRANGERS: No social commentary…just 86 minutes of nail-biting tension.

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THE PURGE: Enough social commentary to give even Michael Moore a run for his money!

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THE STRANGERS: Features on-going scenes of cat & mouse; with a killer looming behind his/her unwary victims in the dark.

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THE PURGE: Features on-going scenes of cat & mouse; with a killer looming behind his/her unwary victims in the dark.

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THE STRANGERS: Victims are out in the middle of nowhere with a dead cell phone and unable to reach help.

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THE PURGE: Victims are in the middle of a gated community but, since this happens to be the year 2022 and the one night a year when crime is legal…no medical nor law enforcement services are available even they did reach em!

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THE STRANGERS: Very tense until scenes of intense violence erupt…causing viewers to hide their eyes!

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THE PURGE: Gets a bit tedious until scenes of intense violence erupt which, for some reason, caused this viewer (and his friends) to cover their mouths from laughing.

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And the reason for these gruesome nights of blood shed?

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THE STRANGERS: “Because they were home.”

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THE PURGE: Because they were home…and everybody (including their kids) hates them!

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THE STRANGERS: How can you not sympathize with the beautiful Liv Tyler, nor feel bad for her jilted would-be fiance? This was one couple you felt sorry for even before the bad guys show up!

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THE PURGE: Family totally unlikeable and downright “purge-worthy.” I had more sympathy for Headey’s character in Game of Thrones…who’s a contemptible, incestuous whore! PS. Ms Headey, PLEASE stay a blonde!

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The verdict? Stay home and rent The Strangers! I don’t mind movies designed to make me think but The Purge was so heavy with social commentary it pretty much does all the thinking for you. There’s a lot of build-up for relatively short bouts of action, and the twist ending was more predicatable than shocking. The characters are more likeable and the tension/violence much more effective.

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