The Purge is the 252nd episode of Screen Junkies comedy series Honest Trailers. It was written by Spencer Gilbert, Joe Starr, and Dan Murrell. It was narrated by Jon Bailey as Epic Voice Guy. It parodies the first three films in the dystopian action horror franchise The Purge: The Purge (2013), The Purge: Anarchy (2014), and The Purge: Election Year (2016). It was published on July 3, 2018, to coincide with the theatrical release of the prequel, The First Purge. It is 5 minutes long. It has been viewed over 1.5 million times.
Watch Honest Trailers - The Purge on YouTube
"Do you like your social commentary veiled in metaphor? Too bad, because these movies have a message as subtle as the giant blood letters on the Lincoln Memorial." ~ Honest Trailers - The Purge
Script[]
In a world full of senseless violence, political strife, and corporate greed, three movies about those things also exist.
The Purge Trilogy
Get ready for Purge Night, a new American holiday where all crimes are legal, but everyone goes straight for murder...
Woman: I shot my husband! / It was a mistake!
...in an annual free-for-all, that you either treat like Halloween for psychopaths...
Mask Salesman: (after jump-scaring Laney while wearing a mask) Half price on all masks.
...or an excuse to throw a really... boring... dinner party.
James: (while looking at security footage) Hmm. The Ferrins are having a party.
Woman: Come on, everybody. Eat, drink!
(shows Eva roasting some vegetables)
James: (while eating dinner with his family) Honey... this food is so good.
Mary: Isn't it amazing?
Prepare for three zombie movies... if the zombies were just regular folks who need therapy (shows a drug addict laughing as Owens shakes him), in three plots where a group of people don't take the Purge seriously enough...
James: Oh, wow, it's later than I thought.
Liz: You know, we don't have a whole lot of time before commencement, Shane.
Leo: Yeah, I'll secure a safe house and full security detail on the night.
Roan: No. I'm staying home on Purge Night.
...then get kidnapped by an old white murder cult...
Purge Mass Attendees: (chanting) Purge and purify!
...and are rescued by a POC ex machina. (shows Dante shooting a Purger while holding Grace hostage)
Carmelo: --f*ck the Purge!
(shows Carmelo and other Anti-NFFA members firing assault rifles)
Joe: Rifle! (shows Marcos firing a rifle at a Purge Mass member)
(shows Joe and Marcos shooting at several Purgers)
Joe: Come with us.
They're like Get Out, with two of the same actors (shows Betty Gabriel as Georgina in Get Out and Laney Rucker in The Purge: Election Year, along with LaKeith Stanfield as Andre Hayworth/Logan King in Get Out and Young Ghoul Face in The Purge: Anarchy), but infinitely less subtlety. (shows Rico about to be killed by a rich family)
Ride out the first Purge... movie, with Ethan Hawke and Cersei Lannister, in a low-budget home invasion movie that's half shots of dimly lit hallways, and half shots of people doing PvP emotes at security cameras. Then, up the ante with Discount Jon Bernthal (Frank Grillo) in Purge: Anarchy and Election Year, cranking the tension of the first one down in two generic, gun-driven action movies, with juuust enough flashes of Purgery to make you say, "I hope they really embrace the concept in the next one." (The First Purge)
Do you like your social commentary veiled in metaphor? Too bad, because these movies have a message as subtle as the giant blood letters on the Lincoln Memorial (shows the Lincoln Memorial with the word "PURGE" written on its columns in blood), that aren't afraid to deal with class...
Man on Radio: Who dies tonight? The poor.
...immigrants...
Marcos: Joe gave me a job seven years ago when I first came here from Mexico.
...insurance companies...
Joe: They just raised the premium on my Purge coverage. By thousands.
...capitalism...
Carmelo: Profit-making is not the essence of democracy.
...guns...
Carmelo: We worship at the altar of Smith & Wesson.
...insurance companies, capitalism, and guns...
Roan: The money generated from the Purge lines the pockets of the NRA and insurance companies.
...government-aligned white supremacists (shows Danzinger), Russians pretending to be Americans...
Uncle Sam Purger: We love you, America.
...a shot of Paul Ryan with his face blurred out, and a leader named "Donald T." (Donald Talbot) It's way too on-the-nose; if the government really wanted to kill poor people, they'd just make healthcare, housing, and the legal system unaffordable.
Eva: F*CK!!
So settle in for a franchise with amazing potential, that could be a little more creative in its execution, instead of just creative in its executions (shows a Purger lighting a man on fire with a flamethrower), in films that make you reconsider the value of unleashing your violent impulses...
Cali: Killing doesn't help anything.
...by showing us scene after scene of awesome stylized violence! (montage of characters getting killed in over-the-top fashion) Oh yeah, time to watch some people die! Slice and dice! Ooh, that face! Whoo! Boom! This is good and bloody, baby! Oh yeah! Murder time! Whoa, a guillotine?! Sick!
Owens: We... are not... hypocrites!
...Yeah, you kind of are.
Starring: After Sunset, But Before Sunrise (Ethan Hawke as James Sandin); Rushmore (Rhys Wakefield as Polite Leader); O Say Can Cersei (Lena Headey as Mary Sandin); The Pun-ish-er (Frank Grillo as Leo "The Sergeant" Barnes); Dang, Matt Saracen Can't Catch a Break (Zack Gilford as Shane); Bernie Would Have Purged (Elizabeth Mitchell as Senator Charlie Roan); Spring Breakers (shows gun-toting masked Purgers in the street); Car Trouble...
Leo: The car is dead.
Shane: (as his car makes banging and squeaking noises) Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Liz: What the hell is that?
Shane: The power steering's gone.
Liz: What do you mean, "the power steering's gone"?
(shows an armored van ramming into an ambulance)
Eva: There is no car.
Leo: ...What?
...and Jump Scares (montage of jump-scares).
Honest title for The Purge - Fortnite Battle Royale. Titles designed by Robert Holtby.
(shows President Warrens and his cabinet watching a video of Senator Roan's debate in vertical orientation) Vertical video in the White House?! This truly is a dark future.
Trivia []
Honest Trailers Commentary - The Purge
- This video features the running Alan raptor gag. The raptor can be seen at 3:38 getting her head sliced off in a guillotine.
- Screen Junkies have produced Honest Trailers for several other horror films including The Conjuring, A Quiet Place, The Blair Witch Project, It (2017) and Halloween (2018). See list of Honest Trailers for more.
Watch the full commentary on YouTube
Reception[]
Honest Trailers - The Purge has a 96.9% approval rating from YouTube viewers. CBR.com acknowledged the Honest Trailer for pointing out "the lack of subtly in the political commentary in the films" and the franchise's contradictory message about violence. As the Honest Trailer notes, "The movies are intended to show you the dangers of violence while, of course, going out of their way to show really cool scenes of violence throughout the films" (CBR.com article). Slashfilm praised the Honest Trailer for reminding viewers "just how on the nose this franchise has always been" and highlighting the the way the franchise "condemns senseless violence while also glorifying stylized senseless violence." Bloody Disgusting appreciated the Honest Trailer for both praising the core premise of The Purge franchise and for simultaneously noting the films have "never quite managed to live up to the potential inherent to that premise."
Production credits[]
Video thumbnail for Honest Trailers - The Purge
Voiceover Narration by Jon Bailey
Title design by Robert Holtby
Producers - Dan Murrell, Spencer Gilbert, Joe Starr and Max Dionne
Written by Spencer Gilbert, Joe Starr and Dan Murrell
Supervising Producer: Warren Tessler
Production Coordinator: Sarah Rivera
Edited by Kevin Williamsen and TJ Nordaker
Post-Production Supervisor: Gracie Hartmann
Post-Production Coordinator: Carolyn Croce
Assistant Editor: Emin Bassavand
External links[]
- The Purge Movies, Both Too Silly & Too Real at the Same Time, Get the Honest Trailer Treatment They Deserve - The Mary Sue article
- The Purge Trilogy Gets Purged By An Honest Trailer - CBR.com article
- New Honest Trailer Tears Into THE PURGE Trilogy - Geek Tyrant article
- ‘The Purge’ Honest Trailer: A Concept Creative in Executions, Not in Execution - Slashfilm article
- Video ‘The Purge,’ ‘Anarchy’ and ‘Election Year’ Get the Honest Trailers Treatment and It’s Pretty Spot On - Bloody Disgusting article