There is no shortage of fantastic horror movies, even ones with plotholes that we tend to forgive. The truth is, a huge section of the movie-loving public just adore the feeling of being terrified. Of course, not all horror movies are about jump scares, badder than life villains, or violent imagery. Some are more psychological, such as Prime Video's Nocture. Others reflect what our society could become if given a nudge in the wrong direction. This, ultimately, could be why The Purge (and the entire Purge franchise) is so terrifying to so many... It could very well happen in some element of our not-so-distant past or not-so-distant future. Funnily enough, the idea for the once-per-year all-out bloodbath came from something that DOES happen every single day... Road Rage.
How Road Rage Inspired The Purge
Yes, according to an interview by The LA Times, this was the inspiration for James DeMonaco, Sébastien Lemercier, and Jason Blum's first movie. Of course, James and Sébastien had absolutely no idea that their idea would become a mega-horror franchise. Actually, they believed that America would ultimately reject their idea as it touched on the dangers of conservative politics. But Jason Blum, the famous founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions, saw something in James and Sébastien and, more importantly, their concept. Perhaps this is because it was inspired by one of the most typical sources of anger and frustration we all face on a daily basis... driving.
"My wife said something in a road rage incident that stayed with me," James DeMonaco, The Purge's writer and director, told LA Times. "This guy almost killed us — and [my wife's] a nice person, I hope this doesn’t reflect poorly on her, but she said something like, 'I wish I had one a year,' meaning one legal murder. It was a moment of anger, but the idea of one legal murder a year stayed with me."
Of course, so many of us can relate to this. We all displace so much of our anger when we drive. While driving is easily the most dangerous thing most of us do on a daily basis, and therefore should be something we care passionately about, there really isn't a lot of logic behind wanting to kill someone who cut you off. Or, as Louis CK famously joked 'Someone who made you move the steering wheel a little bit to the left for all of a half a second'.
Jason Blum Love It Because It Was Edgy
Jason Blum has become one of the most notable names in the horror genre. And it was ultimately him who breathed life into The Purge. He saw something in the concept and wanted to make it happen.
"We were kind of challenging the public’s response to such an outlandish idea," Jason Blum, who produced The Purge, said. "The conceit of a United States where the Purge exists is unbelievably fertile ground for storytelling in so many different ways: What do foreign countries do? What do politicians do? How did it happen? How did it start? How does it keep going? What happens to the economy? What happens to unemployment? There’s so many angles you can explore from this idea."
While the concept had tons of potential that was eventually minded for sequels and Prequels, James DeMonaco really didn't know how it was going to get off the ground. Instead, he focused on trying to make the best project he possibly could. And that meant throwing more of his own personal fears into it.
"It was such a big concept. I’ve always been terrified of guns, so it was [intended as] an exploration of America’s relationship with guns and gun control laws," James said. "There was part of me that was very angry with the scope of the first film. It’s a night of legal crime in America, and I think a lot of people were kind of thrown that I stayed inside one house. Sébastien and I knew that that would be an issue, but we had no budget."
Despite having a few million to make the movie thanks to Jason, James knew that he and his team had to keep their idea small for the first movie in order to really make it effective.
"The first one was always this morality play. We wanted to focus on that 1%. But I always wanted to do a whole movie on the Edwin Hodge character who played the Stranger. He’s the one who rises on the streets to become the head of the resistance by the third film," James said before adding, "To me, [the Purge is] one of the most grotesque concepts of all time. So anyone who takes it as some kind of sick wish or glorification of violence… it’s the opposite intention from the filmmakers."