MovieChat Forums > The Purge (2013) Discussion > The masked killers are idiots

The masked killers are idiots


They were all behaving tough and badass when they were standing outside.

"We are going to kill your family once we're in"

"I'm so badass, look how scary I stare at you"

"Look how I kill my friend for no good reason"

"OMG, hell will break loose once we're in your house."

But then when they finally are in the house, they all get killed one by one by a family of 4, including two teen children who barely fight and a homeless guy.. It really got out of hand during the scene in the poolroom where Ethan Hawke kills five or six of these clowns in a row. Eventually The idiot's leader finally fights back a little by stabbing Ethan Hawke. One would think he'd make sure Hawke is dead but instead he leaves him only wounded so the character might as well have survived even though he didn't.

If anyone, it should've been the masked 'killers' who should've been afraid of the Saldon Family.

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They tried so hard to make them creepy and sinister, they just came off silly.

They're swinging on a swingset outside, the girls prance around constantly cocking their heads to the side, tickling people, pointing and giggling at family photos, etc.

And the main leader is one of the worst villains ever. His facial ticks and overly-politeness doesn't work.

If would have been more interesting if it was the neighbors trying to kill them out of spite/jealousy instead of random, college kid psychos with goofy masks.

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Agreed. It's a decent idea but executed terribly.

Also what got me was 1 hour before people are legally allowed to murder and your entitled to zero emergency aid you decide to have a family dinner and only minutes before lock down your house.

If this was me I'd have booked the day off and locked up ages before. Had guns and plenty of ammo ready.


Either that or be hiding outside my bosses house

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Always a great idea to bring an axe to a gun fight.

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I agree with bara that it probably sounded like a decent idea yet was terribly executed in the end. It would be creepy to be stalked by anonymous/"faceless" killers; it kinda goes back to killers like Jason or Mike Myers. The problem is the killers were too playful and (mostly) out of their minds. It was like they were all high on bathsalts or somethings... skipping, tickling the wife, giving each other piggyback rides. Just ridiculous like they thought they were invulnerable.

I will say that the main leader, as goofy as his expressions were, was at least smart enough to let his pawns take most of the risk. He basically let them stumble upon Ethan Hawk who made a huge commotion defending his life and then simple waited (aka "camped" him) until we came around the corner and shanked him really quickly. Pretty smart. He almost got away with it, so I won't criticize him too much. It was the most satisfying scene in the film though when the daughter blew his smug-faced @ss away.

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They were a group of pampered upper-class pricks used to hunting malnourished and weak homeless people one or two at a time. Their mindset was that it was fun, theatrical, sport-- not the kind of all-or-nothing war they started by threatening the Saldons' kids. If they'd been serious (and seriously dangerous) killers, they'd have been wearing body armour instead of tuxes and prom dresses. Lord knows they could have afforded it, buncha' trust-fund ****s.


I'm an island- peopled by bards, scientists, judges, soldiers, artists, scholars & warrior-poets.

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I think the director was trying to pull off "The Strangers" meets "Funny Games" creepy meets we aren't bat crap crazy just eccentric because we are privileged and bored bit. Which became impossible the second they decided the house was suppose to be a security fortress and then loaded the entire house down with a bunch of firearms. What kinda security system and reinforcements are thwarted by a group of teens with a vehicle? Oh and who looks at a house like that and thinks we will break in easy and hey no way will they have guns and shoot our knife wielding moronic butts. Please neighborhoods like that are armed to the teeth. And do they decide to cut bait once they learn the guy sells these security systems? Noooooooooo. Do they perhaps say well the bum got lucky lets go find a better target? Nope. Lets break in and let some kid backed into a corner with a gun mow our machete toting rears because our cheap retarded masks make us magically bullet proof. Oh and the ending just P***** ME OFF! A mother would never have been all lets sit in peace and wait for the it is over siren. The neighbors were going to butcher her freaking kids over income jealousy. Not shoot strangle do it quick but group butcher them and once the bum saves them she just throws the neighbors out after it is over? OH HELL NO! I would spend the rest of the day trying to get their blood off my floor walls and ceiling! Any parent would. It could have been a great movie had the director not had his head firmly lodged in his rear.

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Maybe these morons prefer to scare and terrorize than actually committing murder. The fcked up neighborhood friends sure didn't mind killing.

I kind of agree with everyone's overall assessment of the masked attackers. They were trying for the same creepiness in The Strangers but failed.

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