MOVIE REVIEW
The Purge (2013)
Daniel McFadden/Universal Pictures
Arriving a bit late to the already swinging eat-the-rich party, James DeMonaco’s “The Purge” has a go at tying economic unfairness, class war, home invasion movies and the Tea Party together into a big satirical whole. But the United States has been on the cinematic analyst’s couch forever, and Mr. DeMonaco picks metaphors that are already worn smooth. Even smoother are the mechanics of the modern horror film, which “The Purge” embraces completely for long stretches of characters peering around corners in the dark and yelping at unexpected reflections in mirrors, before they set about each other with axes. The only slightly surprising subtext to find in such company is one the trailers have studiously avoided; not at all coincidentally, it’s the one that’s authentically conservative.