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THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR Trailer Wants Your Vote

If you know anything about the reason I love horror, it’s because—aside from satire and a lot of times science fiction—I think it’s the most political of all genres. Think about it: what a culture is afraid of often finds itself reflected in horror entertainment. You could think of Invasion of the Body Snatchers as an allegory for the Cold War, or George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead as a metaphor for consumerism. And during the same week that the two “political outsiders” running for president in the United States—Senator Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump—won the New Hampshire primaries while both calling for some form of revolution US politics, Universal dropped the trailer for the somewhat secret third installment titled The Purge: Election Year. And boy, is it not subtle!

The Purge: Anarchy lead Frank Grillo is back and we see that the series has jumped ahead in time a few years since the events of the previous film. Now a member of Senator Charlie Roan’s security team as she runs for president, the two of face betrayal from inside their team and are forced out onto the streets of Washington, D.C. on Purge Night. And you better believe that there are lots of people who want the Senator dead (according to the trailer, she is proposing that The Purge be ended).

As a fan of the series, I’m a bit surprised but incredibly excited the franchise appears to be taking the next movie into substantive territory. From a cultural perspective, I am curious to see what DeMonaco and company actually do, because when you really look at it, the last two films have scratched the surface of the metaphor but not really dived in head first. If they really do fulfill the promise of the exceptional premise, audiences could be in for a hell of a ride.

The Purge: Election Year hits theaters July 1, 2016 weekend. What do you think though? Let us know in the comments.

Image Credit: Universal

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