The Purge: Election Year

Frank Grillo returns in the third in the series of deliriously pumped-up, high-concept horror thrillers

Frank Grillo returns in the third in the series of deliriously pumped-up, high-concept horror thrillers.

This time it's Election Year and the message - like the action - is delivered with about as much subtlety as a sledgehammer.

America's corrupt rulers, the New Founding Fathers of America, are using the annual Purge Night (when all crime is legal) as a means of culling the country's lower orders. But a young liberal senator (Elizabeth Mitchell) campaigns for the presidency, 18 years after losing her family to the Purge, and vows to end the bloodshed for good.

First, though, she has to survive the night with the aid of Grillo's security chief.

The relentless pace means there's no room for nuance, but the comeuppance wrought upon a pair of lippy teenage shoplifters is a highlight and the up-to-date plot is clever.