The Purging Hour

Director - Emmanuel Giorgio Sandoval (One Night in L.A.)
Starring - Alana Chester (Famous in Love, The Honest Show), Paul Cross (Rituals, Assignment Terror), and Tomas Decurgez (There Be Dragons, The Devil's Garden)
Release Date - 2015
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Lock your doors.  Don't let them In"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Horror is popular right now which is weird considering how long I've been a horror fan and how long that obsession has made me feel like an outcast.  Now it's cool to like zombies, slashers, and paranormal films.  Horror has a lot of hot properties right now like The Walking Dead, The Conjuring, Paranormal Activity, and The Purge.  I like The Purge series but it's hard for me to actually see it as horror.  The first film fell in the home invasion sub-genre but still felt like a claustrophobic action thriller while the second film was more of an action thriller.  I enjoy them but I do feel like they lack in the horror department.  The series is very popular right now with a fourth film, a prequel, set to be released soon.  Sometime ago I was sent the indie found footage film The Purging Hour.  I assumed it was a Purge rip off hence the name.  Not a title you would find on a horror flick pre-The Purge but I was far from right.  The film was sent my way for review from MVD.
     The film follows a family who purchases a home out in the country as a way to start over.  The father figure decides to record the entire moving process and their first night in their new home.  An innocent day turns deadly when strange noises startle the family during the night.  One by one the unlucky family falls prey to a deadly presence.  The police and investigators chalk it up to the mother's post partum depression but others believe it was something much worse.
       I typically watch a movie a day.  I would wager that 99 percent of the time the movies I watch are horror.  That's a lot of horror.  I've seen some amazing movies and I've seen some turds but The Purging Hour is one of the worst.  The film is unable to capture anything entertaining.  In fact, I was unable to find any redeeming quality about this film.  The acting in this one is not the best.  The cast tries to deliver that "authentic" or "genuine" performance that mimics what you would find on home videos but what happens is every scene feels forced and uncomfortable to watch.  It was rough to sit through.  The story for this one is pretty much non-existent.  We a follow a family for over an hour as they bicker, unpack boxes, grill burgers, and scare each other before we are given 10 minutes of random deaths for no rhyme or reason.  It honestly feels like the movie was just tossed together with no real endgame in sight.  Finally, there is some blood but the effects are minimal and do nothing for the overall film.  Overall, The Purging Hour is one of the few films where I saw it was a waste of time.  Honestly, the film was only made to cash in on the name alone.  Skip it.