The Purge: Election Year(2016)
2016 · James DeMonaco · 109 min
Two years after choosing not to kill the man who killed his son, former police sergeant Leo Barnes has become head of security for Senator Charlene Roan, the front runner in the next Presidential election due to her vow to eliminate the Purge. On the night of what should be the final Purge, a betrayal from within the government forces Barnes and Roan out onto the street where they must fight to survive the night.
Action · Horror · Thriller
6.45.6k votes
TMDB score
4/5
Intensity
3/5
Gore
2/5
Stays with you
How The Purge: Election Year scares
The movie kicks off with tension already high and just keeps escalating, moving from street chaos to bigger, more organized violence as the night goes on. It plays more like a survival thriller than a traditional horror movie, with constant physical danger, chases, and shootouts rather than jump scares or creeping dread. There's real social commentary under the mayhem, which gives it some weight, but it's still built to be an adrenaline ride more than something that haunts you afterward. Good for people who want tense, violent, action-driven horror with a political edge rather than quiet scares.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, The Purge: Election Year rates psychological 2/5, visceral 5/5, gore 3/5, lingering effect 2/5, and overall intensity 4/5.
- Psychological: 2 of 5
- Visceral: 5 of 5
- Gore: 3 of 5
- Lingering: 2 of 5
- Intensity: 4 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 30 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 95 of 100 — leans Real-world
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 45 of 100 — balanced
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
A tense setup gives way to a night that keeps escalating, with the back half staying loud and hard-hitting almost all the way through.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 4, 3.
How scary is The Purge: Election Year?
On The Horror Database's 0–5 intensity scale, The Purge: Election Year rates 4/5 — one of the more punishing watches in the catalog, building its fear through slow-burn dread rather than shocks. It attacks the body more than the mind — physical, in-your-face horror. Expect it to be moderately gory and scary but not punishing. Some of it will follow you to bed, but it lets go within a day or so.
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