Earlier, some of you may have read my article about exactly what happens at hospitals during Purge Night -- answering a question that I have had about the horror franchise since it began back in 2013. It was one of many that I recently had the chance to discuss with series creator James DeMonaco, and now it's time to talk about another aspect of the interesting world: air travel on Purge Night.
What happens to airplanes during the 12-hour time period in the Purge universe where just about all crime is legal? Are they still functioning normally, or are special restrictions put in place as a defense against serious attack? I posed these questions to DeMonaco during a phone interview late last week, and he explained that not only is air travel shut down, but that basically any form of major public transportation is put to a halt. Said the writer/director,
I think it's, in my little world, I think it's suspended. I think at 7:00 that night, I think all... if I even went further, I think like all service, train service, everything, planes, airports, everything's shut down. I think the country kind of comes to a standstill on that night, yeah.
Continuing his line of thinking, I asked if America essentially became a 3000-mile wide No Fly Zone -- and James DeMonaco told me that's the best way to put it:
Exactly, right, exactly. You just nailed it. No flying. No one's coming in, no one's going out. No one wants to come. Well, some people do. Yeah, so I think it's a dead country.
That bit about people wanting to come is a reference to a new little fictional world detail that's introduced in The Purge: Election Year: Murder Tourism. It turns out that there are people who actually fly into America just for the opportunity to express some rage and kill random people. Apparently they all needed to be settled into the country a bit in advance of Purge Night, however, per these new rules laid down by James DeMonaco.
It's not hard to understand why shutting down air travel over the United States during Purge Night is a good idea. For starters, airports tend to be populated places, and during the Purge that would mean that they would house a ridiculous amount of death each year, and it's hard to imagine governments wanting to pay for the cleanup. Furthermore, violence at 30,000 feet is a recipe for chaos, and it ultimately wouldn't further the agenda of the New Founding Fathers Of America.
Hopefully this is another Purge mystery solved for you fans... and the good news is that we have more to come. Stay tuned for more interesting new information about the Purge universe from my interview with James DeMonaco, and pick up your copy of The Purge: Election Year on Blu-ray and DVD today.
