‘The Purge 2′ Trailer: Is the Second Time the Charm?

If the latest 'Purge 2' trailer is any indication, this is the movie we all wanted the first one to be. While 'The Purge' introduced a fascinating premise and proceeded to squander it with a fairly rote home invasion thriller story, the sequel looks bigger and crazier, taking advantage of the fact that this is as much of a dystopic tale as it is a horror story.

Like its predecessor, 'The Purge 2' (officially titled 'The Purge: Anarchy') is filled with quality actors, like Frank Grillo ('Captain America: The Winter Soldier'), Zach Gilford ('Friday Night Lights') and Michael K. Williams ('The Wire'), as they attempt to survive the yearly night of government-approved terror and murder. By stranding a bunch of terrified people in the middle of the city during The Purge, the film ups the stakes considerably from the first installment, which took place entirely in a single location. Bigger doesn't necessarily equal scarier, but it's certainly a nice start.

With director James DeMonaco back behind the camera (and responsible for the screenplay), we hope he can take what didn't work before and fix it. 'The Purge' franchise seems to have more in common with 'The Twilight Zone' and sci-fi writing of the '70s than modern horror, and he should take advantage of that to make something completely fresh and strange.

'The Purge 2' storms into theaters on July 18.