Back in 2013, a little horror movie called The Purge spawned an absurdly successful franchise that includes four feature films and a two-season USA Network TV show. Currently, Purge-overlord/producer Jason Blum is hammering out pre-production details for the (supposed) final movie, The Forever Purge, while social distancing in Santa Monica, but The Purge is inadvertently doing the real-life scares thing in Crawley, Louisiana, where police accidentally used the movie’s infamous siren to launch a 9:00pm quarantine curfew. Yikes.
Residents are already hunkering down over the pandemic, so this must have been an unsettling experience. Here’s footage from local ABC affiliate KATC.
Yup, that’s definitely a familiar sound, and you can hear it in this The Purge trailer.
People definitely complained, and understandably so. Crowley Police Chief Jimmy Broussard subsequently explained that he wasn’t aware of this signal’s cinematic resemblance. Acadia Parish Sheriff K.P. Gibson also issued a statement:
“Last night a ‘Purge Siren’ was utilized by the Crowley Police Department as part of their starting curfew. We have received numerous complaints with the belief that our agency was involved in this process. We were not involved in the use of the ‘Purge Siren’ and will not utilize any type of siren for this purpose.”
Fortunately, there was no “your government thanks you for your participation” that followed the siren, as with the Universal Pictures movies. Still, it’s not a great look — using the noise that’s used to signal the franchise’s legalization of all crime for 12 hours — for rattled people at home to behold. Stay safe out there, folks.
(Via KATC, Variety & Hollywood Reporter)