Back when The Purge first premiered in 2013, the concept alone was scary enough to make you shiver at the thought of something even remotely similar happening in real life. Each entry takes place across a single night in which U.S. citizens are allowed to commit any crime without getting punished. Now, a decade after The Purge kicked off an epic horror franchise, director and screenwriter James DeMonaco opened up to Collider’s Perri Nemiroff and revealed that the first movie could have been even more harrowing.

During the interview, DeMonaco revealed shocking changes made to the original script of The Purge before the slasher made it to the big screen. The screenwriter revealed that “draft one would have been X-rated because of its violence.” In toning down the violence from the original draft, one of the biggest plot details dropped ahead of filming was a scene that would’ve cast James Sandin, played by Ethan Hawke, in a much harsher light:

“[He] didn’t just sell security systems. Because I wanted it to be a morality play. This is the big thing that we cut. We put it in Part Two a little bit. He purged someone in the basement as a ritual every year. He bought someone to purge as the societal catharsis that the purge has promised to be, that it will make you a better person. He bought fully into this propaganda and kills a man on page 25. That’s the first purge of the movie.”

DeMonaco went on to reveal that that’s where he had to compromise with Universal: “They thought the morality play was in the DNA of the piece without having seen Ethan’s character, James Sandin, kill a man. The fact that he sold security systems, they thought that he was making a profit off the purge, was enough to show the economic benefit to his family and that he was buying into the propaganda of the holiday. So, that went.” However, DeMonaco didn’t completely let go of the idea. He put it in a different form in The Purge: Anarchy. “We kind of saw that where there’s a man who gets bought. Carmen Ejogo’s dad (John Beasley) gets bought by a rich family, very similar to what we had in Purge 1 that I cut.”

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The Purge Is a Living Organism That Can Be Perceived Differently Today
The screenwriter commented that, with the original movie, he was “trying to do this discourse on violence,” and that the movie was ultimately “a big metaphor for lack of gun control laws in America.” DeMonaco felt that he was “pushing the envelope deeply,” with the first film. In the years, since America hasn’t really taken steps to enforce gun control, the debate over it is now even more intense, making The Purge a more and more terrifying commentary on our reality.

The Purge went on to become a successful franchise that spawned four sequels and a TV series. A sixth installment in the film series is currently in development, and this time the idea is to expand the concept as well as see how America got transformed by the creation of the daunting violent night.

The Purge 6 is still in the early stages, right now, Frank Grillo is expected to return and DeMonaco reprises his directing and screenwriting duties. Stay tuned at Collider for further details on The Purge universe.