Sound the alarms; the first trailer for The Purge: Election Year has arrived

THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR aims to to reveal the next terrifying chapter that occurs over 12 hours of annual lawlessness sanctioned by the New Founders of America in order to keep the criminal element at bay. It’s been two years since Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) stopped himself from a regrettable act of revenge in THE PURGE: ANARCHY. Now serving as head of security for Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell), his mission is to protect her in a run for president and survive the annual ritual that targets the poor and innocent. As you can imagine, things don't exactly as planned, and you can glimpse the madness with the first trailer below!

THE PURGE had a bit of a flimsy premise, but it was Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey that kept the action grounded. I haven't gotten around to checking out ANARCHY yet, but I do like the fact they're attempting to cover different aspects of the annual Purge. Without having seen the second film, however, ELECTION YEAR looks like more of the same. In any case, this series seems to have gone the way of SAW in that we can probably expect a yearly entry until the films stop making money. Who knows? Maybe there's more to this one than meets the eye.

THE PURGE: ELECTION YEAR will arrive in theaters on July 1, 2016.