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The Collector (2009)
 Tags: blood, gore, Marcus Dunstan, Patrick Melton, saw, the collector, torture, torture porn |
(26 votes)
Rating #:
6/10
Director:
Marcus Dunstan
Runtime:
88 Minutes
Cast:
Madeline Zima,
Josh Stewart,
Andrea Roth,
Daniella Alonso,
Juan Fernández,
Robert Wisdom To be perfectly honest, I haven’t been following anything on The Collector up until about a month ago when I caught the trailer online. It looked decent enough but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it would just be another Saw film with a different title. Well turns out I was right, The Collector doesn’t really bring anything new to the table that the Saw series already hasn’t. However I’ll be the first to admit that I did enjoy it a lot more than the two previous Saw films.
That is because instead of using gore and kills just to shock the audience The Collector actually attempts to use tension and suspense; two key elements most horror films nowadays seem to leave out completely. That’s not say the film doesn’t have it’s fair share of brutal kills as well.
The story is about a handyman and ex-con named Arkin (Josh Stewart), who is planning to rob his employers house to save his ex-wife from a loan shark. He arrives at the house thinking the family has gone away on vacation but instead finds them being tortured in the basement and himself stuck in the middle of a psycho’s death trap. Like I said this movie has Saw written all over it. The only thing that’s different between Saw and The Collector is that the killer isn’t using peoples sins or vices against them as traps; so really it’s more like a mixture of Saw and Home Alone.
The opening of the film starts off very well and creates a good amount of tension that sets a standard on what to expect later on. We are then introduced to the characters, who for the most part just are minor roles compared to Arkin and The Collector (Juan Fernández). Arkin is a very relatable character thus making him very likable to the audience, it’s a great juxtaposition to The Collector who is just downright brutal and ruthless. I also liked how the movie plays out like a game of hide and go seek between the two. Arkin runs away and hides, The Collector comes in searching, Arkin escapes, The Collector runs after him and so on and so forth but after a while it gets to be tedious.
So now lets get into the traps; for the most part they are downright ludicrous. There is a scene where Arkin goes into a room to find the floors covered with some sort of sticky acid that can eat through just about anything…except the wood of the floor its covered on. There is really only a couple traps that seem like they can be remotely plausible, so even for suspending your disbelief these traps are just downright laughable.
Also since the beginning sets up a perfectly good tense atmosphere I was expecting that vibe to carry throughout the whole film. This isn’t the case most of the time because of the score. Don’t get me wrong it’s a well done score but I think filmmakers need to realize that silence is golden. Sure music is a very powerful tool but sometimes it can hurt an atmosphere and that was the case with this film. I thought that a lot of the scenes could have been more suspenseful if some of the musical numbers were just completely removed.
The directing and cinematography are two things I have to give a thumbs up on. The Collector is that perfect blend of darkness but not dark enough that you can’t see anything going on. It also has this really gritty feel to it that I can’t help but enjoy as well. Oh and I can’t forget the kills either; while the traps are completely unbelievable the carnage they cause is just plain awesome. Even the killer dispatches people in some pretty brutal ways that will make any gore hound smile with delight. So in the end it wasn’t a bad flick to watch on a Friday night.
The Collector was a bit of a mixed bag for me; I didn’t hate it by any means but I didn’t fully enjoy the experience. However for a movie to attempt to scare the audience again and to partially succeed, gets points in my book. So if you check your brain at the door and go along with the bloody ride you will find The Collector to be a decent little film.
| Posted on August 3, 2009 - 4:30pm | Slayer |
Dates are tentative and subject to change.
- Tue, February 14, 2012 (DVD)
- Tue, February 14, 2012 (DVD)
- Tue, February 14, 2012 (DVD)
- Fri, February 17, 2012
- Tue, February 21, 2012 (DVD)
- Tue, February 28, 2012 (DVD)
- Tue, February 28, 2012 (DVD)
- Fri, March 2, 2012 (VOD)
- Tue, March 6, 2012 (DVD)
- Fri, March 9, 2012
- Sat, March 17, 2012 (SyFy)
- Tue, March 20, 2012 (DVD)
- Fri, March 30, 2012
- Tue, April 3, 2012 (DVD)
- Fri, April 6, 2012 (Limited)
- Tue, April 10, 2012 (DVD)
- Fri, April 13, 2012 (Chiller)
- Fri, April 13, 2012
- Tue, April 17, 2012
- Tue, April 17, 2012 (DVD)
- Tue, April 17, 2012 (DVD)
- Fri, April 20, 2012 (Limited)
- Fri, April 20, 2012
- Tue, April 24, 2012 (DVD)
- Tue, April 24, 2012
- Fri, April 27, 2012
- Fri, April 27, 2012
- Fri, May 4, 2012 (VOD)
- Fri, May 11, 2012
- Fri, June 8, 2012
- Tue, June 12, 2012 (DVD)
- Fri, June 22, 2012
- Fri, August 17, 2012
- Fri, August 24, 2012
- Fri, August 24, 2012
- Fri, August 31, 2012
- Fri, August 31, 2012
- Fri, September 14, 2012
- Fri, September 21, 2012
- Fri, October 5, 2012
- Fri, October 19, 2012
- Fri, October 26, 2012
- Fri, December 21, 2012
- Fri, January 11, 2013
- Fri, February 1, 2013
- Fri, February 15, 2013
- Fri, February 22, 2013
- Fri, April 12, 2013
- Fri, May 10, 2013
- Fri, June 28, 2013
unrealistic movie, the story doesn't make any sense.
But the ways people get killed or tortured are cool.
i watched the collector last night and agree with your review of the film. it does have a dark atmosphere and a creepy villian and the chase scene's are downright scarey. but there is no backstory and the traps are so over the top it seems like it would take a month to set them up, not 24 hours. like you said if you leave your brain at the door and just watch it for what it is it is actually good if not great. and the one chick who played the daughter, nice rack!!! it only runs an hour and a half and i got it from the red box for $1.00, couldn't go wrong.
I read and hear a lot of comments that The Collector had not time to pu tall the traps down. The IMDb says the same except that for him to have time, he would have had to already had the family captured, which would have eliminated the need for traps. Let me just ask, am I the only one that does not eliminate the thought that the Collector may have set the traps up as a precaution to either an escape or an intrusion. Such like these did happen in the movie. And also, it might be possible that the Collector is fast at putting these traps up because he is experienced with this and even has been doing this for awhile. I would hope to believe that I am not the only one that had thought of this.
i always found saw movies dumb and pretentious. maybe im gonna like this one instead. ill check it out
I really liked this movie and hope there is a sequel.
i loved this movie and cant wait for the 2nd one
. on the movie it says the birth of a new horror icon and i think theyre right 
The fact that the collector can fit a human being in a small box without breaking a sweat makes this movie a must watch.
I thought it was better then most of the horror films that have been coming out lately. Kept me on my toes.
This dvd release date should be updated.
I rented it last weekend at blockbuster
Good, gory fun. The only problem I had was that there was NO WAY the killer could've set up all those traps so fast...
An better than expected, thrilling and tense brutal/thriller that had the feeling of unease and dread throughout, it definitely has one bad@ss killer and puts all the Saw films to shame, well maybe not the 3rd one. The acting wasn't the best at all nor had likable characters yet that little blonde girl definitely was the most likable and better actress to be honest. It succeeds in atmosphere, set up and design and you got to hand it to them for the impressive deadly traps that makes Saw look like Home Alone, nicely done! I think they should forget about the overrated Saw franchise and bury it for good and focus on making this a trilogy or something because I think they have something pretty good on their hands, be smart and continue with this! I will have to agree with some horror critics and say A NEW HORROR ICON IS BORN! Overall I ended up liking this underrated thriller which also has a pretty good soundtrack by the way and they definitely knew their audience which was purely gorehounds! FU!CK SAW THIS YEAR AND SUPPORT THE COLLECTOR BECAUSE IT SURPASSES ALL OF THEM! Recommended! It didn't have much of a script or story but it definitely makes up for it.
my wife and i loved this film. its too bad it didnt get more attention. none of my friends had even heard of it, and by the time i had seen it and told them, it was gone from the theaters. sure it wasnt completely original, but it kept us on the edge of our seats. i thought it was a nice mixture of the strangers meets saw. lots of gore mixed with the suspense of someone screwing with you, trying to cause you pain for their pleasure. loved his mask. nothing like a sinister mask to add to the overall creepy vibe. could've done without the cat scene, though. and did anyone stay till after the credits? i always do, and if you didnt, you missed out on a little something.
shit man...i didn't. somebody {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{spoil me}}}}}}}}}}}
i'm not entirely sure why more people didn't like this film, because i enjoyed it immensely. the production value was dark and gritty with an industrial music tone surrounding throughout. i loved the fact that my every guess as to what was coming next was completely wrong. personally, i will be waiting for a sequel with a lot of anticipation.
The concept interested me but it turned to to be way over the top... I was really excited to see how this movie would play out, folowing the main charactor as a thief, I was really into the little catch line thing "Somebody worse got there first" but it didnt do it for me
I really listened to all the hype and when I read the interview with the directors/ writers I thought this movie was going to be awesome but to me- it didn't live up to the hype. (Spoiler warning) They said in the interview that there is a definate ending but to me it was left wide open a series of Collector movies. At the end of this movie it was not clear to me what he was collecting and/or why he was Collecting it.
If you watched the movie and paid attention to (spoiler alert) what guy he found in the box said, the guy clearly states, "He collects people."
Really dug this film. Had a fast pace and an interesting concept (albeit a little similar to Saw). The killer had a great look as well.
I was on the fence with this one due to comments i heard and read making me fear this as pure bull of a film. But you make it sound like my kind of flick. Cool kills, moody atmosphere, no need to think too hard and hurt the cells sleeping in the brain-pan.
I'm excited about seeing this again...
Thanks