The Collector (2009)

Desperate to repay his debt to his ex-wife, an ex-con plots a heist at his new employer’s country home, unaware that a second criminal has also targeted the property, and rigged it with a series of deadly traps.

The Collector was written by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, with Dunstan taking on the director duties. This paring are most famous for creating the ‘Feast’ trilogy as well as writing the ‘Saw’ movies IV – VII (3D). This film was at one point intended to be a ‘Saw’ prequel but that idea was abandoned and we got The Collector instead.

The plot revolves around a guy named Arkin (Josh Stewart) who is an ex-con working with a home renovations crew performing work for a wealthy family. Arkin’s ex-wife is in debt with loan sharks, so to protect her and their daughter, Arkin plans on breaking into the family home and stealing a rare gem they have hidden in a safe so he can use it to settle his ex-wife’s debt. As always, things don’t go according to plan. When Arkin breaks into the house, he soon discovers that someone else has already broken in, and has hidden numerous traps around it. The other intruder (The Collector) has captured Mr. and Mrs. Chase but their youngest daughter is hiding somewhere in the house. Arkin discovers the couple (who are not in the best of situations!) and agrees to help them find their daughter, forcing him to try to figure out a way to save those whom he had originally intended to rob.

I had never really seen Josh Stewart in anything other than a few episodes of Criminal Minds, so I was unsure what to expect of him as a leading man. I had nothing to fear though as he was great, in a role in which he played a down on his luck ex-con, he gave the character depth and I really wanted him to find a way out of the house. He was just really watchable and I was enthralled in his journey around the maze of traps. I loved the tense game of cat and mouse between Arkin and ‘The Collector’ and with twists and turns around every corner it never got boring.

The villain of the film was actually a refreshing change. Naturally I won’t give anything away about him but I can say he actually is an intelligent bad-guy who thoroughly enjoys his work and is good at doing what he does. Along with John ‘Jigsaw’ Kramer (Saw!), Melton & Dunstan have done some great work establishing two great genre villains. (Obviously they didn’t create Jigsaw but have helped shape him and his legacy throughout the last 4 movies).

As for the traps themselves, you can tell the writers were coming from the ‘Saw’ universe. Sadistic and designed mostly to maim rather than kill, the traps were brutal but effective. Some examples of the traps range from nails in the floor boards, bear traps laid out in the dining room to butcher knives hanging from chandeliers. Throw in some razor wire and a few more surprises and we have a nice mix of tricks and treats for our characters to try and avoid.

Whilst a couple seemed a little extravagant for ‘The Collector’ to set up, the fact that the items were pretty much obtainable anywhere rather than some of the crazy traps the later ‘Saw’ films resorted to made it all the more realistic. Given the nature of the traps it’s safe to assume the movie has a lot of blood on display. Torture and graphic violence are constant throughout, it’s visceral and very nasty and the injuries obtained by people in the film look frighteningly realistic. That is added to by the look and cinematography of the film, which is well shot and the lighting was very reminiscent (not surprising really) of the ‘Saw’ series.

There were some interesting plot developments throughout the film, and things we were shown at the beginning made more sense as the movie went on. We are only given a brief insight into why ‘The Collector’ does what he does, and it seemed much more of a set up film rather than a stand alone experience. Luckily we will get to explore the villain and his philosophies in a sequel (The Collection). I can’t really go into much more detail without spoiling it, but despite being set in a house for the majority of the film, there are plenty of rooms in this big house each full with all sorts of traps. Characters are introduced throughout the film and it adds a new danger to Arkin’s plight every time. Having seen the theater ending and the alternate ending I’m glad they went with the one they did. I have seen a lot of criticism in other reviews about a lack of information regarding certain characters and lots of loose ends, but as I mentioned above I really feel this is just the beginning of a story and I can’t wait to see part 2 to learn more about who ‘The Collector’ really is.

Posted by Tysoncarter182 on July 4, 2012

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