The Collector (2009)

Since I've already reviewed "The Collection" http://hauntingchillingthrilling.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-collection-2012.html , it only made sense that I would get around the the original film, "The Collector". Being the first film it is smaller in scope, has a slightly lower budget, and a much smaller death count. Although writer/director Marcus Dunstan originally wanted to make this film into a "Saw" prequel (Dunstan had written the final four "Saw" films), the producers made him make this into an new film franchise. While the movie takes place in a single, large family home, the traps that the Collector has set feel more like booby traps than "Saw" like games, where as in "The Collection", there are a few traps that do feel like games. What's great about "The Collector" when compared the "The Collection" is that we fully see Arkin's character, learn in a bit more about the Collector, and that the film doesn't feel to over the top. Some may say that this is just another Torture Porn film but I see this particular film less in the vein of "Hostel" or "Saw" and more akin to "Last House on the Left".

Ex-felon Arkin is trying to live a life on the straight and narrow but he's forced back into the life of crime when he finds out that his wife owes a large sum to violent loan sharks. Up to this point, Arkin has been working as a handyman for a nice family who is restoring their giant house. For some reason they have a huge gem in their safe and that is what Arkin is planning on using to pay of his wife's debt. Unfortunately for everyone, a serial killer with an appreciation for bugs, torture, and deadly traps has decided that this nice family are to be his next victims and that Arkin is now also a would-be victim as well....


Favorite moment - I was truly impressed by the effects and filming techniques used when an ambulance is hit and you see the people and supplies inside fly around as the ambulance tumbles over.