Another movie that I had seen the box art for and never taken the time to watch. The Collector is not a movie for those with a weak stomach. Seriously.
The Chase’s own a large house in the country that they are working to renovate. Currently there are any number of contractors running around their house doing different jobs. One of them is a man named Arkin O’Brien. Arkin is an ex-convict working at the Chase home as a jack-of-all-trade handyman. What the Chases don’t know is that Arkin is casing their house for a jewelry heist.
Arkin is trying to pay off the loan that his wife has apparently gotten into with some really bad loan sharks. He’s been using his knowledge as a former burglar/lock-pick to break into homes for his employer. Arkin’s wife knows that she needs to pay asap or she has to leave town. He decides to break into the Chase home tonight and steal the large, uncut diamond they have in a safe, to pay of the debts. What Arkin doesn’t know, is that there is a sadistic serial killer that also has decided to take something from the Chase house as well. He’s “The Collector” and he needs a new piece for his collection.
The Collector is a hard movie to watch if you don’t like movies in the vein of Saw, or Hostle, or the occasional slasher film. It’s brutal, to the very end. However, even though it wallows in the torture porn style of flick, it’s still a good movie at the base level. Not a lot of dialog to be had, unless you count various screams, but it’s directed well, and the pacing is great. It even has the “classic” horror movie ending and stinger.
This is a film that takes the Home Alone house defense scenario and turns it around a bit. Imagine if Kevin McCallister had turned out to be Jigsaw, mixed with a little bit of Dutch Businessman from Hostle. As Arkin walks his way around the house he initially finds all the boobytraps and then the audience is forced to wait to see how they will all be implemented. It’s a tense movie, to say the least. I found myself checking the runtime of the film just to know how much chance the was of things turning around.
I really enjoyed The Collector. I’m happy to see that there is a sequel to the movie, however it doesn’t appear to have done as well as the original. There aren’t many original movies out there, and this certainly isn’t one, but I’m okay with the new twist it put on some things. Just know, there are a lot of toe-curling, teeth sucking, “Gah!” moments to be had here. You’ve been warned.
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