Monday, October 21, 2013

The Collector


Why did I not see this sooner!? I’ve been missing out on one hell of an exciting movie! The Collector is about a desperate ex-convict trying to get a debt taken care of hanging on the edge at his ex-wife. As he tries to reason with the loan sharks, he decides to act irrational by breaking and entering inside his new employer’s country home to perform a heist.

Arkin the ex-con attempts to break the safe holding a valuable ruby, but the collector has then entered and locked the room he was in. Arkin’s new boss Michael appears bloody and beaten, and as he attempts to attack him, a trap goes off around the golf club he wanted to pick up, knocking him out.

As Arkin tries to call 911, another trap is set on the phone while the windows have been boarded up with razors behind them, keeping communication and escape out. From then on out, The Collector becomes Home Alone for adults, with unpredictable deadly traps awaiting all around the home and victims being dispersed in such ways that chaos is controlled for a while, until Arkin starts to outsmart the collector.

The suspense and intensity got better and better the longer I watched and there were scenes where I really got surprised of the creative outcomes, plus the gore and deaths will make gore seekers very happy.

Some really solid acting work from Arkin and realistic reactions from the others in this bizarre situation, while the collector himself might look bland first, but his actions surely only made him more memorable the longer I watched.

And he is supposed to have a theme with spiders playing, as he appears to be an exterminator for insects, has spider eyes and takes care of them, like they are his family. This is a must see for thriller and horror fans, where gore and Home Alone fans will especially be pleased!

Rating: 7.5



The Collection is pretty good but not as clever as the first. Effective sequel promising more of the good same traps, action, gore and thrills, The Collection goes more overboard and felt more chaotic during scenes but during the background too.

Arkin is blackmailed by a private mercenary group to rescue a wealthy man’s daughter from a booby trapped warehouse where the collector resides. As expected, the group dies off one by one, and this felt more all over the place. Still, there is creativity and exciting action to be found, and we still do not know the real relationship between Arkin and the collector, nor the latter’s motive(s).

Yes, he collects certain victims, but why? And how are they all being tested? Are the collection boxes a trademark or do they serve a higher purpose? Have these questions been answered already through hints, or will a third film reveal these? In any case, both of them were definitely something different, creative and have good thrills, action and acting.

Rating: 7.0

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