Collector, The (Blu-ray / DVD)
Steve Barton
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Reviewed by Uncle Creepy
Starring Josh Stewart, Daniella Alonso, Michael Reilly Burke, Andrea Roth, Juan Fernández
Directed by Marcus Dunstan
Distributed by Vivendi Entertainment
In a time when slasher movies regularly result in their victims being bound, gagged, and tortured, it’s hard to bring something new or at least entertaining to the table. With his directorial debut, The Collector, Saw sequel scribe Marcus Dunstan manages to sneak in a few new tricks along with the same old/same old and, as a result, crafts a film that is ultimately worth a look.
While Jigsaw had a million reasons for doing what he did, the main character in this flick has only one motivation — money. Arkin (Stewart) is a handyman with a lot of financial woes, the worst of which are coming from his ex-wife. Good thing for him, though, that his present position has allowed him to freely case a wealthy client’s home. Arkin has a simple plan: Once his employers leave, break in, steal the goods, get the cash, cease his troubles. There’s only one problem. He wasn’t the only one casing the joint. A serial killer whom we’ll refer to as The Collector also has plans for the family, but it’s not their riches he’s concerned with; it’s their lives. Of course Arkin breaks in, and these two scenarios collide with a pretty friggin’ gruesome outcome.
The Collector is a bit of a case of style over substance. Despite all the gore there’s little meat on these bones. It almost feels as if Dunstan had one incredible trap in mind for the Saw franchise but decided to keep it for himself to use here and write a movie around it.
Another problem is that the film is rather outlandish. Some of the traps the killer sets in this flick would have taken days to fully prep and pull off. This maniac fashions these wondrously ingenious ways to kill in what had to be only a couple of hours. Seriously, Jigsaw himself would have been in awe! Still, if you can turn off the old brain and just dig on the whole lot of sick presented here, you’re likely to have a good time with the entire affair.
If you have a Blu-ray player, don’t even think of getting this on DVD. Don’t get me wrong; the film’s standard definition cousin looks and sounds great, but holy shit is this flick striking in high definition! Given all of the neon lighting and its overly saturated look, the flick’s image is dripping with color and depth. It’s ghastly beautiful, man.
In terms of supplemental material the DVD and the Blu-ray are home to the same items. Things kick off with a really good commentary from director Marcus Dunstan and co-writer Patrick Melton, who get just technical enough to please the cinephiles while keeping things light and loose enough for any fan to enjoy. From there things get pretty standard. There are about five minutes of deleted scenes along with an alternate ending that’s marginally different at best. Add on a music video, and we are done, folks.
In the end The Collector does its job. You won’t be hailing it as horror’s next big thing, but at the very least you’ll appreciate the violent gore-soaked absurdity of it all. Dig it!
Special Features:
3 out of 5
Special Features:
2 1/2 out of 5
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