The Collector (2009)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Jeff "

  
  The Collector is one messed up horror film. The film makes Saw look like a Disney film. Almost. This horror effort is a new breed of the "torture porn" genre of horror. The concept is terrific. The film takes ideas from the Saw franchise and amplifies the use of the traps… More
  The Collector is one messed up horror film. The film makes Saw look like a Disney film. Almost. This horror effort is a new breed of the "torture porn" genre of horror. The concept is terrific. The film takes ideas from the Saw franchise and amplifies the use of the traps even further. This is a bone chilling film that is very unnerving and disturbing. I don't see why this film has gotten so much flack; it is a very good film that will appeal to fans of the Saw series, Hostel films and other films of the "torture porn" genre. The film will leave you on the edge of your seat till the very end, and there is constant fear and dread throughout the film. The Collector is not a film for the faint of heart. The film will keep you on the edge of your seat, and it delivers the scares, the unnerving viewing experience that you'd expect. The film has its flaws of course, but for the most part, it succeeds at delivering good enough tension, and horror for you to be entertained and feel uncomfortable. This is a well done, well acted horror film, and it doesn't deserve the bad rep it has received. The film is good, thrilling and very disturbing. The Collector possesses key elements that should appeal to diehard fans of horror. This is an underrated film that, if you have chance, you should pick up and give it a shot. A thoroughly disturbing viewing experience awaits you with The Collector.

• Justin Y

  
  Marcus Dunstan knows what he wants out of this film, but <i>The Collector</i> is definitely only for a selected audience.<p><i>The Collector</i> is just under 90 minutes and it really is a sick and torturous journey getting through it. Aside from some… More
  Marcus Dunstan knows what he wants out of this film, but <i>The Collector</i> is definitely only for a selected audience.<p><i>The Collector</i> is just under 90 minutes and it really is a sick and torturous journey getting through it. Aside from some brief character introductions and less than stellar story setup, which is all this movie needs, this picture is all about sadistic torture. Nothing more, nothing less. That's all there really is to it. That and an unfulfilling conclusion.</p><p>The gore effects are top notch and the torturous traps are brutal, albeit a bit much. There should be no question as to what is the highlight of this production.</p><p>Josh Stewart isn't much of a lead, but since The Collector is one unlikeable guy, it becomes rather easy to route for him over the course of this film. There really isn't much else to talk about in regards to the characters or the acting except that Madeline Zima finds the time for some nudity.</p><p>In short, <i>The Collector</i> is high on suspense and graphic violence, low on amusement. Next.</p>

• Emily A

  
  Hmm. This movie is quite the curveball. I bought it dirt cheap and didn't have very high expectations, but it turned out to be genuinely quite frightening. I like the premise: a guy happens to burgle a house on the same night as the family living there is being attacked by a...… More
  Hmm. This movie is quite the curveball. I bought it dirt cheap and didn't have very high expectations, but it turned out to be genuinely quite frightening. I like the premise: a guy happens to burgle a house on the same night as the family living there is being attacked by a... slasher movie monster, and has to do the right thing in order to get out alive. I didn't really dig the way the women in this movie weren't so much characters as plot devices, but the mystery around the villain didn't annoy me, which it usually does. It doesn't matter why he's doing this, or how he's managed to rig every room in the house with trip-wire death traps. He's just a monster and as such, has that going for him as both motivation and method. In fact, there's a whole backstory to the killer that gets alluded to, but never elaborated upon. He is what he is. Just run. But watch very carefully which window you try. The hero in this movie rises to the challenge admirably, and was refreshing in his likeability and formidable strategic thinking. You'd think that he'd been trapped in a horror film before. It's funny; this film begins with all these great plotlines, all of which get thrown away when shit hits the fan and none are ever resolved. Oh well. That's not what we came here to see, and maybe part of the horror is that it's not only the people at the mercy of the collector that are screwed.

• Derek A

  
  Stylish and well-acted, but the story is riddled with holes and takes a nose dive in the final act. I hope someone rewrites this one day because it's a very good idea. And that music was pretty damn intense and scary.

• Dean !

  
  I thought this was a decent horror/thriller with a good plot base even if the story side is quite thin. From the writers of the Saw films and it shows in some of the intricate death traps in the house. Bloody and mildly gory briefly it certainly creates plenty of tension. If you like… More
  I thought this was a decent horror/thriller with a good plot base even if the story side is quite thin. From the writers of the Saw films and it shows in some of the intricate death traps in the house. Bloody and mildly gory briefly it certainly creates plenty of tension. If you like horrors and don't mind a bit of gore you should like this.

• Lewis C

  
  If sadistic torture and a constant barrage of brutality is your favorite flavor of horror, The Collector will be right up your alley. More than any Saw movie could have done, though, it proved to me that this kind of stuff really isn't my thing. There's a story here, but… More
  If sadistic torture and a constant barrage of brutality is your favorite flavor of horror, The Collector will be right up your alley. More than any Saw movie could have done, though, it proved to me that this kind of stuff really isn't my thing. There's a story here, but it's just a setup for about two hours of people having horrific things done to them. I'm not squemish about violence, blood, etc., but at there's a certain level where there's no entertainment in it for me. The Collector crossed that point at about the thirty minute mark and never looked back. I'm not saying this is a bad movie, my score is simply an indication of the fact that this is so far removed from the kind of movie I like, that I found it to be unbearable. Hopefully I'll never see anything like this again.

• E.J. B

  
  Review Summary: There is so much gore that I really couldn't blame someone for dismissing this film as mindless torture porn. But the film doesn't have any aspirations to go beyond that genre. If you can stomach it, The Collector just happens to be good at what it does.

• jd c

  
  A dark film (literally), everything looks underexposed (which kind of sucked) - or maybe it was just my shitty DVD player, which sometimes leaks Hydrofluoric fluids (which is extremely corrosive and difficult to handle) but I doubt it since every other movie I watch looks fine (a… More
  A dark film (literally), everything looks underexposed (which kind of sucked) - or maybe it was just my shitty DVD player, which sometimes leaks Hydrofluoric fluids (which is extremely corrosive and difficult to handle) but I doubt it since every other movie I watch looks fine (a little discolored pixilation, but that goes away when the mushrooms wear off) Well anyways The Collector is a dark story as well. It's also bloody as fu*k. I was surprised how much violence they showed in this movie. It's pretty much just a movie about torture...for 75 minutes of the film. Not 75 minutes of blood, shit, and guts. No, most of the movie has someone tied up, screaming or crying, being tormented, and people trying to avoid deadly booby-traps, which was set up all over a house in just one night (*cough*bullshit) by a sadistic killer who's motive is shoved so far up his anal rectum he forgot why he's killing in the first place. That has to be the reason. OR maybe his brown little mask was tied so fu*king tight around his big head he lost circulation to the brain, causing immediate mental deficiency and subnormal retardation. BUT wait! How was he able to set up all these flying bear traps quicker than a cinnamon fart on a croissant by the Powdered Toast Man? Maybe the killer was trained by the oh so mighty Chuck Norris. OR maybe the killer was really Chris Angel just fu*king around with everyone, but why take a joke so far? Why should people have to die for his pleasure?! Magic isn't what it use to be. Again, everything was very dark to see, so I might be making fun of the wrong movie right now. But I'm pretty sure it was the Collector. If this is the same movie where every scene blows smelly skunk nuts, than yeah, it's The Collector. Anyways just like my review, this movie is a joke. It's horrible and more far fetched than when my friend Salomon told me he didn't have any cavities and that the tooth fairy owed him 10 grand. As the great Salomon once quoted, "That bitch don't drop my dough, I'll pop that little ho." <a href="http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm89/JDHallowEEn/HorrorQf/?action=view&current=Salomon.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm89/JDHallowEEn/HorrorQf/Salomon.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> I guess one good thing about the movie is that it's bloody...and uh.....uhh.....oh I give up... don't watch it. Goodbye

• Corey W

  
  There isn't much to expect from a movie behind the guys who created "Saw" other than blood, gore, and disguesting traps. With what is somewhat similar to the SAW flicks with the insane traps and such, the movie does have a tad bit of a difference in it, but the movie… More
  There isn't much to expect from a movie behind the guys who created "Saw" other than blood, gore, and disguesting traps. With what is somewhat similar to the SAW flicks with the insane traps and such, the movie does have a tad bit of a difference in it, but the movie has no plot at all. Plus, we get no answers and based on the end of this I now know why these guys are wrapping up the SAW series this October, because they're going to push sequals through this now.! Just like Saw its all about making the craziest brutal death scenes, which shears this away from any story. Not worth the time, skip it.

• Stuart B

  
  An excellent low budget horror movie that never skimps on shock. So much better than the over-rated SAW movies. If you are a horror movie fan you MUST see this film...

• A.D. V

  
  It's never boring I'll give it that but no one is fleshed out enough to care about them nor is the killer given any kind of depth or motivation other than the obvious collecting thing. Stewart and Fernandez were quite enjoyable to watch and everything on a technical level… More
  It's never boring I'll give it that but no one is fleshed out enough to care about them nor is the killer given any kind of depth or motivation other than the obvious collecting thing. Stewart and Fernandez were quite enjoyable to watch and everything on a technical level was all well done but alas the end result still left me cold and uncaring.

• Josh L

  
  An incredibly gory horror movie that puts Saw to shame in that particular category. I never flinched while watching those films, but this one got to me several times. It has a cool premise (guy breaks into a house to steal something to pay off loan sharks and finds that someone has… More
  An incredibly gory horror movie that puts Saw to shame in that particular category. I never flinched while watching those films, but this one got to me several times. It has a cool premise (guy breaks into a house to steal something to pay off loan sharks and finds that someone has booby trapped it and locked everything) and plenty of suspenseful moments, but they could have held back at least some on the copious amounts of gore that will turn off all but the most ardent of horror fans. They will lose certain audience members just from that. I will say that it engaged me the entire running length and the protagonist is easy to root for, even though we know he was trying to steal from the family. It has some a few slight twists too, but the ending is a little on the rough side for anyone who likes a happy ending. You don't get it here, that's for sure. Far from awful, but not quite good, The Collector is a solid rental as long as you like horror movies with more gore than brains.

• EightThirty .

  
  09/04/2010 (DVD) Professional Thief versus Psychopathic Maniac, who's going to win? One has a set of skills for never getting caught while the other is a Booby Trap Specialist. This is 'SAW' vs. 'OCEANS 11'. Its not as smart as the 'SAW' films… More
  09/04/2010 (DVD) Professional Thief versus Psychopathic Maniac, who's going to win? One has a set of skills for never getting caught while the other is a Booby Trap Specialist. This is 'SAW' vs. 'OCEANS 11'. Its not as smart as the 'SAW' films but its definitely inherited the brutality from its creators Dunstan and long-time collaborator Patrick Melton (the duo behind Dimensions? Feast franchise and Saw IV thru VI). To be honest, I never really heard about this film, but when we played it in class... Brutal, absolutely brutal.

• Dead A

  
  Boring. Still have this in my PC. I thought I'll watch the entire movie but I just don't feel like watching this.

• Steve K

  
  Silly, shallow premise, but watchable. Fernandez is quite good.

• Nani V

  
  Aahh...I have to admit I was looking forward to a sick film, but it didn't disgust me as bad as I thought it would. My question is, "How did he set all of that up in that amount of time?" Doesn't make much sense...It's a pretty simple "scary movie"… More
  Aahh...I have to admit I was looking forward to a sick film, but it didn't disgust me as bad as I thought it would. My question is, "How did he set all of that up in that amount of time?" Doesn't make much sense...It's a pretty simple "scary movie" that doesn't have the twists and such like the SAW films, but watch it anyway if it's your cup of tea.

• Aaron N

  
  Arkin: Keep your eyes on my back, don't look around. I guess this movie is being promoted as "From the guys who wrote a bunch of crappy Saw movies," but my interest in this came from the fact that these guys wrote Feast, an OK horror flick that had a fun, twisted sense… More
  Arkin: Keep your eyes on my back, don't look around. I guess this movie is being promoted as "From the guys who wrote a bunch of crappy Saw movies," but my interest in this came from the fact that these guys wrote Feast, an OK horror flick that had a fun, twisted sense of humor, and showed potential for the future. This film manages to be incredibly stylized, gory, and full of tension. It requires to big leaps of faith, but its more enjoyable than the Saw movies for a number of reasons; It doesn't require high expectations, it doesn't try to trick the audience and be too clever for its own good, and it actually manages to create tension and scares. Josh Stewart stars as Arkin, a locksmith who moonlights as an amateur thief. After a quick setup to provide motivation, Arkin goes to rob from the safe of a house he has helped work at. Little does he know that the very house he is attempting to rob has been taken over by a serial killer, who has managed to setup traps all over the house. Now, Arkin must survive and try to protect the very family he was going to rob. Why this killer, known as the Collector, has decided to place traps everywhere makes almost no sense as well as no difference to me. Will it lead to cool looking but nasty and gratuitous gore? Yes, but the movie doesn't try to apologize for its premise. The character of Arkin is very much the voice of the audience when it comes to understanding how fucked up the situation is. This movie is certainly benefited by how well made it is. After a very Se7en-ish opening credit sequence, we are treated to all kinds of camera tricks, editing smashes, dutch angles, sound effect tricks, bumps, and creaks, and it all works very much to the film's advantage. The separation from a film like this and a big studio pic like Friday the 13th is thin, but I enjoyed how this film was made much more and it didn't feature annoying characters designed for you to want to see dead. This is very much style over substance, with a very hard R rating, but I can enjoy an original horror story that manages to provide some scares, which is certainly a change in pace for most films in the genre nowadays. Arkin: You have me, let the girl go!

• Jacob P

  
  An awesome horror movie, also very bloody\gorey.

• August S

  
  The Collector could have been good but it was covered by unbelievable traps and some, unnecessary gore that has been put there only to satisfy gore fans. The kills are clever though but as far as the story is concern, it is quiet good and disappointing at the same time.

• Daniel P

  
  Incredibly dumb, coincidence-heavy home-invasion horror flick that owes all of the bad and none of the good to the <i>Saw</i> franchise. Tedium sets in at the half-way point and the grimy, murky colour scheme and indifferent performances don't help. There's also… More
  Incredibly dumb, coincidence-heavy home-invasion horror flick that owes all of the bad and none of the good to the <i>Saw</i> franchise. Tedium sets in at the half-way point and the grimy, murky colour scheme and indifferent performances don't help. There's also a totally gratuitous tits scene that made me feel queasy since the character is implied to be in her teens. An extra half star for a decent music score and because Josh Stewart is ok.

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