Review: THE COLLECTOR
Rating: 7/10
Writers: Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan
Director: Marcus Dunstan
Cast: Josh Stewart, Andrea Roth, Madeline Zima
Studio: Fortress Features
THE COLLECTOR is written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan (who also directed the film), the screenwriters of the last two SAW films and the upcoming SAW VI, and the boys’ background definitely shows, as their latest film has the SAW staples of deadly gadgets and grisly gore. However, THE COLLECTOR does have one critical element that the SAW films tend to lack, and it’s suspense. Unlike the SAW films, THE COLLECTOR actually cares, giving us creepy tension before the bloody pay-off, as Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan prove that they are at their best when not working within the constraints of the SAW franchise.
The premise for THE COLLECTOR is fairly clever one. A thief, Arkin (Josh Stewart), breaks into a house, only to find that the family inside is already under attack by a twisted killer who has rigged the house with complex contraptions that will mean blood loss and possible death for those who trigger them. Melton and Dunstan give us enough back story to let us know that Arkin is a flawed, but decent, man. We know he isn’t the kind of guy that can turn his back on people in danger. So we get to watch Arkin try to survive the house of horrors that the villain (the titular Collector) has created, while attempting to save those he has found in critical condition, and also trying to find the family’s youngest child, who is supposedly missing somewhere in the house.
The film’s satisfying amount of suspense largely comes from wondering if Arkin is about to walk into his death, via the Collector’s traps. The filmmakers do a nice job of dangling the possibility that every step Arkin takes could be his last, letting our minds helplessly wonder about the safety of the protagonist and whether or not he will be alive long enough to save the family; there is a lot of effective teasing going on in THE COLLECTOR.
The violence that does happen in THE COLLECTOR is rather bloody but, wisely enough, it usually happens quickly, and it not dwelt upon, unlike what we have previously seen in the SAW films. There are a few gory exceptions, but not enough to ruin the fun as, thankfully, when the blood comes in THE COLLECTOR, it tends to be more startling than gross.
THE COLLECTOR is a nice genre film that should delight those looking for something a little twisted this summer.
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