 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 2009 film The Collector and when I'm doing this review I had watched it on the Shutter streaming service, so I think it should still be available there when I'm putting this up now Obviously this film came out during the whole torture porn phase of horror films Which if you think about it really didn't last all that long I mean the the main torture porn films that people still point at nowadays are you know the collector The follow-up the collection All the saw films which is the one that people mostly point to and then the hostile films And then there are a few lesser ones where you know I guess the the French extremity films kind of fit into that area and you know all those things But it was relatively short-lived though. It really wasn't that many films that ended up in the torture porn segment, but yeah, it was a flash in the pan basically but The collector directed by Marcus Dunstan who also directed the collection which was the follow-up the neighbor Hooked up and will be directing apparently the collected which is supposed to be a third installment of this I guess will become a trilogy now I was looking up information on it and I found somewhere where it said it's supposed to be released in 2020 but then I can't find anything about it being released in 2020 and Yeah, we're basically almost done with it. So I don't know what's actually gonna happen with that I am interested to see where they go with it Because I think it's a compelling enough story at its core Written by Dunstan as well and his writing partner Patrick Melton. They've written a lot of scripts together They did the scripts for feast feast to sloppy seconds feast three the happy finish which by the way if people don't know feast came about because of the project green light and John Gulliger was the director of those and I think it was mainly based off of their script that they won Project green light and then they were able to get Gulliger to make the film and then they got two sequels out of that Which was pretty impressive. I'll review those at some point. They also did the scripts for saw four saw five and saw six Also saw the final chapter, which is the seventh one as well now I will say at some point. I will review the saw films overall. I enjoyed the saw films I thought five was awful five I think was probably the worst of all of them six kind of rebounded a little bit a little bit after five And then seven was meh, but I think all the way up through four pretty solid and I thought Some of the some of the things that they did in four with that script was actually not bad They've also written scripts for piranha three double D The collection the collected and the neighbor just so you know So the collector had a three million dollar budget and it made nine point four four million So not bad, you know for a relatively small film. They did fine It was originally called the Midnight Man, which honestly, I think the collector is better It's a much much better title and the Midnight Man was chosen by Dunstan Melton Apparently the production company are the ones that said let's you know not do the Midnight Man Let's do something else It was originally pitched as a saw franchise Prequel now that is an interesting thing to know watching the film and I knew that going into the film So watching and I was like I could see where they could have made this a prequel thing where maybe The killer would have been either John Kramer when he's just getting things started or the killer could have been You know someone who inspired John Kramer, I don't know I don't know what they're what they're thought in tying it into the saw franchise really was obviously They had to kind of change some things in the script after it was decided. We don't want to do the prequel thing So so you know, but it's interesting to know and watch it knowing That it was meant to be a prequel to saw so you can see a lot of the saw influence in the film And I would argue that you don't just see the saw influence in the film because of like the traps Which is the most obvious thing and kind of just the overall story idea, but the directing style I believe this was the first film that Dunstan actually Directed and you can see where he probably took a lot from the saw films and kind of incorporated it into his style of directing Which got to be honest in this film the directing is a little bit rough one of the big things that kind of Jumps out at me is a lot of rough cuts in the film, especially early on in the film Where it's like you go from one cut to another cut and it seems so abrupt In this also in addition to that is the issue that It's mainly just early on in the film It kind of settles down as it goes on further But when there are more characters in the film early on and they're introducing a bunch of people They do a lot of those rough cuts and they have the takes those cuts like starting with a person coming at the camera Like go back and watch the beginning of this film and just take note of how many times it cuts to something and it's someone coming at The camera. It's like repeatedly You really notice it and it's really annoying and and not very good directing honestly So I think Dunstan got better after this film, but a little bit rough There was an alternate ending to this film, which was basically I mean It's actually in the film. They just would have had less of the film basically in the end of the of the originally It was gonna be the arc and gets outside He looks back and he sees Hannah in the window trapped and then they were just gonna end it there Which I would have been fine with that But I think that the way they chose to add on to it and ended up being maybe a little bit better All right, so the opening shot of this film has a bunch of insects inside of a streetlight if you notice And I think that's kind of a clue early on in the film to who the collector Will actually end up being because at the end we obviously see that the collector was in the exterminator crew and I think if you go back to the beginning when when Arkansas are working on the house initially and he goes and tells the Exterminator crew that there's that wasp nest near I think it's a greenhouse The guy with the mask on at the time like the respirator mask I think that's him the guy who plays the collector So if you go back and look that I think that's the dude So I just like how they open with that though with you know the lamp light with all the insects in there It's that clue like collector is gonna be an exterminator The beginning portion with the box in the house is actually a really great attention grabber now I will say I don't Understand this concept of the person in the box being the bait like it seems like the collector does fine Just you know trapping people or killing people or whatever So the idea of the person in the box being bait doesn't actually work really it's kind of a What do you mean type thing? But I will say how they use the box in the beginning of the film really is a great attention grabber It makes you want to know more about this killer It makes you want to know where this film is going and it just gives you just enough to really pull you in So I do like that they started that way, but like I said, I just I don't think this whole using people's bait thing is really Interesting or it doesn't make sense It really does not make sense Especially when you see all the events that happen at the house of those rich people That's just what I'm gonna call them. I don't remember all their names The opening credits music is not so hot It did not age well, maybe it was good for 2009, but it did not age. Well, it's not very good It's actually really annoying and goes on way too long in my opinion not a fan of that I think the hornet's nest that Arken ends up coming crosses is kind of a foreshadowing of him kind later walking into a hornet's nest Because he really does with all the traps and the collector already inside that house They use Arken's daughter a to create instant sympathy in this film I'm sure a lot of people kind of get that that's something that I don't like in film I think that's a very lazy way to make people feel for a character It's been used so much over time in scripts and I don't like it I think it's lazy writing and I think it's dumb I think it's a dumb way to exploit it if it makes more sense if you develop the character even more and you really develop their Relationship with their family or their life situation. It's a little bit different But with this it kind of just jumps into it. It doesn't really explain Arken a whole lot It doesn't explain his life situation a whole lot It doesn't show his relationship with his kid or his ex-wife or ex-girlfriend or whoever it is a whole lot It's very on the surface. There's not a whole lot of depth to the film It really mainly is about the torture porn and just about that main overall idea of this collector Which I like the idea of this character of the collector and he looks great But yeah, the whole using a kid to kind of make people like oh, he's got a kid I mean it it comes into play with making him You know more drawn to trying to save Hannah, but I think that you don't need him to have a kid in order for that to happen I think most people are drawn to ah, it's a kid. I should help them out in this situation You know, I don't have any kids, but if I saw a kid in a bad situation, I would want to help them definitely So just saying this is one of my pet peeves. I know a lot of people out there watch this and be like Oh, it doesn't bother me at all and that's fine. It's just my opinion The dog almost getting Arkon shows that he's not actually prepared for the job that he's about to do when he's going to break into the house But then later it's interesting because they add the twist of you finding out that it wasn't a situation where it was just Oh, he forgot that they had a dog or he didn't know they had a dog That's the collector's dog and then obviously that comes into play later when he six the dog on the police officer Who shows up and you know rips his throat out so I Like that little twist to it The segment of Arkon sneaking around and trying to avoid the collection the collector initially when he gets in the house and realizes There's someone else there is actually pretty well done from a tension standpoint You know all that sneaking around I feel like it goes on maybe a little bit too long But it keeps the tension and it's effective for that reason Especially I like the fact where he's kind of going through and he's discovering some of these traps because he's more You know has more of an eye to to being more aware of his surroundings because of what he's doing It's particularly I like when he's kind of walking through that one hallway And then there's lightning and you see like all of these Kind of trip wires that kind of are making like a spider web almost they almost walks into kind of cool You can see the Arkon debates what to do in this film Whether this is kind of his problem or not or not So I think the you know the facial acting worked pretty well for the the guy who played Arkon because You really see the debate going on that. He's kind of like do I get the goods and get out of here real quick because this isn't really my problem or Do I go with my gut and try and save this family and obviously he sticks around to save the family because otherwise We don't have a movie The collector looks pretty creepy. So that is a huge plus. I already talked about kind of liking that character And what's I wonder what the gloves and mask are made of because they almost look a little bit wet and or like slick I think it was a good choice. I mean the way he looks it's simplistic But it's scary and creepy at the same time especially with that like little, you know Kind of like pull of the corner of the mouth looks good What's with the scene with the collector moving the knife from hand to hand is That a point like when the the older daughter and her boyfriend are there and they see him the collector And he's they make a point of showing his hands where he's like flipping the knife from hand to hand like Is there a point to that? That's that's it seems like a very dumb scene to me and for me It kind of takes the tension down a little bit because it's such a weird thing to focus on. I don't know Maybe other people don't feel that way. I don't know I do really like the bear trap scene with the boyfriend though how he gets nailed with all those bear traps on the floor That was a particularly good scene probably the best death scene in my opinion in the whole film and honestly overall for this being a film that's kind of like Focusing on these traps the traps weren't that good Especially after seeing saw films because this came out after some of the saw films The traps aren't that good. They're not that impressive So it's a bit lackluster for being a film that's a lot about that and being a torture porn film That was supposed to be a saw prequel Just saying So how was the daughter flung onto the spike the spiked wall by the way It happened fast and also just is not feasible Yeah, it happened so quick that was like wait a minute how did that happen we're in the room with the projector Where she gets thrown up against the wall and there are the spikes there like it's a cool death But I was like how does she get thrown that far? Because first of all it was so fast I didn't see it But second of all like it doesn't seem like that would actually be able to happen So it's just kind of a bit ridiculous just because they wanted a cool kill which I would argue You know it was okay The portion showing the bodies around the house to lighter music It's kind of fine where it's just like showing all the bodies around the house people who are dying But then the whole going then the camera like goes outside in the rain and then it goes up in the clouds And then there's like a bolt of lightning that hits the ground What is that about? I Don't get it. I guess like maybe it was some sort of artistic choice. I It's a dumb idea. It was it was a bad idea because it distracts from what you're trying to keep Which is the tension which is people feeling bad for these people It just it doesn't make sense like it has nothing to do with what you're showing nothing. I hated that. Oh The old mirror trick at the end where Arkin tricks the collector by using his reflection for him to shoot at so he can get the upper hand on him I Debate whether or not the collector would have actually fallen for that I mean you could argue that it was dark enough that you know He didn't notice but the collector seems very smart and also very Aware of his surroundings. So I don't really think that he would have fallen for that plus It's kind of a dumb thing like it's a lazy dumb trick in my opinion There's really too much slow motion in the film They use slow motion way too much and I kind of view that as probably a situation with Dunstan as a director being kind of new to directing You don't make the best choices. So yeah, that's one of them I do think this is a solid ending with Arkin going in the box and you finding out that the who the collector Actually was that he was there as the one of the exterminators, but I don't understand How did he have all this time the collector to set up all these traps in the house and Also put all these locks on the door I don't understand because wasn't this at least the way the film played and you know correct me if I'm wrong in the Comments, but the way it played out it seemed like this was the next day after Arkin was there and Did this exterminator just have like? Unmitigated access to the house to do whatever he wanted and no one questioned what he was doing Because that's that's a lot of traps that would have taken a lot of time and the locks as well And women would have made a lot of noise. He wasn't there by himself. I just don't get it like it It just doesn't make sense Just a lot of things don't make sense in this Yeah, so overall. Yeah, the directing seems very amateur already talked about that with the rough cuts and everything And the people moving at the camera so often the beginning You see a lot of the solid influence obviously also with the directing The audio ends up being all over the place. It's like up. It's down. It's it's hard to tell what's going on The music's blaring the music's, you know, not blaring. It's The audio was crazy in this not in a good way. It's a mess and the acting When it really gets going the acting is pretty decent, but early on the acting is rough Real rough this film looks very amateur in the beginning. It gets better as it goes on But man, it looks not so hot in the beginning There's obviously a play on extreme collecting in the film It's an interest in insect collecting that kind of makes a crazy leap to Collecting humans, but I like that like I said, I like the concept of the collector I like that character of the collector and that's why I have seen the collection I guess I should do a review for that and I would be interested in seeing the collector the collected If that even ends up being a movie at this point This takes the idea of you never know who's living in your neighborhood and just moves it to a You never know who you're hiring to work on your house You know think I'll just talk about this because I recently did a review for it Think about a film like the burbs the burbs puts front and center that idea of you never know who's living next door To you you never know who's living in your neighborhood Now this film kind of takes that and changes it a little bit and says you never really know who you're inviting into your house and hiring And what type of access that gives them if they're a terrible person So it kind of plays on those those fears of the unknown of people and what people are capable of so This film is worth watching once. I don't think I want to watch it again. It's not good enough for that I don't think so out of five stars with half stars in play I'm giving this a two star rating. Um I don't think it should I should go any harsher and I don't think I need to go any better I can't give it a two and a half because I don't feel in the middle on it It's not a terrible terrible movie, but I don't think it's that good. So two stars But let's talk in the comments. Do you really love this film? And that's great. That'd be fine You can tell me why do you also not like this film that much? Do you hate this film? Are you in the middle? Let's let's talk about all that stuff and also how do you feel about the saw films Overall, I like them. I think overall story interesting enough And the traps are inventive enough and that's one of the things like I was saying the traps in the collector are Very blah in comparison to saw So anyway, um, do me a quick favor hit that subscribe button If you like this video or any of the videos I've ever done That's your best way to repay me because I don't get paid for this I'm just doing this for the love of horror putting it out there Hoping people consume it and you can let me know you're doing that by subscribing And I'm very thankful for that also hit the notification bell when you do that And then you know whenever I'm putting up a new review or doing unboxing or live stream or whatever But regardless, I appreciate you taking the time to check this out and until next time keep it brutal