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Josh Stewart, Michael Reilly Burke, Andrea Roth, Madeline Zima, Daniella Alonso ... see more see more... , Robert Wisdom , Juan Fernández , Karley Scott Collins

After a stint in prison, Arkin (Josh Stewart) finds employment as a handyman. But Arkin decides to rob his boss in order to repay his ex-wife (Daniella Alonso). Venturing to his employer's remote coun... read more read more...try house to make the heist, he soon finds himself -- as well as the boss' family -- at the mercy of "The Collector." This masked menace turns the house into a maze of fiendish traps. Only Arkin's wits offer any hope of escape from gruesome death. This bloody, visceral entry in the "torture porn" genre is the directorial debut of screenwriter Marcus Dunstan, whose previous credits include Feast and Saw IV. ~ Robert Silva, Rovi

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48% liked it

60,640 ratings

Critics

29% liked it

65 critics

R, 1 hr. 28 min.

Directed by: Marcus Dunstan

Release Date: July 31, 2009

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DVD Release Date: April 6, 2010

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Stats: 3,396 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (3,396)

  • TheDudeLebowski65
    October 13, 2011
    TheDudeLebowski65
    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 fu... read morerther. 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.
  • skactopus
    August 26, 2011
    skactopus
    Marcus Dunstan knows what he wants out of this film, but The Collector is definitely only for a selected audience.

    The Collector is just under 90 minutes and it really is a sick and torturous journey getting through it. Aside from some brief character introductio

    ... read morens 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.

    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.

    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.

    In short, The Collector is high on suspense and graphic violence, low on amusement. Next.
  • MidnightMadwoman
    August 18, 2011
    MidnightMadwoman
    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... s... read morelasher 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.
  • DerekA101
    June 22, 2011
    DerekA101
    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.
  • Deano78
    December 17, 2010
    Deano78
    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 ... read morelike horrors and don't mind a bit of gore you should like this.
  • lewiskendell
    August 26, 2010
    lewiskendell
    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 j... read moreust 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.
  • MovieGeek13
    August 11, 2010
    MovieGeek13
    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.
  • creepfreak
    July 13, 2010
    creepfreak
    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... read more 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."

    Photobucket

    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
  • Screeny
    July 8, 2010
    Screeny
    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 ... read moreat 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.
  • stuartb1234
    May 4, 2010
    stuartb1234
    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...

View All The Collector Reviews

Critic Reviews

Liam Lacey
October 30, 2009
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

Watching The Collector becomes an experience not so much of dread as big virtual ouches. Full Review

Peter Howell
October 30, 2009
Peter Howell, Toronto Star

If you didn't already know The Collector was written by two Saw franchise hacks, and directed by one of them, it would soon become as obvious as a fish hook to the face. Full Review

Owen Gleiberman
August 5, 2009
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

A sub-Saw knockoff that manages to be brutal yet monotonous, not to mention monstrously unpleasant. Full Review

Jeannette Catsoulis
August 3, 2009
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times

One of the more doltish entries in the torture subgenre. Full Review

Wesley Morris
August 3, 2009
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe

One trap leaves a woman impaled on a movie screen, producing an image that succinctly if literally sums up a genre's cynicism. Full Review

Michael Ordoña
July 31, 2009
Michael Ordoña, Los Angeles Times

Critiquing the filmic technique of this blatant horror franchise-bait is akin to quibbling with the shade of lipstick on a slaughtered pig. Full Review

Roger Moore
July 31, 2009
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

The editing and camera work are self-consciously stylish, as if to say "We're better than this." But the human and moral components are shortchanged. Full Review

John Anderson
July 31, 2009
John Anderson, Variety

A surprisingly stylish and confident high-concept thriller. Full Review

Michael Rechtshaffen
July 31, 2009
Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter

The Collector grafts a torture porn payoff onto a heist thriller setup with messy, illogical results.

Mike Edwards
February 3, 2011
Mike Edwards, What Culture

It's not a classic, but I have a good feeling about The Collector as a new horror villain with a bit of mileage... Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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