The Collector Review

• 20th Oct 2010

Arkin, a strapped-for-cash handyman decides to rob the house of the family he’s been doing odd-jobs for, only to find that a sadistic criminal has got there before him and rigged the house with lethal traps. Can he escape with his life?

You’ve probably read the synopsis above and immediately thought “that sounds like Saw” and yes, there are a lot of comparisons which can be drawn with Jigsaw, especially when you find out that this film was written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan (also directing), who both had a hand in the last four Saw films – and, there’s a bear trap. Several, in fact. This film was also originally intended to be a Saw prequel (an idea quickly dismissed by the producers). Although it does show, and despite the use of similar editing techniques, the film itself has a very different feel to it. Arkin is torn (literally at some points) between his need to escape with both his life and the contents of the safe intact, whilst also feeling the need to save the family trapped inside the rigged house.

If you’ve sat through Saw and its myriad sequels (another one coming soon in 3D!) or other torture-porn specials like Hostel you’ll probably find this pretty easy-going but I’ll happily admit to having to hide behind a cushion more than once. The home-made tortures are particularly gruelling to watch and include dangling fish-hooks, staples, nails and a floor covered in industrial solvent. There is gore galore and this is definitely not one for the squeamish. But, what could have been just another man-in-a-mask movie is saved by bursts of originality. Taking place all in one location, the atmosphere is claustrophobic and the tension is ratcheted up, unrelentingly in every scene making it hard to tear your eyes away from the screen (hence the need for the cushion) as the doe-eyed burglar (Michael Reilly Burke) stumbles around the house narrowly avoiding grisly end after grisly end. There are good performances all round, especially from Karley Scott Collins as the family’s pre-adolescent daughter. The lack of any discernible motivation for the Collector himself (other than complete and utter sadism) is also refreshing, although a sequel, The Collection has already been green-lit, so this will probably be explored at some point.
Extras include deleted scenes and a slightly disappointing alternative ending.

Emma Wilkin