the collector is a curious little horror film, it is one of the films that inspired me, funnily enough, to express my opinion of other films, as such, it's rather embarrassing that i haven't reviewed this yet, but seeing as halloween is upon us, i feel i should get around to it, this film is incredible, it's tense, gritty, and rather nasty, josh stewart delivers one of the best performances, as the poor thief who breaks into the booby-trapped house, the little girl is one of the few child actors that doesn't make me wish for their brutal death, the plot is rather solid and simple to follow, the soundtrack gets extra credit, jerome dillon does a great job, most of the traps are memorable and rather neat, (a guillotine-rigged window, industrial glue, bear traps, razor wire, etc.), the film moves along smoothly, with beautiful and frenetic visuals, and dedicated and efficient direction from marcus dunstan, who has given us the feast trilogy, saw IV-3D and piranha 3DD, the collector is quite a revival for the torture-porn genre, which has divided people like me since saw - samarathenymph xoxo (happy halloween)… Expand

This movie is simply fail. People who like torture porn are morons with too much time on their hands and low paying jobs. The movie's premise is basically an excuse to provide gratuitous violence and gore. Where did the killer find all the time to install all the traps? Why did the cop not call for backup when he first arrived. Etc. etc. The ratings from critics here and on rottentomatoes speak for themselves.… Expand

I thought this was a successful thriller movie. It got under your skin and made you pray that it never happens to you. The things this guy set up to keep people in/out are disturbing to think someone thought about it and then wrote about it for a movie. thank god that person is a writer and not a serial killer.

David Fincher's "Zodiac" was about killing... and investigative reporting. Jonathan Demme's "The Silence of the Lambs" was about killing...and women in the FBI. That's what makes a film like "The Collector" so tedious, it's just about killing(at least Tobe Hooper had hillbillies for local color), and even worse, the aesthetics of killing(at least Wes Craven had Ingmar Bergman's aesthetics to riff off of). So if you're a purist when it comes to killing, but found the murders in the "Saw" series too baroque, rest assured, this latest entry in the "torture porn" subgenre has traps, just traps, not puzzles. Thanks for the homage to filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, but no thanks, was my reaction to the scene where a cat is murdered, which may be an unfortunate reference to the cat burglars played by Cary Grant and Grace Kelly in "To Catch a Thief", who at one point, are in the same house, doing the same job. "The Collector" updates Hitchcock's atypically breezy film by replacing one of the thieves with a psychopathic killer, a home invader with pitch black pizazz. It's a staycation for Michael(Michael Reilly Burke) and Hannah(Karley Collins), who never did make it to the airport, to the burglar's surprise, nor to the end of the movie, to absolutely nobody's surprise. Badly bloodied and badly predisposed, the traps aren't for the adults(including Arkin, the unexpected guest); the traps are for the two daughters, because moviegoers love to see bloodied females without their tops or their heartbeats. As Jill(Madeline Lima) and her boyfriend do what teenagers do best in slasher pics(which is die in the most grisly fashion possible after some form of copulation), the moviegoer realizes that the other daughter, the small girl, could easily have been the one to be impaled on a wall, or be mutilated by bear traps. The potential for this little girl's violent death is what's ultimately off-putting about "The Collector", a film about killing, plain and simple.… Expand

Scary, sick, awesome!!!

For torture porn, this was fairly gripping. I left the theatre assaulted and a bit puzzled. There are a lot of unanswered questions, but realism is not something one expects while viewing a movie about an omnipotent killer who can out think their prey at every twist and turn. Very little of the plot makes sense. However, your eyes, ears and sense of the appropriate are so overwhelmed by the sound and editing technique employed - you don't have time to ponder much. It's on the ride home that you begin to ask yourself... what about...? And why did he.....? And how did they… Expand

Grabs you by the throat and squeezes.

I loved every minute of THE COLLECTOR! This high-concept horror flick owes more to Dario Argento and the Italian giallo films of the '70s, than the recent crop of subpar SAW knock-offs and standard torture-porn fare. If you love stylish, well-made horror films (and not these big-budget H'wood remakes or PG-13 teen screamers) then please see this movie. There's already talk of a sequel.… Expand

Awesome movie, With a small plot but still really good plot none the less and lots of gore. I would say this was one movie I really enjoyed. People who are rating it so low I do not know what your smoking or what kind of horror movie you think is good... please do not tell me you like the ring.

Boring, not a good movie at all.

I once strapped a camera to my dog's back to see what a canine does in a twenty four hour time frame. As it turns out, my German Shepard is a far better writer than Mark Dunstan (the guy who created this sh*tty film). The Collector aka "How Not to Make a Movie" is by far the worst film of all time.

The dilemma facing Arkin, to save both families or his own skin, is something not often seen in horror movie fare. It provides a catalyst for audience involvement that goes beyond vicarious body-count watching. When the Collector goes after the little girl, forcing Arkin to make difficult choices between physical safety and his conscience, it made me root for this home team to hit a home run. But all Dunstan and Melton can do is get stranded at first base. They dote on the bloody-hell messy parts of the movie, replacing most of the suspense with typical--for a psycho-butcher-torturer movie--outcomes. Closeup views of lip sewing, chisel to teeth, shears poised to snip a pliers-held tongue, carving a roast without the roast, and, really, just about every dire torture-gore situation and its outcome we now anticipate due to their overuse is here in lavish closeup. It is stylish, it is done well, but it has all been done before.… Expand

I enjoy the torture porn genre, so I have no complaints about the gore. But the premise of this movie is just plain stupid. Who exactly was the killer expecting to show up and set off all of his traps? I didn't see an open house sign. Free cookies?

I for one am a fan of the Saw movies and had high hopes for this movie that said it would redefine intensity. The premise was great but it was dumbed down by the senseless characters who came just to die 3 minutes later. Also the main character Arkin held up well acting but the character itself missed many opportunity to either get away or kill the collector. It was just uninventive torture porn.

From the writers of Saw...we give you...another film that is simply a poor rip off of a dying franchise. The Collector does nothing to seperate itself from other films in a similar catagory (Saw...). While the villian does have a lot of potential and could be one of the newest horror movie icons to come out, The Collector doesnt do him any justice at all. The acting was suprisingly solid however lack of orginality ruined its potential.… Expand

The Collector can't manage to collect a damn thing that would make itself the least bit interesting, let alone a film. A premium Grade-A unwatchable film.

This review contains spoilers. This movie is awesome, until the part that it becomes a JASON'S movie... Because its made with very creativity, but in fact it's only a common movie... Don't watch, but if you want to watch. Just stop the movie remaining 3 minutes to finish, in the part when the victim is in the ambulance's car… Collapse

There really was no plot to the film what so ever. Its pretty much a serial killer who kills for the heck of it in this film, which is rather disapointing considering it was by the guys who wrote Saw 4-7 and Saw had a great story behind it.

What I did like about the film was that it was a cat and mouse game that was fun to watch. Adding in violent (sometimes overly violent) traps and a few suspensful moments and you have a decent horror film. The Collector isnt bad and its worth the watch but it has a long way to go before being a respectable horror franchise.… Expand

I liked it. I think Marcus and Patrick have really defined themselves as masters of horrors with this film. It was incredibly gory and a little suspensful as well. I enjoyed it, Can't wait to see the sequel.

A phenomenal, incredible torture flick, who knew josh stewart could actually ACT, and act well, the collector himself is actually very unsettling, another thing i'd like to mention is the soundtrack, why do people hate the groans and screaming so much? sure, it's out of place and unusual, but it really adds to the film in a strange way, and it's capped off with a brilliant ending which i was utterly blindsided by when i first saw it, anyone who says they are a cinephile MUST see this!… Expand

One brutal, claustrophobic, and mostly original piece of work, i couldn't recommend the collector highly enough... seriously, not even if i tried...

Brilliant

an amazing horror film, with almost NO CGI at all, if that isn't refreshing enough, i don't think we can be friends...

Loved it...

a really cool, entertaining film, the collector is fun for everyone who isn't an animal lover, and maybe a really terrible, sickening experience for those who are, but either way, it's effective

a modestly inventive torture-horror film, it's fuelled by solid performances and a well-written screenplay, it's grim, demented, but sometimes it drops the ball and becomes tedious, overall, a good movie.

This is a decent Horror that borrows elements from the Saw series but its an interesting concept as our lead Arkin breaks into a house to steal something but ends up not being able to leave as The Collector is holding a family hostage there. It's quite suspenseful and has plenty to keep you intrigued and entertained. There has recently been a sequel released so I refreshed my memory with this one and now I'm looking forward to watching the follow-up, but here's where it starts … Expand