Love it or hate it, the Saw series has brought in a damn good amount of money and won over quite a few horror movie enthusiasts. While the first three films provided something fresh in the world of storytelling, giving us a killer with morals, and some of the most clever and unexpected twists along the way, the last two films have generally lacked the creativity and complexity that made the series so great. This is obviously due to the change in writers between the third and fourth Saw films. As the final film approaches, one can only be wary of how the film will hold up, and how it will complete the saga. If The Collector is a sign of what's to come, there may be a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel.
Written by the writers of Saw IV, V, and the upcoming VI, The Collector is a horror film that mixes a classic slasher-film formula with the traps and torture of Saw. The film begins with Arkin, a man who was hired as a handyman for a number of odd-jobs by a fairly wealthy family. However, Arkin holds some hidden motifs. Not only have the odd-jobs helped him earn some money in an attempt to save his wife and daughter from loan sharks, Arkin has been scoping out the place to plan for a break in. When Arkin takes his information to his crime boss, however, he is denied any help for the job and Arkin must go in alone to steal a precious stone from the family's safe. While in the house, he discovers that he is not alone, and that he may never escape.
Horror films tend to follow the same basic formula: The Set-Up, The Killing, The Survival, and The Reveal/Twist. The Collector is no different, but it does some of these things really well. Beginning with the set-up, the film gets off to a nice start with some great character development. After the characters are introduced (though only a few are key-players), the movie moves seamlessly into its second phase, and it puts Arkin in a much different situation than what we are used to seeing in horror films.
The killing phase of the film is done nicely, with some fairly creative things thrown into the mix. As Arkin is attempting to flee the house after realizing someone is there, he discovers the house littered with traps that would make Saw fans proud. While the traps are not high-tech pieces of heavy machinery, they are quite creative and seem much more like a human could have put them together. The film stays intense, using honest fear as it's engine rather than cheap jump-out-at-you scares that wannabe horror films use constantly. The Collector also does a good job at utilizing torture scenes and gore only when needed, and leaving many things up to the imagination. While much of the film works, there is still quite a bit that doesn't, especially toward the end, which ultimately leads to a "yeah, I totally saw that coming" sort of ending. The main problem that I found with the character of the killer is that you never really learn anything about the motivation behind everything. Even killers like Jason and Michael Myers has their reasons for doing what they did.
Throughout the film, however, Josh Stewart's (Arkin) performance is a little lacking, making it hard to care about his character and it tends to take away the feeling of urgency that the movie does so well. This is generally the same with the rest of the cast, though they aren't seen as much in the film. Aside from the acting, director Marcus Dunstan gets creative with his camera shots, and overall does a good a job making suspenseful scenes without ruining them with cheesy angles.
The Collector's soundtrack is filled with some truly dark electronic music, which seems to fit the movie well. However, at times it feels like the soundtrack is far to loud and chaotic, especially when there is music playing behind dialogue, as it drowns out the actors far too much. Still, after seeing the film, the first thing I thought about was wanting to purchase (or download, ahem) the soundtrack.
All-in-all, The Collector is a great horror film, though it felt a little lacking. Why is the killer committing these murders? Why choose this particular house? What does he do with his collection? These are just a few of the important questions that are left unanswered, with little to no information to allow the audience to decided for itself. The film is a breath of fresh air in a time where horror films offer no new scares or creative ideas, but still doesn't quite have what it takes to be the next big thing.
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