The Collection comes from the minds of the Saw film franchise. But is it any good?
As a sequel to the 2009 horror movie, The Collector, The Collection follows an entomologist serial killer who always kidnaps one victim from each of his crime scenes. More than 50 people are reported missing, including the daughter of a mysterious, wealthy businessman. Said man has hired a a handful of bounty hunters to find his daughter, before she is killed.
Brought to you by several of the SAW sequel writers, this feels like familiar territory. A hooded psycho on the loose, torturing prisoners, yet no one seems to notice whenever he makes a public appearance.
There is an incredible amount of bloody gore crammed into only 82 minutes of this film — Torture porn at its finest. Due to the length of the film, there is very little time for a storyline. It’s non-stop killing.
All the horror-film tricks are used to good effect, including a creepy first-person point-of view, a distorted lens and flickering lights, which all contribute to the scary factor. The most intense moment wasn’t a bump in the night or death, but happened when a character had to re-break his arm, attempting to break out of his cell.
The Collector speaks very few words — if any — and does not have much of a backstory, or even explanation for his motives.
Josh Stewart and Emma Fitzpatrick were believable actors, but both had distracting qualities: Stewart bears a remote resemblance to Chris Hardwick and Fitzpatrick’s closely chopped frock felt out of place. Both of these reasons took me out of the story a little bit.
This was a sequel to a movie I haven’t seen, written by screenwriters of movies I haven’t seen, but they all feel familiar to me.
Bigger isn’t always better. The Collection cost almost three times as much to make than the original, and made far less money. Will there be a second sequel? It’s possible, but unlikely… even with its open-ended finale.
If gruesome deaths are your thing, make sure to check out The Collection.
Strength: Lots and lots of gore.
Weakness: Very little storyline.
WTF Moment: There’s way too many gross-out moments to list here.
Notable Quotes:
– “He always takes one.”
– “You’re at the bad end of good luck.”
– “He’s not a Zombie. He’s just a person… or what’s left of him.”
– “We’re in a concrete tomb. Ten feet underground in a part of the city rats won’t even shit on.”
Review: 3.5/5