SHERDOG MOVIE CLUB: Week 212 - The Collector (2009)

[europe1]

NOTE to NON-MEMBERS: Interested in joining the SHERDOG MOVIE CLUB? Shoot me a PM for more info!

Here's a quick list of all movies watched by the SMC. Or if you prefer, here's a more detailed examination.

Our Director
Marcus Dunstan

Our Stars
Josh Stewart

(No shit. He made the voice for this robot)

Film Overview



Premise: Desperate to repay a debt for his ex-wife, an ex-con plots a heist at his new employer's country home, unaware that a second criminal has also targeted the property, and rigged it with a series of deadly traps.

Budget: $3 million

Box Office: $9.4 million

Trivia
(courtesy of IMDB)

* The writers intended the movie to be a Saw (2004) prequel, but the idea was declined.

* Like "Saw" (2004), this film is also inspired by "Se7en" (1995).​

* The Collector urban legend is really a catch-all legend for creepy hermetic neighbors that may be doing something horrifying inside their dungeon-like basements. The most common "Collector" legend is the neighbor who collects human body parts and proudly displays them in mason jars. In Russia, the Collector urban legend has a bright future because it played out in real life. Its new mascot is local Russian historian Anatoly Moskvin, who stole corpses from cemeteries in dozens of towns east of Moscow. According to police, he dug up at least 29 corpses and made dolls out of them-life-sized faceless female dolls with platinum blond wigs.

* Originally set-up and financed by Dimension Films, "The Collector" was dropped by the cash-strapped studio after they didn't have the funds to release the film. Lidell Entertainment snatched up the rights from Dimension and gave the film a brief, but successful, theatrical run in 2009.​

Members: @europe1 @SwampThing @MusterX @FrontNakedChoke @Scott Parker 27 @Yotsuya @jei @cheesus @HARRISON_3 @Bubzeh @the ambush @SalvadorAllende @moreorless87 @EL CORINTHIAN @HenryFlower @Zer

 

[Bullitt68]

Time to saddle up and ride, SMC.

This movie is awesome, and depending on how hardcore you guys want to go, this would go great as the first part of a doubleheader with The Collector followed by The Collection. They're a nice one-two story punch and together they form a perfectly coherent unit. I do thoroughly enjoy the sequel (minus the silly opening scene) but the original is the best.

For starters, I love Josh Stewart. I've been following him ever since he played the main love interest on Courteney Cox's canceled-before-its-time FX tabloid drama Dirt and I've loved seeing him crush it in higher and higher profile work like as Bane's right hand man in The Dark Knight Rises and as the villainous sniper in the TV show Shooter. @europe1, is it just me or does he have a kind of Alan Ladd vibe? I always think of Alan Ladd whenever I see Stewart. This won't sound like a compliment to either of them, but it's the best way I know to describe what I see: They both, Stewart especially, have this way about them that's as if they're always on heroin or something. It's like they hear, talk, and move a couple of beats behind everyone else, like the world is going on all around them but they're in slow-motion. Stewart would've been right at home in '40s and '50s noir films. And The Collector is a great role for him, a down-and-out dude who is forced to rise to the occasion.

Then, there's the plot. I mean, come on. Dude breaks into a house only to realize that he just walked into a fucking nightmare and now has to use his criminal skills to survive. After I saw this movie, I remember going to work and being so excited just to describe the plot of this movie to people. And a bunch of my friends at work all ended up watching it, and then when we went and saw The Dark Knight Rises we all got a kick out of seeing Stewart on the screen.

And then, last but not least, I love what they did with the villain. That mask and those eyes were so perfectly done, and through the whole film there's never even a real sense that this guy is human, it genuinely feels like he's some kind of reptilian monster, a vicious snake slithering through the house.

I can totally understand people who are squeamish not enjoying this movie (aka wusses) but if you ask me this movie is just too cool not to love. Ever since I first saw it, I've returned to it pretty regularly, probably once or twice a year. It's a cleverly conceived, tightly plotted, and brilliantly executed thriller. I'll be looking forward to hearing what the SMC members have to say.

 

[MusterX]

I'll be watching this tonight. Hopefully I don't have to crack on it.

 

[MusterX]

The opening credits and sound track had a very Se7en feel to it. The way the wife injected botox into her forehead standing in her own living room, the way she just stabbed the needle in without even a flinch, is a warmup to begin deadening the good sense of the viewer. There is some serious underbelly feel to the film from the colors in the topless bar, or the grittiness of the soundtrack. Even the cinematography had moments of foreboding. When Arkin was driving his truck to do the robbery it was filmed from over the truck and the trees surrounding the road were a little blurry and obscured by rolling fog giving an impression that Arkin was driving into another realm, or something unexpected.

One thing that I feel it did well was give me enough information early on to understand the characters. Arkin's ex-wife has custody on his daughter and she owes loan sharks money which spurs Arkin to commit a robbery because he doesn't want his ex to disappear with his daughter Cindy. We get that information in a scene that lasts less than five minutes but it sets the stage for the motivations of the characters. Also of interest is that if you divide the film into 3 acts of 30 minutes each, the first 30 is set up for what is happening, Arkin has until midnight to get the jewel from the safe and when he looks at his watch its almost 11:00pm, meaning the final two acts, or final hour of the film coincides with the hour between 11 and the 12 midnight deadline.

The film is limited in scope to just the house and the genius of it is that it runs in real time. The end of the second act culminates with the capture of Jill as she dials 911. When Arkin is trying to escape the clock on the desk says 11:30, perfectly capturing the end of the second act and signaling 30 minutes to go until midnight as well as 30 minutes to go until the end of the film. The first act was the laying the foundations, the second act saw Jill and her family get killed as well as her boyfriend, and the 3rd act is the contest between the Collector and Arkin.

Good guy Arkin could have just hooked it and escaped at the beginning of the 3rd act but he had to go back to try to save the last remaining survivor of the family, Hannah. Its interesting to note that the ensuing battle results in Arkin being captured by the Collector and the police finally arrive 11 minutes 42 seconds after the initial call was made by Jill. In the end, Hannah is saved and it looks like good guy Arkin is the winner but then a last minute detour allows the Collector to collect Arkin in the final frames of the film.

I'm incredibly disappointed Arkin was collected but I understand that in order to have a gritty film, it needs a gritty ending and I should have seen that coming. I said at the beginning that it had a certain Seven feeling to it and just as Seven had the "What's in the box" gritty end, this film also felt grim at the end. It does speak volumes about the films ability to get me rooting for a protagonist victory. I wanted Arkin to win, I wanted him to get the jewel. I had already plotted out in my head how he was now going to have to take care of a second daughter in Hannah. I had thought about their lives deep beyond the scope of the film only to watch in horror as Arkin was stuffed into a box.

Unexpected gem/10

 

[TheRuthlessOne]

The Collector is one of the best horror films of the 2000s and personally one of my favorites of all time.

The Collector villain is one of the creepiest villains in any horror film.

Arkin is a protagonist that is easy to root for. Even though Arkin is a "bad guy" you still want him to succeed in this heist.

The kills are great and the traps while goofy are brutal. The soundtrack is great and it really ties the movie up like a bow.

The sequel titled, The Collection is unfortunately not as good, however, it still has many redeemable things about it. The kills themselves might be better than whats in The Collector. And the ending is more lighthearted and most likely what people wanted at the end of the first one.

 

[Bullitt68]

Unexpected gem/10

Glad you enjoyed it. This is one of those movies that I'll shout from the rooftops and if just one person hears me and watches it then I'm happy. And like I said, this movie should really be watched as a Part 1 to be followed by The Collection. No spoilers, but you know how in The Collector Stewart finds the dude in the box, the "veteran" from the Collector's previous outing? Well, in The Collection, we meet a new character who finds Stewart in the box and the new ride starts from there...

As I said before, and as @TheRuthlessOne, echoed in here, The Collection is not quite as good as The Collector, but it's still damn good and it ties everything up across the two films very well.

 

[Yotsuya]

I liked pretty much everything else but the torture. Great sadistic apparatus and gruesome deaths, memorable psycho with appropriately vague and weird premise and likeable protagonist who wasn't a cliche.

 

[DC23]

Started like a house on fire imo. Was awesome. Really got me invested but then after about 5-10 minutes of him in the house, it seemed a little repetitive. The whole running upstairs then going downstairs then back up again to try and save a different family member. Plus there was a few opportunities for him to just clobber the guy in the mask and the game was up.

Didn't like seeing the cat die either. Very upsetting. And then the fish.



Ending - aside from the guy running infront of all the cop cars and almost killing himself, I thought it was awesome. Didn't expect it to end so grimly for him and it's made me download the next film so it did its job, I guess.

Gonna give it a.... 6/10. Probably deserves a 6.5 actually. Can't decide.

And then, last but not least, I love what they did with the villain. That mask and those eyes were so perfectly done, and through the whole film there's never even a real sense that this guy is human, it genuinely feels like he's some kind of reptilian monster, a vicious snake slithering through the house.

Agree with this 100 percent. Can't really add much to it.

 

[Yotsuya]

* Like "Saw" (2004), this film is also inspired by "Se7en" (1995).
* The Collector urban legend is really a catch-all legend for creepy hermetic neighbors that may be doing something horrifying inside their dungeon-like basements. The most common "Collector" legend is the neighbor who collects human body parts and proudly displays them in mason jars. In Russia, the Collector urban legend has a bright future because it played out in real life. Its new mascot is local Russian historian Anatoly Moskvin, who stole corpses from cemeteries in dozens of towns east of Moscow. According to police, he dug up at least 29 corpses and made dolls out of them-life-sized faceless female dolls with platinum blond wigs.​

And like Saw, The Collector might also be inspired by Beyond the Seventh Door.

 

[the ambush]

The Collector (2009) - Being a first time viewer I'm split on my feelings on the movie. First, I did like how it was a group up of non-stars in the picture which can be refreshing. Some of you seem to recognize Josh Stewart and who he was, well I did not. I would of liked more of a backstory on who the antagonist/villian was other than he's a licensed exterminator and Hispanic man at the very beginning who gives a thumbs up, I guess a person could call this a minor issue. Again, I like a little more elaboration on motives and what engineers the madness though. When I recently watched Black Christmas it was the same thing in that movie, except you learn even less about the antagonist/villian.

 

[MusterX]

I liked pretty much everything else but the torture. Great sadistic apparatus and gruesome deaths, memorable psycho with appropriately vague and weird premise and likeable protagonist who wasn't a cliche.

I thought it was a nice touch how Arkin unmasked the Collector and saw his face but we didn't ever get to see it. Based on what you can see from the back of his head and his eye holes on his mask he looks like a burn victim or something. Definitely not human, maybe sub-human, or outright alien.

Ending - aside from the guy running infront of all the cop cars and almost killing himself, I thought it was awesome. Didn't expect it to end so grimly for him and it's made me download the next film so it did its job, I guess.

I was like, really, you're just going to run in the path of a speeding car and get hit after all that. The ending caught me off-guard as well because even after the ambulance crashed I thought, ok, now Arkin is going to actually kill this guy so we get some closure on that. Nope.

I would of liked more of a backstory on who the antagonist/villian was other than he's a licensed exterminator and Hispanic man at the very beginning who gives a thumbs up, I guess a person could call this a minor issue. Again, I like a little more elaboration on motives and what engineers the madness though. When I recently watched Black Christmas it was the same thing in that movie, except you learn even less about the antagonist/villian.

Wow, I completely glossed over the fact that the exterminator guys there that gave the thumbs up were working for the Collector. They must have been the ones setting the traps for him. I have no idea how I didn't put that together.

 

[Bullitt68]

I would of liked more of a backstory on who the antagonist/villian was other than he's a licensed exterminator and Hispanic man at the very beginning who gives a thumbs up

Wow, I completely glossed over the fact that the exterminator guys there that gave the thumbs up were working for the Collector. They must have been the ones setting the traps for him. I have no idea how I didn't put that together.

No, what ambush is saying is that the exterminator who gives Arkin the thumbs up is the Collector. Just like Arkin, his inside track on the family and the house was working on the crew.

 

[TheRuthlessOne]

The Collector collects people

Thats all you need to know about him.

They give you more backstory in the sequel but its not going to be what you expect.

There is a third one coming out with same director and what not called "The Collected" and I'm pretty hyped about it.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10245722/

 

[Scott Parker 27]

NOTE to NON-MEMBERS: Interested in joining the SHERDOG MOVIE CLUB? Shoot me a PM for more info!

Here's a quick list of all movies watched by the SMC. Or if you prefer, here's a more detailed examination.

Our Director
Marcus Dunstan

Our Stars
Josh Stewart

(No shit. He made the voice for this robot)

Film Overview



Premise: Desperate to repay a debt for his ex-wife, an ex-con plots a heist at his new employer's country home, unaware that a second criminal has also targeted the property, and rigged it with a series of deadly traps.

Budget: $3 million

Box Office: $9.4 million

Trivia
(courtesy of IMDB)

* The writers intended the movie to be a Saw (2004) prequel, but the idea was declined.

* Like "Saw" (2004), this film is also inspired by "Se7en" (1995).​

* The Collector urban legend is really a catch-all legend for creepy hermetic neighbors that may be doing something horrifying inside their dungeon-like basements. The most common "Collector" legend is the neighbor who collects human body parts and proudly displays them in mason jars. In Russia, the Collector urban legend has a bright future because it played out in real life. Its new mascot is local Russian historian Anatoly Moskvin, who stole corpses from cemeteries in dozens of towns east of Moscow. According to police, he dug up at least 29 corpses and made dolls out of them-life-sized faceless female dolls with platinum blond wigs.

* Originally set-up and financed by Dimension Films, "The Collector" was dropped by the cash-strapped studio after they didn't have the funds to release the film. Lidell Entertainment snatched up the rights from Dimension and gave the film a brief, but successful, theatrical run in 2009.​

Members: @europe1 @SwampThing @MusterX @FrontNakedChoke @Scott Parker 27 @Yotsuya @jei @cheesus @HARRISON_3 @Bubzeh @the ambush @SalvadorAllende @moreorless87 @EL CORINTHIAN @HenryFlower @Zer

For a horror/late night slasher film, 10/10. I remember as a kid waking up in my room at 2 am watching crazy shit like this on the local horror movie presentation, I think it was night flight, loved them. This movie was awesome but when the little girl was involved to be saved I had to fast forward almost to the end. I have a kid about that age, too close to home.

 

[TheRuthlessOne]

For a horror/late night slasher film, 10/10. I remember as a kid waking up in my room at 2 am watching crazy shit like this on the local horror movie presentation, I think it was night flight, loved them. This movie was awesome but when the little girl was involved to be saved I had to fast forward almost to the end. I have a kid about that age, too close to home.

Have you seen the alternate ending?

I want you to know this 100% real and is included with the Blu-ray release

Spoiler: Alternate ending video

 

[KOQ24]

It was a big surprise for me.Every Burglar's nightmare ..........

Still have to watch The Collection

 

[the ambush]

It was a big surprise for me.Every Burglar's nightmare ..........

Every family's nightmare as well.

 

[Yotsuya]

I thought it was a nice touch how Arkin unmasked the Collector and saw his face but we didn't ever get to see it. Based on what you can see from the back of his head and his eye holes on his mask he looks like a burn victim or something. Definitely not human, maybe sub-human, or outright alien.

There was an interesting contradiction between his primitively deranged looks and superhuman cunning.

 

[Brodels]

Great movie. Isn't a third one on the way?

 

[MusterX]

Stewart would've been right at home in '40s and '50s noir films. And The Collector is a great role for him, a down-and-out dude who is forced to rise to the occasion.

That's why I called him "good guy" Arkin in my original post. We know he's not a great guy. He's a professional safe cracker, he has seedy associates like Roy, played by Robert Wisdom, who is as close to a mini-version of Marsellus Wallace as you can get. The top photo is Wisdom, the bottom 2 are Ving Rhames as Marsellus Wallace. In the bar scenes they even used the same red lighting as Pulp Fiction.

So we know Arkin is not a good guy but his character is more complicated than that. He tries to save the family even after he gets the jewel. He goes back to save the girl even after he has escaped. It isn't academy award level writing and acting but I appreciate that Arkin's character is not monotone.