Starring: Josh Stewart, Juan Fernández, Madeline Zima, Karley Scott Collins
Director: Marcus Dunstan (directorial debut)
Running Time: 1 hr 28 min
Release Date: July 31, 2009
Budget: $3 million
Average Critics’ Score: 26%
“… a surprisingly stylish and confident high-concept thriller.” John Anderson, Variety
“Another helping of egregious slicing and slashing.” Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
If you like torture porn, you’ll love The Collector. For me, gory disembowelments and dismemberments go a long way. Handyman and ex-con Arkin (Stewart) gets more than an eyeful of these and other sickeningly gruesome acts when he breaks into a rich family’s house not knowing a mysterious, sadistic killer is already inside torturing the family. Unsurprisingly, it’s directed and co-written by the writer of Saw IV and V. Collector boasts spookily spot-on sound design and smart foreshadowing, and Stewart surprisingly conveys an effective blend of emotion, fear and moral consciousness that helps the audience relate to him. Why moviegoers would enjoy being put in his place, however, I don’t know.
