Comments on: Review: The Collector

By: Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:10:01 +0000

my mom has a coffe franchise near seattle and she earns a lot from it~`*

By: Tyrone

Tyrone — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 05:28:07 +0000

The granddaddy of the modern horror film, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, had a downer ending. The guy in the box tells us, “He only takes one.” Why are we surprised when he takes one in the end? I agree that there isn’t alot of plot. But is there much plot in TAKEN? It’s all set-up. The girl gets taken and he goes from scene to scene kicking ass. That movie is filled with all sorts of coincidences and there’s a little bit of some clue searching. But no one really complained about the miniscule story there. I think THE COLLECTOR takes it on the chin because it’s the bad guy who’s dishing out the pain and that’s “mindless” to us. But when good guy Liam Neeson dishes out the pain (with all the wrath of PG-13), we accept that.

THE COLLECTOR is a scary and very tense movie. Sure it’s flawed but it accomplishes what it sets out to do and in that regard, it’s a success.

By: bmchargue

bmchargue — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 05:55:49 +0000

While it may seem like I was supporting the Saw films (I assume you’re referring to the first paragraph), that certainly wasn’t my intention. But even without a plot, I still enjoyed The Collector far more than any of the Saw films (except maybe Saw III, which I really liked for some reason, and the basic plot of the first), though I would have loved a liiiiiiitttttle more plot and back story of The Collector himself. I am glad they dispensed of any sort of twist, though, and kept it straightforward.

I do suppose I may have been a little..liberal with my wording. But you make a good point. I suppose “violence” would have been a better word than just torture and gore. But the father in the chair and the mom almost getting her tongue cut out was pretty torturous.

I’ll disagree on the ending, though. I would have been really pissed if they all walked away into the night. While I agree that they could have done it better (the whole ramming the car thing was kinda stupid), it was better than a happy ending. It made sure The Collector actually collected someone. I also don’t think it necessarily meant a franchise was inevitable. He could have easily ended it there with no intention to drag it out like they’re doing with Saw. I mean, he probably won’t, but still.

I blame me being tired when I wrote it and the fact that three days had passed. So yeah. Good points, though, and thanks for the comment.

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 05:12:23 +0000

I disagree, man. I’m not saying THE COLLECTOR has the best plot ever, but to put it down while standing up for the loosely strung together blood letting of the SAW franchise is more of paradox to me than anything in Dunstan’s flick. Sure, more stuff happens in the SAW franchise but none of it is coherent or logical.

I also don’t think THE COLLECTOR is all gore. There’s only one drop of blood in the first third of the movie (from the mom’s botox needle) and while what remains in the latter half of the film is certainly gory, the only part that stands out as being typically torturous is sewing the mom’s mouth shut.

I’m with you on the crappy lighting, but all of that is confined to the basement, which is a place Dunstan only goes three or four times. Everything that takes place elsewhere in the house has a great, calm color scheme to it.

The only thing I think Dunstan completely blew was the ending, which is needlessly bleak in order to establish a franchise.