The Collection (USA, 2003) - Color, Director(s): Marcus Dunstan
MPAA Rating: R
[UK: 18]
Approx. 82 min.
Z-rating: 4 stars out of 5
Cheese Factor: 1 stars out of 5
This movie is a sequel to The Collector, which is about a burglar (Josh Stewart) who happens to break into the same house where a serial killer is also setting up Saw-like traps for the people living there. These traps are like "tests" so he can pick a victim he wants to collect. What made the first movie so interesting was the killer being completely unaware of the burglar, so he could sneak around and try to help the family escape. This made for a really suspenseful movie that also delivered on the gore and creative trap-kills. The first film ended in a bit of a cliffhanger where [*SPOILER ALERT*] the burglar, Arkin, is pushed into a box and presumably "collected".
The second movie starts with a new girl (Emma Fitzpatrick) who ends up at a club where the killer has traps set up and is stalking the crowd. She inadvertently frees Arkin (the burglar from the first movie) from a box in one of the rooms, setting the traps into motion. Everyone is killed except for the girl, who gets taken by the killer, but Arkin manages to escape. At the hospital, Arkin is approached by a man who was hired by the girl's father to rescue her and kill The Collector. Since Arkin is the only person to see the killer's hideout and escape alive, he leads a group of mercenaries in to retrieve the girl. Only now, they're in the killer's house...
Everything in this sequel has been kicked up a notch. The traps are bigger, the environment is creepier, and even The Collector is more of a bad ass. In the first movie, he just wandered around to make sure that his traps were working. This time around, the guy is like The Dark Knight of serial killers!! If you mixed equal parts Jigsaw from Saw with the scientist from The Human Centipede and blended together with a little Batman for flavor, you'd get The Collector. Not only is he a master of setting up elaborate deathtraps, the guy can swoop down and open up a can of whoop ass if need be. In the first movie, he had throwing knives so I guess that should've tipped me off? He trades in his throwing knives for what looks to be two Buck knives in this movie. The guy is a beast! I like that he isn't your average lumbering slasher movie villain.
Nudity: There's a flash of nudity at the beginning of the movie, during the club scene, and then again at The Collector's hideout. The nudity at the hideout is not very appealing though, they're more like his "specimens" on display.
Gore: Much like Saw, the gore is a result of someone setting off a trap. The deaths can be pretty brutal but are all very creative. People are chopped up, crushed to death, stabbed, mutilated, throats are slit, fingers are cut off. Tons of bloody good fun!
Awesome: Very! If you enjoyed the original, or liked the Saw franchise, check this one out! This movie trades in the suspense from the first film for action but this movie is exciting as hell. As the title implies, we're in the killer's house now and we get to see his "collection." This is why I liked the first remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre so much, I love it when you get to see the inside of a house of horrors. The place is littered with traps, mutilated corpses, and strange specimens on display. The guy even has his own freak army! The script for the first movie was originally meant to be a prequel to the Saw films, but became its own franchise when the producers weren't interested.