Review: The Collector

The Collector is one of the most frustrating horror films in years, not because it's bad, but because it could have been brilliant. The emphasis is on "could" because, like most contemporary horror films, it fully embraces the clichéd horror conventions that make most American horror films look like and feel alike, despite some truly brilliant moments.

The story is simple: Arkin (Josh Stewart), a handyman with an unfortunate habit of robbing his employers, is desperate for money. He returns to what should be an empty house to empty a safe. Unfortunately, he gets far more than he bargained for when he realizes he's not alone in the house, and a cat-and-mouse game ensues.

Instead of building on the tension from close calls and the unseen but otherwise sensed, Director Patrick Melton and his writing partner Marcus Dunstan quickly fall into the conventions of elaborate setups and extreme torture, which for the discerning audience makes the film nearly indistinguishable from so many other horror films. Melton and Dunstan, who wrote the Feast franchise as well as Saw IV-VI, mentioned at the Fantastic Fest Presents screening last week that they didn't want the film to be one of the Saw franchise scripts, yet it quickly turned into a Saw clone.

The old, multi-storied and many-roomed house becomes a death trap, with many elaborate traps that defy logic (and time constraints). All the work setting up character motivations and locations is quickly lost. Every time the story could take a refreshingly unconventional turn, Melton and Dunstan go the opposite direction. It forces the question; how much pressure did the studio exert to include the tried-and-true and very predictable?

And that's what makes it so frustrating: The Collector flirts with brilliance, then leaves with convention. Horror junkies will flock to it, but the aficionados will be disappointed.