The Collection (II) (2012) User Reviews (162)

Fun, so long as you don't think too hard...

[stsinger · 6/10 · 1 December 2012]

"The Collection" is a fun, gory time at the movies. A sequel to "The Collector", the story is about a serial killer who uses elaborate contraptions to kill groups of people but he always seems to take one away alive, and bring one of his "collection" to his next murder scene. After a jaw-dropping opening sequence in a club, he snatches a girl who is the daughter of a rich man. The man hires mercenaries to rescue her, bringing along the survivor from the first film. So they head off to The Collector's house of horrors to find her...

The film is pretty much non-stop action, violence, and gore. There are plot-holes a'plenty here -- the killer must be a multi-billionaire and able to control time and space to be able to do what he does, so too much thinking (heck, ANY thinking) will only damage your enjoyment of the film. But if you want to spend 90 minutes at a fun, gory flick, "The Collection" will do just fine.

The Collector Keeps On Collecting

[dfa120374 · 6/10 · 15 January 2015]

After the horrific events at the Chase family's home, and being captured by a brutal killer known as the Collector, Arkin (Josh Stewart) manages to escape his box prison and is recovering in hospital when he's approached by Lucello, an "employee" of an extremely wealthy businessman. Arkin learns that the businessman's daughter, Elena, has been kidnapped by the Collector and his help is required to get her back at any cost. Reluctantly willing to help, Arkin finds himself once again involved in a deadly game of survival, only this time the game is on the Collector's own turf.

After enjoying The Collector, I was looking forward to watching this sequel and while it's not as good as the first film I still found that it was worth the watch. This one definitely has much more of a Saw type of feel to it than the first as well which in one way is good because it generates a similar kind of dark, tense atmosphere but is bad in another way in that it's not very original BECAUSE it's just like Saw.

While there's a good amount of tension to this movie, I feel that it lacks the suspense of the first. The first had much more of a cat and mouse feel to it probably because it was in such a refined space like a house which brought about a good sense of claustrophobia. Here, even though the people are still trapped inside a building, it's a much bigger building and it just feels more open.

The movie comes at you right from the start and thankfully it keeps a decent pace. So many movies throw you right in at the deep end at the start but fail to keep you interested afterwards. The Collection doesn't do that, and after such an intense start, it keeps the pace up pretty well.

Gore fans should enjoy this one too, as that has been ramped up from the first one.

All in all, while The Collection isn't a cinematic masterpiece (and at least is doesn't pretend to be either), it's still a good movie to watch. Recommended, especially if you enjoy movies like Saw.

Good For What It Is... but, oh, how much better it could have been,,,

[P3n-E-W1s3 · 6/10 · 14 February 2018]

Though this is the sequel to "The Collector" and ties in well with the ending of the first film, it actually has very little to do with the original. For starters, you have to forget the premise of the first as well as The Collectors modus operandi. Like the original, these films work well if you don't think... at all. Once you do you'll start spotting the massive gaping flaws in the story. So in this chapter, The Collector has upped his game and has gone after a club full of young adults. From which one survives. Luckily for her, she has a loving and rich father who will do anything to get her back... so he sends in his own band of mercenaries to get her out... okay, everybody, let's march into the blood-spattered decrepit hotel and chant at the top of your voices, "Let's Go Die, Let's Go Die". And so the carnage continues.

The thing which made the previous film so good is the same thing that makes this... the tension and suspense. Dunstan is a maestro at manipulating the pace and atmosphere to get you on the edge of your seat. Every time a trap is sprung you wonder how nasty it'll be... answer... very nasty. That's the second thing keeping the audiences attention, the kills and the action. There is a tonne of gore, enough to keep Hershall Lewis smiling in heaven, and plenty enough for the gorehounds.

Stewart is much better as Arkin in this film. It would appear that being the collector's plaything has added an extra depth or two to him. His motivation to escape is evident in every scene he's in. Lee Tergesen does a passable job as the hired killer Lucello. However, the rest of his merry men are ten-a-penny redshirts... proper cannon fodder. So, it would appear that the writers decided not to fill out their characters too much. Then there was Fitzpatrick as Elena, who was okay while she didn't say anything. However, when she did speak she spoke with wooden tongue.

The special effects were awesome, the re-breaking of Arkin's arm and the escape attempt is quite nearly sickening. The sewn together body parts is eerie and disturbing. And the traps are gruesome and deadly. Hopefully, all of this should be enough to satisfy, who needs a story, right(?)

The story really could have made this into a better and stronger film. In the original, all you had to do was forget that it takes time to jerry-rig a house with all the traps, the collector used - forgivable, for entertainment's sake.

The character of the collector breaks into a house and leaves a present for the homeowners. A trunk, inside of which is a tortured person from his previous escapade. This "Present" is for shock value to throw the prey into confusion and fear. Then he sets about torturing and killing everyone, but one, in the house... nobody lives.

This is even mentioned on a TV News Broadcast in the sequel. There's been a spree of home invasions with this MO. Even though it's the police being interviewed in the broadcast there appears to be no manhunt for The Collector. No Task Force. No FBI. Then there's a party at a secret location... not too secret as TC's had time to set up a really nasty combine harvester trap, which is rigged to the trunk, hidden away in one of the rooms of the derelict house. Boy, he was really hoping that somebody would be curious enough to go looking through a condemned building, so they'd set the trap off.

Then when we get to his hotel it just gets worse. Not only does this killer torture and murder homeowners but he must also be picking up people off the street judging by the number of dismembered cadavers laying around... Not only that, but he now has "The Collection" roaming around the place too. People too scared to try and escape. Most of which are high on drugs. TC must be cooking the stuff or he really is one sick rich dude. However, the strange thing is the traps in this place... a place that's his so he has all the time in the world to construct the best traps ever, but are really weak-assed. One of them is a hallway of plywood with nails knocked through them. They don't even move together. Another is a hallway full of bear traps. Which you can easily get through by just walking to the side of them. Damn this place really needed Kevin McCallister's touch.

Then there's the stitched together body parts. Looks, like TC's been watching The Human Centipede, what a sicko... This absolutely breaks with his persona. There is no way that he would do this. And then to arrange them in some kind of fluid inside glass canisters... believability is out the window.

Had the writers chosen, not to go down this path but to remain on the original and begin to explain TC's psychosis and background a little then it would have only helped to define the character better. The strongest films give their audience an inkling into the psychopath and his thinking. You know what's eating Norman, what's driving Michael, why Freddy is so evil, and even Jason gets a backstory and motivation. These add to the power of their characters and hopefully the films.

If you're a gorehound then this film is definitely for you. If you don't like blood then I'd recommend you stay away.

A bonkers horror action film for genre fans

[imxhill · 7/10 · 5 May 2022]

I saw Collector (2009) around this time last year, and I enjoyed it. Ever since then I wanted to watch the sequel and finally got to see it.

If the first one was a home invasion thriller, this one is basically Saw + Crazy Action Film. It is different from the first one but it is great / crazy in its own way. More action heavy than the first one. The set design / gore / effects are the stand outs.

It is sad that the 3rd movie apparently got cancelled, but The Collection does work as a conclusion to this story I guess.

7.5/10 maybe 8?

Collecting some more

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 9 May 2013]

I assume you have seen the first movie (called The Collector), by the same director. While it seems he only directs this series, he also has credits as writer (for the Feast and the Piranha 3DD and other "funny" horror movies). Now this has some funny moments too, it does look good (on Blu Ray), but it also almost plays more like an action movie than a straight horror movie.

That's not necessarily a bad thing. You just need to be aware of it. There still will be blood and you will get some crazy traps (which might remind you of things that could also have been in Saw). The movie itself as a sequel reminds me more of the direct sequel to "Laid to Rest". That was more action orientated as well. But I'm not trying to put it into a box ... ;o)

Seriously though: Good enough acting, the obvious plot holes and a nice ending. I also suggest you watch the "alternate scenes" on the disc! There is an extended ending there, plus a different "fate" for one of the "crew". You see when you watch the movie.

Equally watchable as the first

[saraccan · 6/10 · 11 September 2018]

Tries to make everything bigger and more complex than the first. Though it's successful in terms of goriness and body count, it's just not as interesting anymore. The bad guy has no understandable drive so that makes him unlikable.

A rich guy's daughter is the latest victim of "the Collector". They gather up a team to save her while getting help from the guy who survived from the first movie.

Yeah....OK.

[brad_mcmillan · 3/10 · 11 May 2013]

The Collector is back, this time, with a few billion dollars to spend on elaborate and rusty traps that always work 100% of the time. I tired hard to enjoy this movie, but I have a thing against killers that drink invincibility kool-aid before each movie. I don't know what it is, maybe I just don't like kool-aid.

The Collector sets up a cool happening party but what the guests don't know is they are about to fall victim to some ridiculous and highly unlikely kill scenarios. The collector has hired several thousand people (you would think) to retrofit this party with many elaborate traps and machines that would make Pee Wees Playhouse look dull. All of them worked too. A 100% execution rate is pretty good considering the death traps were operated by steam, rusty wires, corroded ball bearings and levers and dominoes and magic.

The rich girl at this party finds a guy in the trunk and it is the guy from the first movie. The only person in the known universe that can kill the Collector. The chosen one. But we don't know that yet. The rich girl gets caught, but the guy from the first movie manages to escape the Collector...for some reason. It appears that the Collector controls time and space and could have made a jumbo jet crash into the guy as he ran away. Why the Collector didn't shoot death rainbows or caused a ridiculous trap to spring up to stop the escaping man, I don't know.

So worried about his rich daughter, the rich father recruits the guy from the first movie, the guy from OZ and easily killable mercenaries with automatic weapons and years of training to find the collector, save the girl and then return her. But they were no match for Collector, who aside from having billions of dollars to spend on traps and an electricity bill for an entire warehouse (which everybody thinks is abandoned BTW..including the electric company?) he also can kick anybodies butt in hand-to-hand combat because he is super strong and can dodge knife attacks and bullets and any other form of corporeal matter. He also appears anyplace at any given time. One second he is stalking somebody on the tenth floor, the next he is on the tail of somebody else on the other side of the building. Add telleportation or time-stoppage with a build in GPS system to his list of magical Collector abilities.I would really place the Collector somewhere between Chuck Norris and God when it comes to being super awesome and everything.

Eventually, because the movie needed to end the guy from the first movie somehow caught the Collector while his force-field is down and lands a knife to the leg which makes the collector weak to regular people attacks. The collector is tossed down a garbage shoot and is lit on fire.

The guy from the first movie goes outside, and looks in some luggage and sees a smouldering Collector's mask meaning the collector escaped. Of course he did.

So the guy from the first movie tracks down the collector, now working as a janitor or something and confronts him, he babbles some back story to give the movie a plot; like the collector worked at a museum as a entomologist or something and is mad or crazy or something... then kicks the Collector in a trunk where he will surely escape in part 3 because he can't die.

Oh yeah, and all the relatives of those millions of people the Collector had slaughtered in his giant factory can rest easy now. I am not sure, but I think he killed the population of California. Or maybe even all of the US.

The end.

More of the same... But different

[cyifly-2 · 8/10 · 1 December 2012]

So here is something new for me -- Watching a horror movie sequel, not knowing it's a sequel, and it being good enough that I want to see the original. Weird, huh? Don't get me wrong, it has it's faults. An incredible body count that would draw the attention of the CIA, FBI, and any local police much less the Criminal Minds-type teams. It's completely impossible to have that many dead bodies in building and it not just REEK of death to the point you can't go in. But... it's a horror movie. Just go with it.

If you can just go with it, and you like really scary, psychological thrilling, torture-porn horror flicks like SAW, it's pretty good. It's certainly scary, quite unpredictable, and the acting is actually... not terrible. The plot is original. It's very gory. But it didn't come across as being all about the gore. It had you thinking, "What would I do if I was in that situation." Most of the time, my answer was - Sit down and cry.

I compare it to the Saw franchise, because it was written by some of the guys who wrote some of those, and because of the sadistic puzzles the people had to go through. But it really isn't the same as Saw because the plot was different. I would say if you like the Saw movies, you'd really enjoy this. If you didn't, don't waste you time. It's wouldn't be your type of film.

I gave it an 8 meaning it to be compared only to other horror movies, not to all movies in general. It certainly isn't for non-horror people. And it isn't a family film. Some of it was very hard to watch. I was proud of the fact that the ticket seller refused to sell a ticket to the 20-year-old in front of me trying to buy tickets for the 10 and 12 year olds she brought to this. It's not for kiddies at all.

I'm going to get part 1 (The Collector) on Netflix, then hope part 3 (if there is one) is as good.

More of the same bloody mayhem.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 26 February 2014]

"Saw" and "Feast" series veterans Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan keep up their predilection for inventive nastiness in this intense, atmospheric production that is at least on a par with the original "The Collector". One still has to be prepared to suspend their disbelief quite a bit, but Melton and Dunstan do get high marks for showmanship, if not subtlety. The movie never tops an early set piece set in a club, which - aside from the plethora of digital gore - may have some horror fans howling in appreciation. As before, there are plenty of elaborate booby traps and torture devices, and characters who are mostly thinly written; many of them are just there to add to the body count. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing.

The much abused thief turned reluctant hero Arkin (Josh Stewart, returning from the first movie) has made it back to the real world, but a man named Lucello (Lee Tergesen) blackmails him into joining in an operation ordered by Mr. Peters (Christopher McDonald), whose daughter Elena (Emma Fitzpatrick) is the latest person to be abducted by the monstrous Collector (Randall Archer, replacing Juan Fernandez). Since Arkin is the only person who's seen inside the enormous "house of horror" created by The Collector, he's the obvious choice to lead this group inside and attempt to rescue Elena. Naturally, The Collector makes quick work of this hapless bunch of schmucks.

There's enough action and pace here - not to mention gore - to keep things watchable. Most of the acting is inane, but Stewart is as reasonably engaging as he was the first time. Archer is a passable villain. Tergesen proves to be completely bad ass, and Fitzpatrick does well as a young women, who despite a handicap - she wears a hearing aid - refuses to roll over and play victim. Everything leads to a pretty good, fiery finale, and a rather amusing coda. Director Dunstan makes sure that "The Collection" hits the ground running, and it's also appreciatively short in length (82 minutes all told).

Not bad if one just wants to relax their brain.

Seven out of 10.

Disappointing

[abc-tvbuff · 3/10 · 17 December 2012]

So at the start of the movie, I was thinking that this was going to be epic, especially with the positive ratings I'd seen prior to the film and the gruesome killing scene at the beginning of the movie, but then the movie kind of didn't go anywhere after that.

Now I'm not one of those people who expects a lot from a horror film, but this film had no substance whatsoever. We didn't learn ANY back story about any of the characters, the most we know about the main characters is that the female (Lisa) had gotten into a car accident when she was a child and the male (Arkin) had a wife he sent off somewhere. There were only 2 flashbacks and the only purpose they served was to show the audience her connection to the guy hired to save her. Now a back-story isn't always necessary if the characters are interesting, BUT except for the lead male, Arkin, non of the characters stood out in any way, they were completely forgettable...so when one died, no one really cared.

Secondly, there were plot holes too big to ignore. The whole point of going to rescue the lead character (Lisa) was because the police haven't been able to find the "Collector" but then we learn that the guy who got away (Arkin),had inscribed directions to the place he was taken, on his arm. So if this guy knew how to find the Collector, why not just tell the police so that they can go in with a trained squat team? Also, Arkin knew what the inside of the hotel looked like and he knew that there were traps everywhere, so why would the hired men NOT think out a solid plan before going in? It could've definitely had an "Ocean's Eleven" or "Smokin Aces" like quality to it, which would've made the story more interesting.

Thirdly, the person hired to rescue Lisa, only took FOUR frickin people with him. I mean this Collector guy has killed over a 100 ppl (often murdering in masses) and he lives in a huge abandoned hotel and you decide to go in with only a team of FOUR ( 5 if u include Arkin)! Not to mention that the hired team of 4 were in no way prepared nor did they seem to have a plan...they all went in and died almost instantly - barely putting up a fight. At the start of the film, you assume that the father has hired these bad-asses to help his daughter but honestly, they were sort of useless.

Lastly, it wasn't really explained very well as to what the Collector was doing with all of the victims he had in his house. From what I gathered, he took at least one victim from his massacre with him and once he got them to his hotel, he would see who could survive. Now what he did with them after they survived was a mystery...we only know what he did with the weak victims. Also despite how great the murder scenes were, the fighting scenes were amateur at best...it was VERY obvious that it was choreographed and the movie wasn't scary in the slightest.

With that said, I can honestly say that this movie could've had a lot to offer...it had so much potential, which is why I'm so frustrated. The characters could've been developed more, so when they died off we'd actually feel something...anything. They could've developed the plot more by sending out a group of trained bad-asses in the hotel to sort of level out the playing field, as opposed to the four idiots who just got slaughtered. The only silver lining was the ending, which was unexpected but considering how disappointing the rest of it was, I couldn't take much pleasure from it.:/

Despite all of this, the acting isn't terrible and the effects are pretty amazing, so if you're bored this movie isn't a complete fail...I guess...

Great ending - Worth the watch

[xzaviar44 · 6/10 · 20 December 2021]

The movie is engaging, paced quite well, and the acting is better then average for a film of it's class.

I've seen a lot of negative reviews and have to assume that their expectations were either for something different or just to high. Rarely is a sequel as good as the original movie but this one comes close, it's just a bit over the top at times and quite different then the first one.

Completely and entirely forgettable.

[electronicsspa · 2/10 · 5 April 2013]

Only one thing about this movie stands out. A guy with a broken forearm (so badly broken in fact that it's dangling in an L shape from his arm) gets in the fight with the collector at the end and wins by throwing him down a laundry chute... with both hands. Now, I fully understand you don't watch a horror movie for believability, but that's rather pushing it, don't you think? The movie was a tired rehashing of every piece of torture porn before it. Nothing new here. They even managed to make Arkin boring, and I really liked his character in the first film.

All the cool scenes were in the trailer, so just watch that instead. I gave it two stars because the movie was well shot.

A decent thriller, if that's what you're looking for.

[misanthr0pist · 6/10 · 17 October 2020]

So The Collection is one of the rare times I enjoyed a sequel more than the predecessor. Sure, the plot has severe holes in it, much like the first. The secret-underground-murder-club isn't very realistic, and the fact a team has been assembled that has the attitude of "shoot absolutely everything that moves even though we're trying to save someone" makes even less sense, but the gore is turned up by 10, and there's a little more character development, which is nice.

It was edited so similarly to the Saw franchise (even more so than the first) that it's very clear to see where the director drew his inspiration from. This isn't a bad thing, but choppy edits and excruciatingly-loud jumpscares get old pretty quickly.

Overall, much like the first but a tad more entertaining. 5.5/10

First one was better, but not bad

[bdonnlis · 6/10 · 26 March 2013]

I feel the rating is accurate with a 6 out of 10. Could be a 5 but it's a pretty good film, reminds me of Saw more than 'The Collector' did. Very gory and a little outrageous with the violence actually. It's not as realistic as the first one (even though neither are) simply based off of the first killing scene. No serial killer could get away with such crimes in reality especially one who studies bugs for a living and doesn't at least have military training to make him the badass he's portrayed as being. But I'm not going to be such a pessimist, it wasn't bad. It was a relatively short film so it's straight to the point. If you're a fan of violence and gore this is your film.

Despite faults, still excited for the third

[trickpixel · 7/10 · 3 February 2013]

While I do agree with many of the bad reviews blasting the poor editing and missed opportunities. I am still glad that this movie got made. What does parallel the first film are some great ideas lost in some cliché ones -Great ideas that perhaps were done fairly in the first, are done haphazardly in this sequel.

A few IMDb reviewers likened this remake to Aliens, and I think that is the best perspective to approach it. The movie builds off of the lore of the first film but it noticeably tries to be a different type of film as far as tension and pacing feels more action-like than thriller-like. I assume this was done purposefully as the premise is so contrastly different than most films in this genre: mercenaries are hired to hunt down the serial killer. -And oh how I love that premise: the Mercenaries (Including "Bubbles" (Andre Royo of The Wire fame) force the protagonist in the first film to help them find a girl captured by the killer. Only Arkin knows the way's to the killer's lair, as he is the only person who has ever escaped. *******Spoilers** Some other elements in the sequel I like are the zombie-like drugged-up victims that have gone insane. I also like the idea that some of his victims have Stockholm syndrome and assist him. Even the ending, opens itself up for a third film with a revenge-type plot involving Arkin! which further intrigues me. ********End- Spoilers** All these great ideas are just barely touched upon, which is a huge downer, but what I love about the last film and even this sequel, is that I can still tell that at its core, these movies are TRYING to NOT rehash the same crap clichés shoveled into us by the mouthfuls. You see effort in that regard and even if it fails on some levels, I highly encourage this type of behavior in my movies.

Hence the 7 out of 10.

In Summary: I feel in many ways, what lacked in proper execution this time around, made up for it by a dare I say BETTER premise than the first. As the first movie was pretty Saw generic like -I've never seen a movie where a bunch of mercenaries are hired to hunt down a serial killer. BOOM.

Missed Opportunity. Awful Film

[nrkist2424 · 3/10 · 2 January 2013]

Wow. To start, I am a huge fan of The Collector. This film has no semblance to it's precursor. It is the worst, laziest pantomime of a Saw film bordering on parody. The editing is abysmal with nonsensical smash-cuts in the action sequences that will make your brain hurt. While The Collector definitely lacked in the logistics department, it more than made up for it in direction, framing, tension, mildly clever visual metaphors and the pivotal plot elements. The Collection dumps all that out the window and goes for a straight up poor man's Die Hard. The setup is beyond paper-thin, the characters unsympathetic, undeveloped, and uninteresting. Goddard must have had to push pretty hard for this to get green lit...but I don't understand why. This was clearly phoned in, rushed, uninspired and no care taken in it's development...yet a third film is teased in the epilogue.

Everything is bigger, bloodier and more gruesomely entertaining!

[Hellmant · 9/10 · 4 December 2012]

'THE COLLECTION': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

Sequel to the 2009 grisly slasher film 'THE COLLECTOR' once again written by horror meisters Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton and directed by Dunstan. Dunstan and Melton are the team that wrote all three 'FEAST' films, the last four 'SAW' films, 'PIRANHA 3DD' and the original 'COLLECTOR' (which Dunstan also directed). This installment has the survivor from the original film (Josh Stewart) leading a team of mercenaries into the warehouse of a deranged serial killer, he just escaped from, in order to rescue the daughter of a successful businessman. If you enjoyed the first film you're sure to love this follow-up. Everything is bigger, bloodier and more gruesomely entertaining (if you're a horror fan).

The film begins with Arkin (Stewart), the hero from the first film, escaping his captor 'The Collector' (played by stuntman Randall Archer this time) at a club where he brutally murders dozens of people. As he's escaping he witness Elena (Emma Fitzpatrick) being taken by 'The Collector'. He makes his way to a hospital where he's approached by a man named Lucello (Lee Tergesen) who wants Arkin to lead him and a team of mercenaries in to the killer's lair (a booby trapped warehouse) in order to rescue Elena. Lucello works for Elena's wealthy father, Mr. Peters (Christopher McDonald), and will stop at nothing to bring Elena back home to him. He forces Arkin to enter the warehouse with his team and into a maze of horror once again.

I heard one critic call the movie the 'ALIENS' of the series and that's an assessment I definitely agree with. It's a sequel that boldly expands on the mythology of the first and ups the bloody ante very aggressively (the body count goes through the roof)! It also follows a very similar formula to the James Cameron horror sequel classic; the sole survivor from the first film leads a team of gung ho mercenaries back in to the mouth of madness he just escaped from. If you're a fan of the genre and the original film you're sure to enjoy this installment, if you're not a fan you probably won't like the film. I really enjoy this series in particular and very much look forward to a third installment; I think it's the slasher genre done to perfection (just about). I hope enough other true fans discover this series in order for it to draw the cult following it deserves and continue it's bloody slasher film legacy.

Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD9BHpPUnE8

Much better than the first one!

[tylerfogler-10149 · 7/10 · 11 December 2020]

I left a review on the first one because it was so horrible and a joke of a movie, so it only felt right to see what this one had in store. The movie was filled with traps that worked 100 percent of the time and even traps that would need MONTHS of preparation. Once you get past the impossible traps you can get into the movie. You are also approached with another problem and that is a joke of a group to kill the collector. They seemed so skilled and trained at first but as soon as they got in his "hotel" they all cracked under pressure and died off EASILY. The ending was the best part of the movie just for the fact that the collector was caught and hopefully gets all the payback the watchers would want.

Insult your intelligence with this little gem.

[rushknight · 3/10 · 9 February 2013]

You can see by my summary that I don't think highly of this film. I also didn't think highly of the "Saw" movies. I watched this with few expectations of anything unique, new or original, and my expectations were met on every level.

Permit me to coin a term: Goresturbation. That's what the Saw movies were, and that's what this is. It's not even scary. It's just a collection (pardon the pun) of bloody scenes, always bloody, all the time for no real reason, and especially to NO GOOD EFFECT. If you like this movie after watching it, I question YOUR sanity. There is but one quality in this movie, and all 7 of the Saw movies, and the Feast movies: Gore. It's really not enough to make a movie, and yet die-hard fans flock to it and give it great reviews because lots of people get splattered. I guess I just expect more out of a movie, but unfortunately some other people seem to have severely lower expectations.

This film spits in the face of common sense, logic, good acting, worthwhile plot development, character development and almost every other facet of worthwhile movie making. The special effects were bad also.

But the part that really gets to me the most is how insulting it is. The writers assume that you'll just eat up whatever they hand you. They assume that they can get away with anything as long as there's gore. It's so amazingly inane that having the creators literally come to my home and spit in my soup could only be worse. And that means something coming from me! I LOVE bad movies, and I make allowance for anything if there's some real originality and creativity behind it, or at least attempted in it somewhere. But this had none of that. It's been done before. Seen before. 7 times in fact. This movie should be named "Saw: Regurgitated." It's crap. Event the music sucked.

The only part of this film that I found even remotely redeeming was the very small tribute to Dario Argento.

Now I'll try to find something good to say about it. Um.. the killer is the Batman of psychopaths. He has the benefit of crap-tons of money, an endless supply of time, a work force of hundreds of people designing his dungeons, the ingenuity of hundreds of mechanics, inventors, trappers, hunters and designers. And he's supremely intelligent and can hypnotize and reprogram people's minds for fun. He's also psychic and can predict people's movements and actions.

At least.. That's what he needs to be in order to make this film's bad guy even remotely plausible on the smallest level. Exactly the same as the Saw movies. Oh gosh darn! I'm getting confused. Was this movie different from the Saw movies at all?

I could go on about the actual plot inconsistencies, but I think I've wasted enough of your time. Thank you for reading. Trust me and waste less of your time and do not watch this movie.

The end.

Stylish, fun & gory escape

[smashthecontrolmachine · 10/10 · 2 December 2012]

Really a good horror film needs to accomplish a few key tasks to be considered a success. One, it needs to draw the viewer in. Two, it needs to keep the viewer engaged (tense & on the edge of their seat). Three, it needs to make you at least to some degree care about the victims. Finally, it should be memorable with memorable & interesting characters & plot twists. I feel this film truly has all of the above down to a science.

In The Collection, the psychopath killer is interesting & the contraptions he uses to trap, mutilated and/or kill his captives are certainly engaging. Viewers will find themselves engrossed in a epically gory thrill ride that's as stylishly fun as it is a dark escape. Not a moment of filler here, every scene has it's place here and none are wasteful. This film is riveting, thrilling and thought provoking. What would you do if you and a friend or even a stranger were caught in a life or death situation? Would you be a hero trying to save the other person or a coward and just try & save yourself?

Slick, Terrifying Thriller

[Bob_the_Hobo · 7/10 · 4 December 2012]

Following the events of the first film, Arkin (Josh Stewart) breaks out of the insane maze devised by the Collector just as a rave is being slaughtered on the level below him. Before he escapes, he sees Elana (Emma Fitzpatrick) the daughter of a wealthy, vengeful father (Christopher McDonald) who has created a team led by Lucello (Lee Tergeson) to find his daughter. Arkin forces himself back into The Collector's private hell to find the girl.

It is really required viewing to see the predecessor to understand the successor. Just as you can't understand a current Presidency without being told of what built up to it, history is important to understand the present. Before I saw the sequel, I took in 2010's "The Collector". It is an intense, harrowing nail-biter that I can't recommend more. The sequel is just as intense but lacks the finesse that the first had in spades.

We have our main character, Arkin, who is expertly played by Josh Stewart. In the first film, you understood more about what drove him and how he might have been clever enough to survive the devastating maze. In the sequel, he is less clever and less developed. With two films already made, perhaps another film is already in the works. I hope this one furthers the back story of our hero and paints him in starker contrast to the villain.

The story is really put into the relationship between the kidnapped girl, played by Emma Fitzpatrick, and Lee Tergeson's Lucello, the leader of the team trying to find her. Through flashbacks we see that Lucello saved the girl from a car accident long ago that left her father badly injured. But we never learn anything else about him. Who was he? What relationship did he have to the family? Why would he risk his life for this girl?

Finally we have The Collector, the demented freak who somehow has the means to construct the unholy traps that await anyone who is fool enough to feel his wrath. If you saw any of the "Saw" films only to see how twisted some minds can be, you'll be shocked at what the people who made this movie (repeat: it is only a movie) can come up with. The actor who wears that bizarre leather mask does a good job seeming scary and mysterious but doesn't do much else. He is obviously smarter than the average film butcher, why doesn't he act like it?

Besides some design flaws, the interior of the film remains relatively intact. It keeps your attention with a brisk pace and an energetic soundtrack that matched the feel of the scene Had the script been a bit more supportive on some biographies, you would feel for the characters as more than just expendable fodder for the Collector.

All in all, "The Collector" is a creepy, terrifying thrill that stands above any of the other horror we will see until "The Collected".

Sell Your Collection

[thesar-2 · 1/10 · 8 March 2013]

Recently, I re-watched The Collector in anticipation of the just recent sequel: The Collection. I was all excited to write both reviews and have some kind of double feature on my website. To my failed memory, I already wrote the review of The Collector back on June 28, 2010 and boy…I wasn't kind.

With this second viewing of the first one, I favored it more, but then I've seen my share of grotesque/torture porn films since, so maybe I've become quite immuned to horrific scenes. For, my review was very clear in its warning to stay away for its over-the-top gruesome and shameless scenes of gore.

I will now begin my review of The Collection saying close to the same thing: STAY AWAY FROM THIS MOVIE.

Sure, the gore's still here, albeit it's actually a tad-bit milder than the first time around. But, my warning is because of how incredibly bad this copy-cat sequel is all around.

Damn, where to begin? Terrible acting? Na, how about the incoherent plot, unrealistic actions of the characters, completely stolen ideas from ten-times-better screenplays? Or the zero background, and I mean: no explanation at all, to develop the main character that should've been included in this sequel? And let's talk about the dozens of deaths for the sake of…for the reasoning of…sorry, maybe the multiple writers are just plain sick.

The Saw series that this steals from heavily wasn't perfect, but at least it had direction. A goal and characters to latch onto, namely the central "villain." This low-rent fare is so all-over-the-place with way too many subplots and plot-holes that it's not even recommended to fans of the first one.

"The Collector," (now replaced from the original by Randall Archer – I guess, Juan Fernández was smart to turn this down) wants to shred, literally, more than a few dozen of party-goers in order to collect one survivor. I'm only assuming this, as, again, they give such a small insight to anything going on, the viewer can only speculate what the writer/director was trying to convey.

Masked Man Collector does, in fact, get that one "special person," but, behold, he's being tracked (on his own turf) by that special unit that's off the grid by the angry father of said surviving victim. In this segment, think: Saw II meets Aliens, but only hell's depth worse.

I would be happy the charismatic thief from the original, Arkin (Josh Stewart) returned…if he wasn't so dumbed down here and shares his unearthly ability to outwit someone completely prepared for victims with the new hero(ine) of the hopefully only-two-installment franchise, Elena (played very plainly by Emma Fitzpatrick.) Together, they quickly and absolutely absurdly come up with ingenious ways to survive the undocumented super-human Collector's every move.

I've seen ten men's share of terrible horror sequels, and while this isn't the absolute worse, it does rank high of awful horror film franchise's #2's #2. There is no redeeming quality of this and if anyone, myself included, had any problems with #1, wait until you get a load of this mess. SKIP IT!

These are very solid additions to the horror genre

[kevin_robbins · 7/10 · 13 May 2021]

The Collection (2012) I recently grabbed off Vudu for $3.99. The storyline involves a woman who sneaks into an exclusive party only to discover The Collector has targeted this party with his next set of booby traps. A viscous killing spree begins where in the process the woman meets Arkin from the first film who may be the only person who can help her survive. Meanwhile, a group of mercenaries are hired to infiltrate the party and rescue survivors...sounds like an excuse for body count. This movie is directed by Marcus Dunstand (The Collector and Into the Dark) and stars Josh Stewart (Tenet), Emma Fitzpatrick (Before we Go), Christopher McDonald (Requiem for a Dream) and Lee Tergesen (Oz). These movies are a lot of fun with fantastic special effects, great kill sequences, and unpredictable traps that lead to a few good jumpy scenes. These movies are a bit too over the top in a "how could he plan for all that" kind of way, but it doesn't detract from the entertainment value of the film. These are very solid additions to the horror genre and must see for fans of the genre. I wouldn't put them in the classic category but would strongly recommend seeing them. I'd score this a 7-7.5/10.

Guter Film aber etwas offensichtliches Ende

[thomaswinter · 6/10 · 25 July 2013]

When collecting, it's important not to store your matchbooks next to your antique gas can and golden age comic book collections.

Luckily, the accumulator in this horror movie only likes to amass organic items.

Former captive - and only person to escape the homicidal Collector (Randall Archer) - Arkin (Josh Stewart) is hired by the father (Christopher McDonald) of the madman's most recent kidnap victim (Erin Way) to show his squad of hired killers (Lee Tergesen, Shannon Kane, Andre Royo) where his daughter is being kept.

But when Arkin is tricked into re-entering the labyrinthine interior of The Collector's abandoned booby-trapped hotel, he finds himself facing off with the masked torturer once again.

Revealing more about the sadistic stockpiler and his nightmarish mélange of human prey, The Collection expands on the lore and also maintains the gore

A solid horror sequel

[KineticSeoul · 7/10 · 15 April 2013]

This is actually a solid sequel to the first movie, it could have used a bit more development in certain areas but it's still solid. And is actually quite entertaining. Josh Stewart reprises his role as Arkin the thief. It's unfortunate Josh Stewart couldn't make his big break with the previous movie in this franchise. The director actually claimed him to be a younger version of Sean Penn and I could see the resemblance. Anyways Arkin is now forced into a task to save some rich guys daughter with a team of special task force. In the previous movie The Collector was the one invading someone's home and now it's Arkin and a special team who are after him. And the movie basically takes place in The Collector's own lair with his collections and traps all over the place. I didn't find this one as gruesome or have certain torture porn elements as the first one but it's more entertaining to watching this time around. Despite few drawbacks, including the cinematography that isn't as good as the first one. Watching this movie was like watching "Saw 2" in a way where the second movie in the franchise goes in a bigger scale when it comes to the characters and environment compared to the first one. There are few moments that didn't make much sense, like how Arkin contradicts himself but it didn't really take away from this movie much. It's more head to head this time around. And it's cool to watch Arkin and the team he is with that is on a hunt, search and rescue mission fight back while going through the traps and even using their surrounding to their advantage. And to see The Collector going all out on the invaders, the scene with the machine guns and dogs is one of those scenes that is cool and stands out. And even gives The Collector potential to be the new iconic horror character, even if Ray Mysterio kept popping into my head. Overall this is a horror movie that is most definitely worth a watch if your one of the audiences that like this genre of movies. I even liked the ending to this one and anticipating where they are going to go with it if there is another sequel.

7.6/10