• Tweet

Three out of Five stars
Running time: 90 mins

A smart, if bloody, take on the torture porn genre, which loses its way by thinking of ever more complex contraptions to inflict pain when the basic premise would have allowed for a more subtle story to unfold.

What’s it all about?
Arkin (Josh Stewart), a desperate building contractor, needs to make some quick cash to protect his family from a loan shark. He decides to rob the latest house he’s working on when he thinks the residents will be away on holiday. Unknown to him, however, the house has also become the latest target of a sadistic killer known as The Collector, who captures people inside their homes and sets up gruesome traps from which there is no escape. As Arkin breaks in he realises the full horror of the situation and must use all his wits to try and stay alive.

The Good
The initial idea is fantastic, with a sadistic killer who specialises in creating elaborate mechanical torture devices coming up against a grizzled criminal who specialises in cracking safes and picking locks. It could be a great game of cat-and-mouse played out in the claustrophobic confines of a family home. The film starts off like this, and the moment Arkin realises what he has gotten himself into is superb.

However, as the Home Alone nature of some of the traps is revealed, you start to realise the film is far more interested in inflicting pain on the victims rather than an equal battle of wits. To be fair, some of the traps are indeed quite innovative and some of the film is clearly being played for laughs – or at least you hope it is.

The Bad
With the participant in place, logic seems to leave the building. Characters appear to be standing next to one another without realising it and some obvious plot holes begin to emerge. The violence veers from cutting away at the crucial moments to lingering unnecessarily on some of the more brutal sequences. The ending also lacks any of the imagination shown in some of the setup beforehand.

Worth seeing?
A film that lacks suspense but manages to artificially evoke excruciating tension, The Collector ends up being a passable gore fest with some clever touches.