Tags:
Film: The Collector
Year: 2009
Director: Marcus Dunstan
Writer: Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan
Starring: Josh Stewart, Andrea Roth and Juan Fernández
Review:
This film begins when a couple returns home. The wife goes upstairs while her husband stays downstairs to check the mail; he is played by William Prael. He hears his wife scream and he goes upstairs to investigate. There he finds a trunk in their bedroom with a note on it. When he goes to check it, someone’s hands go over his mouth.
It shifts to a house that is being worked on. We see a handyman, played by Josh Stewart. We learn that he is an ex-con and is trying to turn his life around. The husband of the family is played by Michael Reilly Burke and he’s the one in charge telling Stewart what to do. After fixing a door, the youngest daughter, who is played by Karley Scott Collins, asks Stewart to her tea party. Burke busts in and finds it odd, but he calms when he learns that Stewart has a daughter too.
His wife is played by Andrea Roth; we see her give herself a Botox injection and is vain. The other daughter is played by Madeline Zima and she is a wild child.
From here we learn that Stewart’s ex-wife, who is played by Daniella Alonso, is in money troubles with a loan shark. He decides to go in earlier than planned to steal a gem from the house he’s working in. He believes that the house will be empty since Burke and his family is supposed to be on vacation. When he does, he finds something he wasn’t expecting, a dog on a chain is in the yard. While he is trying to open the safe, someone else enters the house, but this guy has much different plans than Stewart.
Will Stewart be able to survive the mad man that is inside the house? Can he save any of the other family members as well? Who is this crazy guy?
I was really surprised by this movie. The acting is pretty solid, but the story is amazing. The title of the film is showed early on as the crazy guy takes one person with him after he enters a house. The planning process that goes into his plan is great and the traps he sets up are complex.
I would recommend this one if you want to see a Saw-like movie with a good story. The acting is great and to see what some of these characters go through just gives it an added dimension to this film. As stated above, the story is great, the acting is solid. Definitely should give this one a viewing.
My Rating: 8 out of 10