SoSheOhPathix
02-11-2010, 11:57 AM
The Collectorhttp://www.grrr.co.za/forum/MGalleryItem.php?id=19
Genre: Horror
Clearly, the writer watched a lot of Saw movies, and thought he could do better, or rather, put a better spin on a rapidly-dating theme.
Not a terrily bad idea he had, but again, no rational explanation was given, and as usual, it was left wide open for a sequel.
The basic premise is:
There is one seriously disturbed character out there that likes to 'collect'. What and why isn't really touched upon, except for one line, about an hour into the film, and really doesn't clear up anything like motive, target identification, method of access, etc.
This dude basically waits for people to go away on holiday (or some sort of extended trip), then turns the house into a death trap. Admittedly, some of the booby-traps and anti-personnel devices are pretty darned smart, and not the sort of thing you want to bumble into.
Why he does that isn't really clear, coz he takes the occupants hostage and mangles them in the basement (isn't that what American basements are for? That's about all any TV people use them for, aside from storing heaps of antiquated crap that most people would just throw out).
Worked out quite nicely this time, coz there's a burglar in the place he targetted this time.
Not the smartest burglar, mind you... he can crack safes, but not notice that the place has been boarded up, locks tampered with, partially mangled people in the basement, death traps all over the house, and so forth.
He eventually figures it out, and decides to try save the family.
Maybe it's just me, but personally, I would ambush the dude in the house, and kill his ass (nothing special. Just a bob-standard 'ashtray vs. skull' scenario would do the trick), then take my sweet time getting the victims out. Not this dude. He sneaks back and forth, trying to release the captured family, with no real plan as to how he's gonna get them out, when he can't even get himself out (but he got in easiliy enough...?)
The collector himself is not the sharpest knife in the cutlery drawer, either... his hostages/victims somehow manage to escape bonds, handcuffs, and even barbedwire tethers, but it never occurs to him that maybe there is someone else in the house. This despite the escapees being clever enough to get free, but daft enough to run screaming through the house in a state of panic (You just know how that is going to end).
Had this come out before the endless drivel that is the Saw series (but I admit, I enjoy some of Jigsaw's devices. If I were a serial killer, I'd be him, just less pleasant), I think it would have had a far better impact. As it stands, it feels a bit like a spin-off, or rip-off. They also needed to finish the story properly. Some 'fleshing out' with a motive and some background on the target family would have been nice, and taken away from the feeling that this film is all about the gore.
We know that Hollywood can do good dismemberments. We've seen the 'Final Destination' films too. It's old now. Try suspense...
But some of the traps were neat.
If you do bother watching it.. how sweet were the 'cobweb', 'scissor' (albeit unrealistic) and 'window board' traps?
The cat scene just pissed me off. Why the fuck do these low-grade backyard horror wannabes keep putting animals in films, just to be ripped apart? It adds nothing to the story line whatsoever. And let's face it, if you rented a horror film, and see a kiddy running about with a family pet, you know it's gonna die... horribly. No exceptions.
And I don't even like cats... but I'll tell you what. I would string up, skin, salt and gut the Collector, over the period of about a week, if for nothing more than that cat's death.
Genre: Horror
Clearly, the writer watched a lot of Saw movies, and thought he could do better, or rather, put a better spin on a rapidly-dating theme.
Not a terrily bad idea he had, but again, no rational explanation was given, and as usual, it was left wide open for a sequel.
The basic premise is:
There is one seriously disturbed character out there that likes to 'collect'. What and why isn't really touched upon, except for one line, about an hour into the film, and really doesn't clear up anything like motive, target identification, method of access, etc.
This dude basically waits for people to go away on holiday (or some sort of extended trip), then turns the house into a death trap. Admittedly, some of the booby-traps and anti-personnel devices are pretty darned smart, and not the sort of thing you want to bumble into.
Why he does that isn't really clear, coz he takes the occupants hostage and mangles them in the basement (isn't that what American basements are for? That's about all any TV people use them for, aside from storing heaps of antiquated crap that most people would just throw out).
Worked out quite nicely this time, coz there's a burglar in the place he targetted this time.
Not the smartest burglar, mind you... he can crack safes, but not notice that the place has been boarded up, locks tampered with, partially mangled people in the basement, death traps all over the house, and so forth.
He eventually figures it out, and decides to try save the family.
Maybe it's just me, but personally, I would ambush the dude in the house, and kill his ass (nothing special. Just a bob-standard 'ashtray vs. skull' scenario would do the trick), then take my sweet time getting the victims out. Not this dude. He sneaks back and forth, trying to release the captured family, with no real plan as to how he's gonna get them out, when he can't even get himself out (but he got in easiliy enough...?)
The collector himself is not the sharpest knife in the cutlery drawer, either... his hostages/victims somehow manage to escape bonds, handcuffs, and even barbedwire tethers, but it never occurs to him that maybe there is someone else in the house. This despite the escapees being clever enough to get free, but daft enough to run screaming through the house in a state of panic (You just know how that is going to end).
Had this come out before the endless drivel that is the Saw series (but I admit, I enjoy some of Jigsaw's devices. If I were a serial killer, I'd be him, just less pleasant), I think it would have had a far better impact. As it stands, it feels a bit like a spin-off, or rip-off. They also needed to finish the story properly. Some 'fleshing out' with a motive and some background on the target family would have been nice, and taken away from the feeling that this film is all about the gore.
We know that Hollywood can do good dismemberments. We've seen the 'Final Destination' films too. It's old now. Try suspense...
But some of the traps were neat.
If you do bother watching it.. how sweet were the 'cobweb', 'scissor' (albeit unrealistic) and 'window board' traps?
The cat scene just pissed me off. Why the fuck do these low-grade backyard horror wannabes keep putting animals in films, just to be ripped apart? It adds nothing to the story line whatsoever. And let's face it, if you rented a horror film, and see a kiddy running about with a family pet, you know it's gonna die... horribly. No exceptions.
And I don't even like cats... but I'll tell you what. I would string up, skin, salt and gut the Collector, over the period of about a week, if for nothing more than that cat's death.