"THE COLLECTOR" (2009) (Josh Stewart, Juan Fernandez) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Minor Extreme Extreme Extreme Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Heavy Heavy Extreme Minor Extreme Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Extreme Mild Extreme Heavy Extreme QUICK TAKE: Horror: While attempting to break into his client's home while that jewelry broker is supposedly away on vacation with his family, a handyman stumbles across a horrendous scene where a masked sadist is torturing them in their freshly booby-trapped house. PLOT: Arkin (JOSH STEWART) is a handyman who's working on the home of Michael (MICHAEL REILLY BURKE) and Victoria (ANDREA ROTH) along with various other workers. The couple's kids, teenager Jill (MADELINE ZIMA) and her 8-year-old sister Hannah (KARLEY SCOTT-COLLINS), like the unassuming worker for different reasons, and Michael is happy enough with his work that he gives Arkin a bonus before heading off with his family on vacation. Little does he know that Arkin has actually been casing the house for weeks and plans to break and enter while they're gone and steal a valuable gem. He's apparently doing so, however, to pay off the debt his ex-wife owes to some loan sharks and thus ensure her safety and that of their young daughter. But as Arkin enters the house and starts working on the safe, he realizes someone else is also there. To his horror, he discovers that it's a masked sadist (JUAN FERNANDEZ) who's already captured and viciously tormented both Michael and Victoria. The girls are nowhere to be seen, and things get worse for Arkin when he realizes he's locked inside the house that's now outfitted with an array of brutal booby traps. As Arkin realizes the killer is collecting people, including an outsider, Larry, who's trapped in a large box, he tries to elude the madman while also looking not only for a way out, but also for young Hannah so that he can rescue her. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're into "torture porn" type horror films, they just might. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For pervasive sadistic bloody violence, language and some sexuality/nudity. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: JOSH STEWART plays a handyman who works on the family's home but really is casing the place so that he can rob it (and thus pay off the loan shark to whom his wife owes money). But his plan goes awry when he finds himself trapped in the house with the killer and his elaborate bobby-traps, and must avoid both while trying to help the family, especially Hannah. He smokes and uses strong profanity under duress. JUAN FERNANDEZ plays the sadistic killer who abducts the family and others, physically tormenting them and killing others for some sort of perverted pleasure. MICHAEL REILLY BURKE plays the jewelry broker who finds his life and that of his family turned upside down by the killer who torments and physically abuses them. ANDREA ROTH plays the wife & mother who must similarly contend with being abducted and tortured by the killer. MADELINE ZIMA plays the couple's teen daughter who doesn't want to go with the family on vacation, and thus stays behind to fool around with her boyfriend. She briefly smokes. KARLEY SCOTT-COLLINS plays the couple's 8-year-old daughter who tries to hide from the killer and his reign of horror in her home. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a quick look at the content found in this R-rated horror film. Profanity consists of at least 10 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. Some non-explicit, sexually related dialogue is present, while a teen couple fools around (including exposed breasts), while bare-breasted dancers are seen in a club. Violence consists of a sadistic madman torturing and killing various people via various means, and some related fighting, with extremely bloody/gory results. Those scenes and various moments of potential peril (haunted house style) could be rather unsettling, suspenseful and/or scary for viewers, while those scares as well as the sadism, use of elaborate traps and other behavior might be enticing for some troubled kids to copy. Bad attitudes are obviously present, one character smokes a few times, and there's some brief drinking. Tense family material (worrying about and/or seeing tortured and/or dead family members) also occurs. Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, there's some of that during the opening credits as well as during an extended thunderstorm scene. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there are varying amounts of camera movement (sometimes fairly bouncy) throughout the film. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE People drink in a strip club. BLOOD/GORE We see Victoria injecting what's presumably a Botox needle into some pinched together skin on her forehead, leaving a small red mark at the point of injection. Arkin suddenly encounters a bloody and desperate looking Michael. Arkin picks up a phone to make a call and a spike comes out of the earpiece, cutting the side of his head (a little blood). He then reaches out through a window to have a large blade slam his hand down into another such blade, trapping his hand there. He eventually pulls himself free, but not before spilling a lot of blood. Arkin encounters Michael again, and this time the latter is even bloodier than before (with a large hole in his foot) while bound to a chair. Arkin finds a room with an open window and goes for it, only to discover he's now stuck in some sort of sticky acid on the floor. He also spots a cat in agony in the same situation, although its feet are burning while Arkin manages to get his out of his shoes before they burn through. He then yanks the cat free (with bloody results) and tosses it to the windowsill where a large blade drops down and cuts the cat in half, sending blood splattering onto Arkin's face and elsewhere in the room. Arkin finds Michael hanging upside down, partially wrapped in tape, with lots of blood on the body and the floor below that. Moments later, we briefly see his intestines on the floor, and Victoria later accidentally steps in some of his blood on the floor. The killer repeatedly stabs Victoria (heard but not directly seen) and she then falls down some steps, bloody, followed by him dragging her body across the floor. We see the killer sewing Victoria's mouth shut, with bloody results as she squirms and screams. Jill's boyfriend confronts the intruder, but the latter jams a large blade through his hand (with bloody results), another blade falls and slices off some of the boyfriend's fingers from the other hand (we see the digits hit the floor), and the boyfriend then stumbles into an array of large metal-jawed bear traps that snap onto his legs and then body as he falls back into them, with the last snapping shut on his head and face (all with bone-crunching, bloody and gory results). We see Jill tied to a banister with what appears to be barbwire around her wrists and neck (with bloody results). Thinking Arkin is associated with the killer, Jill grabs a pair of scissors to defend herself, unaware that it's a booby trap. She's then yanked across the room and into a wall where she's impaled by many rods sticking out from that (with bloody results). Arkin tries to drag Larry from his box, and the bloody man has nails through his feet. We see blood mix into water as Larry is electrocuted. As Arkin and Hannah try to escape down a laundry chute, the killer repeatedly smashes the dead and very bloody head of Larry into the locked door to break through it. We see brief views of all of the dead and very bloody people in the house. We see a close-up view of a hook being inserted into Arkin's skin (with bloody results) and then see him strung up, with hooks through his hands, back and elsewhere on his body to keep him in place. Blood runs from his mouth, and the killer then slices his forehead, resulting in more blood. He then takes a hammer and chisel and pounds out at least one of Arkin's teeth. He then slices open Arkin's belly, puts a jar of large insects against that opening, and uses a lighter to heat the jar and force those insects into Arkin's body. All of that has extremely bloody/gory results. Arkin starts a fire in a metal trash can and then jams that onto a guard dog's head. Moments later, he confronts the killer and throws that dog's body at him, with the killer firing a shotgun that hits the dog (with bloody/gory results). As Arkin is being transported in an ambulance, another vehicle smashes into that, sending it careening and flipping many times. Arkin is strapped in and ends up hanging upside down when the ambulance comes to a stop, but the paramedic inside is thrashed about during the wreck and then stabbed by the killer when he opens the door (all with bloody results). DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE The sadistic killer obviously has a bad attitude for his actions. Arkin has been casing the family's home so that he can break into their safe for a valuable gem, but apparently is doing so to pay off the loan sharks to whom his wife owes money. He also deals with some sort of criminal who's apparently going to sell the gem. Trying to divert the killer's attention away from Hannah, Arkin taunts him with slurs such as "You little f*cking faggot bitch." Animals (cat, dog) are killed in two scenes. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence," "Blood/Gore" and "Jump Scenes" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. Larry and his wife return home to find the power out. Larry hears his wife call out and then sees a large box in the middle of the floor with the note "For the collector" on it. He then opens the box, is shocked by what he sees (we don't), and is then grabbed from behind. For those afraid of large spiders, we see one lowering itself on a web outside the house, while Arkin sees one crawling on Hannah's teacup and stops her from lifting that to her mouth. Arkin looks down and sees one hornet and then another land on his arm and hand. After spotting the nearby large nest, he calmly uses his cigarette smoke to drive them away. As Arkin sneaks up on the home at night to break in, he sees a chain moving across the ground, followed by a guard dog suddenly lunging at his face. Arkin realizes someone else is in the house while he's trying to break into the safe, and then hears pleading and screaming sounds coming from the air vent. He eludes that other person (not yet realizing it's a sadistic killer), but then not only finds himself locked in, but also surrounded by all sorts of dangerous-looking booby traps as well as large, metal-toothed bear traps on the floor. Arkin has Victoria scream as a distraction, with the killer then coming down to her. He grabs Victoria by the throat, grabs her tongue with pliers and then holds a pair of shears on or near her tongue, but ultimately doesn't snip off any (that we know of). Arkin hears a sound coming from the closet, finds a large box there, opens it, and a captive man suddenly falls out. Arkin hides as the killer walks in his direction, but then doesn't seem to see him. While fooling around with her boyfriend, Jill nearly steps backwards onto one of many spikes positioned on the steps leading upstairs. Moments later, she's lying back on a table with the boyfriend all over her, with both unaware that a tripwire by his leg is attached to a large blade that's positioned up above her throat that's now exposed due to her hanging her head backwards in ecstasy. We then see the killer watching them, and they eventually see that as well and stop. Finally seeing Hannah, Arkin returns to the house after having managed to escape. Inside, we see the killer repeatedly grabbing at the girl's feet and pursuing her. Just as he's about to get her, Arkin hits him over the head and leaves with Hannah. Arkin slowly and painfully yanks himself off all of the hooks through his skin that are holding him in place. As Arkin goes up some sort of shaft and then starts to pull Hannah up with him, the killer unleashes a guard dog that races her way and nearly gets her by the feet. Arkin sees the killer come up behind Hannah, but that turns out to be a hallucination as it's really a cop. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Shotguns/Knives & Other Blades/Various booby traps: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others and/or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details. The killer makes his way through the house holding a knife, while Arkin spots a light fixture equipped with large blades hanging below it. Arkin retrieves a handgun from Michael's safe, but can't find the bullets that are supposedly located elsewhere. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "M*therf*cker," "Shut the f*ck up," "You f*cking faggot," "You little f*cking faggot bitch," "F*ck you," "Holy sh*t," "Hopped up on your macho bullsh*t," "Don't freak," "You son of a bitch," "Who the hell are you?" "Shut up," "Where the hell were you?" and "You little bitch" (said to a man). The various scares as well as the sadism, use of elaborate traps and other behavior might be enticing for some troubled kids to imitate. Jill and her mom argue about the former going on vacation with the family. Jill doesn't want to and screams to get her point across. A miscellaneous woman has various tattoos. The criminal whom Arkin is going to use to sell the stolen gem isn't happy with his demands. Accordingly, that man and his goon grab Arkin's arm and hold a cigarette lighter to his skin to get their point across. JUMP SCENES A large box on the floor suddenly moves, and someone then suddenly grabs Larry from behind. Hannah surprises Arkin. A guard dog suddenly lunges at Arkin. As Arkin makes his way through the house at night during a thunderstorm, a lightning flash illuminates another figure by him, but it's just a mirror reflection. Arkin suddenly encounters a bloody and desperate looking Michael. Arkin finds Victoria bound, gagged and blindfolded in a bathtub (clothed). She then suddenly moves in that tub. Arkin hears a sound coming from the closet, finds a large box there, opens it, and a captive man suddenly falls out. A guard dog suddenly attacks a cop. A cop car strikes Arkin and flips him over it as he rushes out for help. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A extreme amount of suspenseful and ominous music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) A song repeats the line "give it some hell" several times. PROFANITY At least 10 "f" words (2 used with "mother"), 5 "s" words, 3 slang terms for sex ("do it"), 5 hells, 2 damns, 2 S.O.B.s, 4 uses of "Oh God" and 1 use each of "G-damn," "Jesus" and "Oh my God." SEX/NUDITY Larry's wife shows cleavage. Jill shows some cleavage and wears some small shorts. We see bare-breasted pole dancers and related women in a club. We see Jill and her boyfriend making out in the car. She then leads him back to the house, and as she tries to unlock the front door, he says they should "do it" right there, with her replying she's not "doing it" on her front porch. They eventually get inside where they make out some more and his hand lifts her short skirt. He again says they should "do it" as he places her up on a table of some sort and gets between her legs. She lies back, he rips open her shirt (exposing her cleavage-revealing bra), and starts kissing up her belly after opening and removing her bra, revealing her bare breasts. Unbeknownst to them, the killer is excitedly watching them, licking his lips, etc. but nothing else sexual happens as they spot the intruder and stop. Having tied Jill to a banister and previously watched her fooling around with her now dead boyfriend, the killer slowly goes up her clothed body, but is distracted before anything else happens. We briefly see some bare-breasted dancers in the same club listed above. SMOKING Arkin smokes at least three times, once sharing one with Jill who asks for a drag. In another scene, he uses his cigarette smoke to drive away some hornets. During the opening credits, we see a partial image of a person with a cigarette. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Jill and her mom argue about the former going on vacation with the family. Jill doesn't want to and screams to get her point across. Arkin's wife or ex-wife isn't happy to see him or that he's six hours late to meet her and their daughter. Victoria must contend with seeing her dead husband's bloody body strung upside down. The various family members worry about each other during the siege, including the sounds of some being tortured and the sights of some of them being dead. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT The sort of viewer who likes "torture porn" horror films like this. Sadists and torture. Being so in hock that desperate measures are taken to try to get out of that. VIOLENCE The criminal whom Arkin is going to use to sell the stolen gem isn't happy with his demands. Accordingly, that man and his goon grab Arkin's arm and hold a cigarette lighter to his skin to get their point across. Arkin suddenly encounters a bloody and desperate looking Michael. The latter is then yanked away by a cable, yanking out some fingernails along the way until he's drawn up to a stairwell ceiling. He's then dropped and smacks into the handrail before landing hard on the floor. Arkin picks up a phone to make a call and a spike comes out of the earpiece, cutting the side of his head (a little blood). He then reaches out through a window to have a large blade slam his hand down into another such blade, trapping his hand there. He eventually pulls himself free, but not before spilling a lot of blood. Arkin has Victoria scream as a distraction, with the killer then coming down to her. He grabs Victoria by the throat, grabs her tongue with pliers and then holds a pair of shears on or near her tongue, but ultimately doesn't snip off any (that we know of). The killer cuts off Michael's ear or slices him near there. Larry is very bloody when Arkin finds him, and appears to be missing part of his nose. Arkin finds a room with an open window and goes for it, only to discover he's now stuck in some sort of sticky acid on the floor. He also spots a cat in agony in the same situation, although its feet are burning while Arkin manages to get his out of his shoes before they burn through. He then yanks the cat free (with bloody results) and tosses it to the windowsill where a large blade drops down and cuts the cat in half, sending blood splattering onto Arkin's face and elsewhere in the room. The killer repeatedly stabs Victoria (heard but not directly seen) and she then falls down some steps, bloody, followed by him dragging her body across the floor. We see the killer sewing Victoria's mouth shut, with bloody results as she squirms and screams. Jill's boyfriend confronts the intruder, but the latter jams a large blade through his hand (with bloody results), another blade falls and slices off some of the boyfriend's fingers from the other hand (we see the digits hit the floor), and the boyfriend then stumbles into an array of large metal-jawed bear traps that snap onto his legs and then body as he falls back into them, with the last snapping shut on his head and face (all with bone-crunching, bloody and gory results). The killer grabs Jill and throws her over a table and then drags her away. Thinking Arkin is associated with the killer, Jill grabs a pair of scissors to defend herself, unaware that it's a booby trap. She's then yanked across the room and into a wall where she's impaled by many rods sticking out from that (with bloody results). Arkin punches his fist through a window to break it, and he falls hard to the ground while escaping. Finally seeing Hannah, Arkin returns to the house after having managed to escape. Inside, we see the killer repeatedly grabbing at the girl's feet and pursuing her. Just as he's about to get her, Arkin hits him over the head and leaves with Hannah. We see Hannah (behind a small TV) and Arkin (behind a large aquarium) waiting for the killer's arrival. When the door opens, they push both to the floor, resulting in electrified water. But the killer throws Larry into that instead, and we see his body convulse as he's electrocuted (we also see blood mix into the water). Hannah then flees, while Arkin runs and tries to avoid being hit by various knives the killer throws at him. Arkin runs into another room only to get his face stuck in fish (or similar) hooks that are hanging from the ceiling. As Arkin and Hannah try to escape down a laundry chute, the killer repeatedly smashes the dead and very bloody head of Larry into the locked door to break through it. Hannah goes down that chute, but the killer grabs Arkin before he can and thrashes him about. The two struggle, with the killer pinning him to the floor against which he pounds his body before punching him unconscious. We see a close-up view of a hook being inserted into Arkin's skin (with bloody results) and then see him strung up, with hooks through his hands, back and elsewhere on his body to keep him in place. Blood runs from his mouth, and the killer then slices his forehead, resulting in more blood. He then takes a hammer and chisel and pounds out at least one of Arkin's teeth. He then slices open Arkin's belly, puts a jar of large insects against that opening, and uses a lighter to heat the jar and force those insects into Arkin's body. All of that has extremely bloody/gory results. A cop arrives on the scene and holds his gun on the killer, forcing him to drop his knife. Just then, the guard dog attacks the cop, badly wounding and bloodying him. The killer then comes over and breaks the cop's neck, killing him. Arkin starts a fire in a metal trash can and then jams that onto a guard dog's head. Moments later, he confronts the killer and throws that dog's body at him, with the killer firing a shotgun that hits the dog (with bloody/gory results). Arkin and the killer fight, with lots of struggling, exchanged blows, and Arkin avoiding the killer's knife. The killer eventually tumbles down some steps and then fires a shotgun through the locked door. He then fires at Arkin and Hannah, but it's really just a mirror reflection of them. Arkin then lets a light fixture fall onto the killer, and the long blades hanging below that impale the killer. A cop car strikes Arkin and flips him over it as he rushes out for help. There's an explosion in the house (seen from the outside). As Arkin is being transported in an ambulance, another vehicle smashes into that, sending it careening and flipping many times. Arkin is strapped in and ends up hanging upside down when the ambulance comes to a stop, but the paramedic inside is thrashed about during the wreck and then stabbed by the killer when he opens the door (all with bloody results). The killer then cuts Arkin free, drags him out of the ambulance, and then back in where he repeatedly closes a large lid or door on him. Reviewed July 31, 2009 / Posted July 31, 2009

Privacy Statement and Terms of Use and Disclaimer
By entering this site you acknowledge to having read and agreed to the above conditions.

All Rights Reserved,
©1996-2012 Screen It, Inc.