Movie Reviews 101 Midnight Horror – The Collection (2012)

Director: Marcus Dunstan

Writer: Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan (Screenplay) Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan (Characters)

Starring: Josh Stewart, Emma Fitzpatrick, Christopher McDonald, Lee Tergesen, Tim Griffin, Andre Royo, Randall Archer, Shannon Kane, Johanna Braddy, Michael Nardelli

 

Plot: A man who escapes from the vicious grips of the serial killer known as “The Collector” is blackmailed to rescue an innocent girl from the killer’s booby-trapped warehouse.

 

There may be spoilers the rest of the review

 

Verdict: A Sequel Worthy Of It Predecessor

 

Story: The Collection starts by introducing young lady Elena (Fitzpatrick) and her father Mr Peters (McDonald) as they look to start rebuilding their relationship before getting hit by a car. We know looking at how the news is handling the Collector (Archer) killing spree that has spread fear across the country. Elena being let down by her boyfriend ends up getting take on a night out with her friends Missy (Braddy) and Josh (Nardelli) to a secret club. It isn’t long before Elena finds her boyfriend at the club leading her to hide in tears, the night is going to take a turn when we see the Collector lurking in the rafters of the club as Elena finds the box The Collector leaves at each crime scene with Arkin (Stewart) inside. By opening the box we get to see the Collectors series of traps which rake up a huge body count.

Arkin escapes and finds himself chained up in a hospital with the police believing him to be a suspect. Lucello (Tergesen) visits Arkin with an offer to help find Elena and kill the Collector once and for all. Lucello has assembled a team to go to the location that Arkin provides and perform tasks the police wouldn’t be a loud to do to save Elena. The crew ends up trapped inside the killers home an abandoned hotel, trying to survive the series of traps left by the Collector. We end up watching the unit search the house, while Arkin looks for an escape and Elena also looking for a way out, all while The Collector hunts to people inside his home.

The Collection follows up the Collector to make a much bigger splash in the world of blood soaking torture genre. We get a string of completely over the top traps to put the disposable characters to waste. We do get to see how the Collector has become iconic with his kills because he will kill absolutely anyone who gets in the way with no remorse. The only negative I would give this film is that we get a generically awful specialist team who really don’t understand danger. There is a lot of searching and hiding done from the smarter characters which helps uncover the truth about the Collector. This will appeal to all the horror fans out there but other than that it ends up being an extension of what Saw created. (6/10)

 

Actor Review

 

Josh Stewart: Arkin is the only person to have escaped the Collector who gets pulled in by an elite team of mercenaries to save a billionaires daughter. Josh does a good performance as the almost antihero in this film franchise. (7/10)

 

Emma Fitzpatrick: Elena is the billionaire’s daughter who becomes the latest victim of the Collector as she is chosen to be the lone survivor of his latest killing spree. Emma does a solid job as the lead female but really just spends most of the film wondering. (6/10)

Lee Tergesen: Lucello is the go to man for Mr Peters who leads the team into the Collectors game in search of Elena. Lee does a good job in the role of the one man that just won’t be stopped while trying to save others. (7/10)

 

Randall Archer: The Collector is the masked serial killer who has racked up a huge number of kills as well as having many more missing. He will kill anyone and creates traps to test his victims if they are trying to escape. Randall does make himself a good screen presence throughout the film. (7/10)

 

Support Cast: The Collection has a supporting cast that mostly makes up to be disposable as the story unfolds and the Collector’s body count rises.

 

Director Review: Marcus Dunstan – Marcus does a good job to take the story to the next chapter and onto the Collector’s home turf. (7/10)

 

Horror: The Collection is really a good addition to the horror genre making the idea of blood soaked horror work. (7/10)

Thriller: The Collection does try and make you want to continue to guess what will happen next. (7/10)

Settings: The Collection does create a trapped environment for the events to happen, filled with plenty of traps. (8/10)
Special Effects: The Collection uses great effects for all the kills making them all look very realistic. (9/10)

Suggestion: The Collection is one for the horror fans to enjoy but make for you have seen The Collector first. (Horror Fans Watch)

 

Best Part: The Opening kill in the club, so brutal.

Worst Part: It is too short and the breaking into the hotel really doesn’t offer too much original with the team.

Kill Of The Film: The opening ones.

 

Believability: No (0/10)

Chances of Tears: No (0/10)

Chances of Sequel: Left open to one.

Post Credits Scene: No

Similar Too: Saw

 

Oscar Chances: No

Box Office: $6.8 Million

Budget: $10 Million

Runtime: 1 Hour 22 Minutes

Tagline: Only one survivor. Only one chance to escape pure evil.

 

Overall: The Collection is a trapped filled standard horror film

Rating