Director: Marcus Dunstan.Starring: Josh Stewart, Andrea Roth, Madeline Zima.Rating: 8 Out Of 10

There aren’t many Horror films during this time of the season, since it’s about time for Hollywood Blockbusters to fill the Cinemas. Sometimes due to the buzz of big movies like Transformers 2, Harry Potter, Disney and countless Romantic Comedies, you only find a few hidden treasures that come in or “Sleeper Hits.” That is where “The Collector” comes into play, I remember seeing the Trailer during WWE Raw a few weeks ago and it just struck me as, “How come I haven’t heard of this one yet?” I’ve seen countless “The Orphan” trailers, but only 1 for “The Collector” during a specific time of the week. Many may take the film based on it being sold as being written by the writers of “Saw” and being a torture flick. Where there are a few scenes of torture it’s not “IN YOUR FACE” like “SAW” or “HOSTEL.” It’s more of a Cat and Mouse game.

The flim begins with a old couple around there mid 40’s entering there house, the husband tries to turn on the lights but to no avail, the wife goes upstairs only to scream for her husband, who comes running up the steps for both to witness this large locked case in their bedroom with a note on top of the case that reads “For The Collection.” The husband opens the case and in a flash we see a hand pull him back, Fade To Black and then we have the most rocking opening credits theme i’ve heard in awhile.

We are soon introduced to “Arkin” he is a renovator working for a Banker and his family. Arkin does most work, fix doors and putting bars on the outside of windows. After Arkin finishes his job for the day, we learn that the Banker and his family are set to go on vacation, the Banker pays Arkin for his work and gives him a little extra. Arkin then goes to the bowling alley to see his Daughter and girlfriend, who is in alittle trouble and needs the money Arkin made, except it’s not enough. Arkin tells his girlfriend to give him until midnight and he’ll get more money.

Arkin then travels to the local Strip Club and talks to the owner about breaking in to the Bankers house to get this Diamond that is worth quite alot. They agree on meeting at midnight, but Arkin doesn’t have the time and goes on by himself and enters the Bankers house. Arkin arrives at the mirror where the safe is hidden behind and begins to open the safe, but soon he hears the front door open and footsteps leading up the stairs. From this point we are introduced to “The Collector” a masked madman who collects humans for whatever reason he chooses and is a skilled Trapsman.

Traps are key to this film, not in the vain of “Saw” but as a way of not being able to escape the house. A few stand out traps would be: Boarded up windows that have straight Razors on the other side when your trying to pull the boards off, hundred of nails pointed up on steps, Bear traps set up evenly throughtout a room, spiked telephones and to top it off Acid Glue on the floor of a bedroom that just so happens not to end well for a Cat.

Arkin does his best to try and avoid The Collector as he tries to save the Bankers family that are trapped in the house and search for the youngest Daughter located somewhere in the house. There are many moments that are brutal and for a Horror fan that’s a good thing, the kills are placed out well and go with the flow. They don’t just throw in a unnessasary kill, they may seem like it, but believe me they just felt right. I also enjoyed the subplot of how Arkin is trying to do this as quickly as he can to get back to his Daughter and Girlfriend before midnight occurs. Overall this is one of the best Horror films i’ve seen in Cinemas for awhile, don’t let this fool you into being just an average Horror flick, this is a intense film with some amazing kills. This will be a true sleeper hit and might even gain a small cult following in the near future. If they make a sequel to this film, I would go see it, but to be honest. . . The ending made the film it’s own and I can enjoy this Horror film as being a true Horror film.

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