The Collector (2009)

So I watched The Collection first and thoroughly enjoyed it. I knew I was going to have to check out the original and I finally got my hands on a copy. So now I'll get to see just how our intrepid hero, Arkin, came to be part of and subsequently escape the collection.

Arkin is a contractor, working on a house out in Nowheresville, USA. He took the job to help his (super hot) baby mama repay her debts to loan sharks as she's planning on taking the kid and disappearing if she doesn't have the money by midnight. The house belongs to a jeweler and in doing contracted work, he's been casing it. Now that his girlfriend needs the money, he's making his move, against the wishes of his partner, Captain xxx from The Wire. Unbeknownst to him, the collector has also been casing the house, and he's come to collect.

Listen, they are going to take you...

At the beginning of The Collector, I was thinking about how it is probably better that I watched its sequel, first, because honestly, if I had watched them in order, I would have quit 35 min into the first. I'm glad I stuck around though, it does get better. It's still ridiculous though and quite frankly I am surprised it got a sequel with a theatrical release.

What I like about the Collector series is how this dude sets up the most elaborate traps within the most ridiculous time-frames. It truly makes no sense, but they are so evil genius and they look so cool that it's easy to overlook. I also found it funny that after being fooled by traps twice, Arkin wises up and he can automatically see all the setups. Including a floor literally full of bear traps. It's very rare that a character gets smarter over the course of a horror film. Plus The Collector just kills and collects. No rhyme, no reason, no back-story. That's both rare and awesome.

So to answer my original inquiry, how did he get collected? Essentially, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and refused to die

 

Violence? Yes
Explosions? Yes
Nudity? Yes