The Underrated Slasher Movie That Was Almost a Saw Prequel
Former convict turned repairman Arkin O'Brien confronts a dire situation: Unless settle his loan to ruthless lenders, his wife and daughter will be harmed. With no alternatives, Arkin breaks into a former client's home to steal valuables, only to discover the family are already being held captive and abused by a hooded psychopath who enjoys brutal games. Stuck inside a house rigged with lethal devices, Arkin must fight to survive.
The Link to the Jigsaw Series
The plot might sound reminiscent of the Saw films, and with cause: The Collector, originally titled The Midnight Man, was once considered as a prequel for the Jigsaw franchise, serving as an backstory for the notorious killer. However the original producers of Saw reviewed the script and turned down the concept. Later, Jigsaw's origins were detailed in subsequent movies, and the script for The Midnight Man was revised into The Collector. It wasn't a complete loss for filmmaker Marcus Dunstan, however; he and co-writer Patrick Melton later contributed to the Saw series, penning the scripts for Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI, and Saw 3D.
Standing Alone
Launching The Collector as a independent movie didn't push it into the limelight as compared to a Saw origin story would have, but some believe that was a blessing. The Collector holds up independently as a movie, instead of being contrasted to each entry in the series. After viewing it multiple times, it's evident that Dunstan and Melton created a memorable experience. They twist the knife from the beginning by letting us get to know the characters and their hardships before violently ending their safety, and they keep escalating the fear with each horrifying scheme that the antagonist forces Arkin and others through, in a house that exemplifies “death trap.”
The Killer and His Motives
The villain in The Collector doesn't have Jigsaw’s “moral” justification for his murders. He doesn't torment people to reform them: Following a disturbing youth event that he alone lived through, he relishes re-enacting the pain inflicted upon him by selecting households and collecting the survivors to add to his collection. If you enjoy psychedelic visuals, sudden frights, and plenty of gore to unsettle your stomach, you'll be able to easily forgive the admittedly flimsy explanation for this killer’s actions. Hey, at least he executes his victims look stylized.
