The Collector: Review and Interview with Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan (Spoilers)

“The Collector,” a new slasher flick opening July 31, 2009, is perhaps the most deliciously sadistic film ever. Written by Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan (co-writers of “Feast” 1 – 3, “The Happy Finish,” and “Saw” IV – VI), “The Collector” stars Josh Stewart as Arkin, a thief who decides to rob a house he’s been hired to repair in order to raise cash to help his wife and kid. Arkin’s burglary takes a nasty turn for the worse when he discovers the house is already under siege by a super-cunning, ultra-sadistic serial killer with a soft spot for arachnoids.

The Collector

“The Collector” is extremely disturbing, in the way horror film lovers should take delight in. It replaces excessive blood and gore with a deliberate study of the psychology of terror. What must it feel like for a predator to become prey himself? Can one outfox the other? If so, how? This is a cat and mouse game full of gut-churning mayhem and tension created because the film goes after more intimate damage early on and saves the blood bath for later.

“The Collector” revives the 80s esthetic of horror cinema, using an electronic and drum soundtrack as well as the Dean Cundey styled camera work made popular in films like “Escape From New York.” “The camera becomes another actor in the sense that it’s going to tell you where the threat is coming from. This is good old sneak and creep and glide through the darkness [cinema],” Dunstan said during an interview with Popdecay at Comic-Con San Diego 2009, describing his approach to shooting “The Collector.” “My big problem with horror movies is, often they’ll have a decent set up and ending, but in minute 30 or 60, they’ll become a chase …‘run, run, run, twist, ending over,’ and we weren’t trying to do that,” Melton added. “We wanted to make a movie that is a thriller at its core and turns into a horror film later.”

“We wanted to make a movie that might get a kid in trouble for watching it late at night, but hopefully the concerned parent would get so wrapped into that they would enjoy it and have to bond,” Dunstan joked. “I don’t know a lot of people who can identify with a man getting his arm bitten off by a shark. That’s pretty gross, but you don’t really feel it. However, you put a needle under someone’s finger nail, and show it slowly going in, I think a lot of people would flinch at that,” he added.

Melton and Dunstan adapted the concept for “The Collector” from a 10-minute short called “The Thief,” prepared in film school at the University of Iowa. The original idea was “what if a thief broke into the home of a serial killer,” Melton said. “The Collector” has evolved dramatically from its origins as a short film. Now, the thief breaks into a residence whose owners are chained up and being tortured and killed one by one in the basement, leaving the thief with two options: “become a hero and save these people or get the ‘f’ out of the house,” Dunstan offered.

“The Collector” is “the hardest R-rated film this year,” and as well as “ a great American horror film,” Melton advised. He is not wrong. This film is a kick in the stomach. It leaves viewers disturbed and satisfied.

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