Blu-Ray Review: ‘THE COLLECTION’

2009’s The Collector was a surprise entry to the horror genre. It came from nowhere and it had an interesting premise that seemed to differentiate it from the pack of other horror films. It also helped to raise the film from obscurity into actual release thanks to the team behind it, Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan who recently came from the Saw franchise. Melton & Dunstan have returned with the sequel, The Collection. While it didn’t seem like it received the reception of its predecessor, lets take a look and see how it stacks up as a general horror film and as a sequel.

[highlight color=”black”]                                                                  The Movie                                                               [/highlight]

Pretty much picking up from The Collector, we follow a girl named Elena through a sequence of unfortunate events runs into Arkin, the main character from The Collection. Arkin escapes and is replaced with Elena as a live capture. Elena’s father, played by Christopher McDonald, hires a group of mercenaries to find Elena and bring her to safety. The mercs grab Arkin from the hospital and use him to try to find the lair of The Collector. In a hit-over-the head nod to the audience, the merc team and Arkin break into the Hotel Argento which is the Collector’s lair. Once inside, they must go through tons of booby traps and even zombified people to find Elena.

The plot is simple and the tone in this sequel is a bit different from the original. However, with such a sadistic character of The Collector, you are either in for the ride or you are not. It all depends on what you liked from the predecessor and if you are interested in seeing more of the Collector. The Collection is an aesthetic ode to Italian horror films. The lighting heavily borrows the cinematography of Mario Bava and Dario Argento’s films via saturated reds and blues. When you combine what the characters of the film go through and the unapologetic and brutal nature of how they die, one does think of Lucio Fulci. You are then reminded that writers Melton & Dunstan are true horror fans and they know they are making a film for the fans.

Through the commentary, it is mentioned that the film is low-budget but it definitely doesn’t feel like it. According to IMDB, the budget was 10 million dollars, which is pretty modest. Composer Charlie Clouser, cinematographer Sam McCurdy along with high concepts in production & set design elevate this above mediocrity. Sure, it is still a pretty predictable sequel where you will know who will probably make it out alive but not only does it feel like a consistent continuation but it is a lot of fun. While The Collector was this interesting balance of turning a petty criminal, who would typically be the bad guy, into a hero of sorts, The Collection is a bit of closure to the characters while being a story of Arkin’s redemption. If there was one complaint is that this film might lean towards feeling like it was heavily influenced by the Saw franchise. However, I feel a bit of that was in the first film as well – even though I think it blended all the different elements a bit better. What’s nice is that The Collection doesn’t feel like it is trying to be anything more than it is and that it does indeed feel like a continuation of the characters we were previously introduced to yet can stand alone.

See what Michael thought of ‘The Collection’ when he saw it at Fantastic Fest 2012.

 [highlight color=”black”]                                                         The Presentation                                                     [/highlight]

Lionsgate presents The Collection on Blu-Ray with a AVC encoded 1080p transfer which looks sharp. The Collection was shot on 35mm film, which is nice to see in this digital age, and it looks excellent. The film has saturated colors on the sets it was filmed on and it could have been overly saturated in the transfer but Lionsgate has a great balance on this transfer where everything looks the way it should be presented. The soundtrack is robust while the dialogue is front & center and clear. It won’t give your surround system a work out but it definitely does envelop you into the film with its DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack.

 [highlight color=”black”]                                                         Special Features                                                     [/highlight]

Lionsgate includes alternate scenes (some of which are rough mixes), a Theatrical Trailer along with 5 mini featurettes that show some of the practicality of the set design, stunts, special effects and make-up effects. The commentary on this disc includes Director/Writer Marcus Dunstan and writer Patrick Melton which is lively and informative. Some of the stories told makes you wonder how they were able to pull off some scenes that were shot in totally different locations substituting actors who were not available. They have a good time talking about the film and even have some decent tidbits for budding filmmakers.

 [highlight color=”black”]                                                                     Overall                                                               [/highlight]

The Collection is a film that probably skated past horror fans in its November release due to the very limited amount of theaters & advertising it was given. If you were a fan of The Collector you owe it to yourself to see what happens with Arkin in this film. While the film isn’t a gem that needs to be seen by horror fans, it is an enjoying & lean 82 minutes that won’t waste much of your time and it delivers the goods.