Casper Von Sidecar Calls THE COLLECTOR 'Fun' And 'Badass'!!

Merrick here...
Casper Von Sidecar sent in this look at THE COLLECTOR. In the unlikely event you've managed to escape the film's television marketing blitz, you can view its trailer in Glorious QuickTime HERE. A week or two ago, Massawyrm declared his love for this film (HERE). Does Casper share his opinion? Read on...

Last night I had the privilege of attending a screening of The Collector at the Alamo Ritz. My Fantastic Fest badge has become the gift that keeps on giving since moving to ATX. The Collector is the story of a down-on-his-luck pseudo-baddie who cases houses for a local hood king. He is then employed to snatch valuables from safes in those houses using his safe-cracking skills and his Cary Grant-like thievery talent. So when his baby mamma needs cash to pay the loan sharks—his usual motivation for larceny—he decides to lift a rare rock from the home of a jeweler. What happens next exemplifies the expression wrong place at the wrong time. I dug this film. This review may seem paradoxical because a good deal of the praise I am going to give this film is going to sound derogatory. This film is typical of modern horror with its reliance on torture and gore as a means for building suspense. We could argue the merits of that til judgment day but the fact is that these have become staples of horror films today. Moreover it is a fairly run-of-the-mill home invasion horror film. We've seen these movies crop up again here and there trying to make a comeback, but The Collector will not be enough to rejuvenate that subgenre. The compartmentalized nature of home invasion horror makes it easy to build suspense. If there is the slightest bit of tension delivered by the film, it effectively has nowhere to go and we are trapped in a closet with it (better than being trapped in a closet with lecherous R&B singers, right?). So yes, this film was tense but given the format, it's not that impressive. So why did I like such an ordinary horror film? I really believe it's the simplicity and unassuming nature of the film that made it work for me. I don't go into modern horror looking for high art anymore; more often than not you will walk out disappointed if you do. That’s not to disparage the genre, but if we implement art house criteria to our assessment of horror, then we squander golden opportunities to experience the essence of it: the thrill. If a horror film is not striving to bring something wholly new to the table, then my only expectation becomes fun. I revel in the fact that horror is one of the few genres wherein we can legitimately ask ourselves, did we have a good time with this film? In regard to The Collector, my answer is a big yes! Yes, there are superfluous boobs. Yes, the violence is horrendous and shocking. Yes, there are buckets of blood and entrails spilling forth like the contents of a busted piñata. But damn it, I love horror films of all makes and models. So yes, I enjoyed the gorgeous pair of boobs. Yes, I punched the air in celebration of all the cool kills and cringed at the grossest of torture scenes. And hell yes I enjoyed the house o'traps! Oh Sweet Merciful Jesus Flakes the traps! They are one of the key reasons to see this film. The killer turns the entire home he is invading into a giant labyrinth of certain, and very messy death! Keep in mind that the writers of this film, one of whom also directed, are the brains behind all of the Saw films. Again, we could argue the merits but if there is one thing that is certain it's that these guys know how to create traps! The traps are sinister and nasty, but also morbidly playful. It was like watching Home Alone if it starred the Macaulay Culkin from The Good Son. This is where the fun in this film truly lies; a rollercoaster of carnage! I will not pretend that this film is without flaws. My biggest problem was the soundtrack. There is a very odd trend in horror, especially recently, wherein the sound designer mistakes loud with scary. Sorry guys, but a singer from a has-been goth band screaming into the microphone does not equate to atmosphere. And dragging nails across blackboards at decibel levels that would deafen Angus Young is not the same as setting the mood of the film. My only other qualm is that the killer is called the Collector because they try to establish that he collects people. But it is never really clear how he collects them or which person he's ever really after. I don't mean in an eerie, ambiguous way. No, I mean the lines of dialogue directly contradict each other as to his collecting habits. I know that The Collector was not the original title of this film and that there were late reshoots so maybe the problem is that the concept had to be tweaked at the last minute. Maybe a little bit of continuity was sacrificed in favor of getting the film released on schedule. But these are quibbles really in the grand scheme. Again if the film is free of pretense and plays to the genre crowd effectively, then why not take it at face value? If you can’t abandon film school logic and take the occasional cognitive vacation, than this is not the film for you. Frankly, this isn’t the genre for you. Horror films aim to entertain first and quality is secondary. There are exceptions, but they are just that….exceptions! And those film really knock us on our asses, whether you are the core audience or not. So is The Collector great? Absolutely not. But my argument is that convention is not the enemy. Even the great horror films borrow, or in some cases shamelessly steal, from other films. See this film if you can put aside black and white abstracts of good film vs. bad film. The Collector is fun, badass entry into the horror annuls that you can watch once, gleam all the conversational treasures you can, and forget.