Elena Peters (Emma Fitzpatrick) is trying to enjoy a quiet night at home, but Elena’s friends are going to a secret rave. After thinking it over, Elena leaves her father alone, and she decides to go to the rave with her friends. Elena starts to loosen up and have a good time….until she runs into her cheating boyfriend. Out of anger, Elena punches her boyfriend in the face, but Elena’s plans to leave the party early are put on hold, when she accidentally finds Arkin (Josh Stewart). The Collector appears, and unleashes a series of diabolical traps to kill everyone at the rave. Arkin (the sole survivor from the previous film) narrowly escapes, but The Collector is able to kidnap Elena.
While in the hospital, Arkin receives an offer from Lucello (Lee Tergesen), a trusted associate for Elena’s wealthy father. Arkin must lead Lucello and his team of mercenaries to The Collector's hideout, so they can rescue Elena, and if the mission is a success, Elena’s father will pull some strings to clear up Arkin’s dirty rap sheet. But when Lucello and the mercenaries arrive at The Collector’s hideout, Lucello forces Arkin inside, and he instantly changes the deal: Arkin must fight with the mercenaries, as they try to rescue Elena.
Stewart and Fitzpatrick deliver the best performances, and Erin Way is a nice edition to the cast. Abby (Way) is The Collector’s unstable prisoner, and Way’s loopy performance is enjoyable. The Collector is still creepy and vicious, and they still didn’t show his face, but The Collector actually speaks in this film.
The Collection is an upgrade over The Collector. The Collection actually provides some intense action sequences, the traps are more complex and brutal, and we learn more about The Collector’s past here. There’s a good cliffhanger at the end, and I enjoyed this film, but The Collector series might fall into the Saw trap. After the first film, Saw sacrificed storytelling, sensible plots, and character development for more sickening gross-out moments and bloody gore. I expected a downfall after Saw III (unfortunately, I was right), and those same feelings resurfaced after watching The Collection. The Collector will probably devolve into a shit-fest of undecipherable storylines, or an obscene barrage of torture porn calamities, as the filmmakers play a one-upsmanship game of “let’s outdo everyone else,” but I’m hoping for something different. The Collector has some potential, but the similarities to the Saw franchise scare me.
Oh, and If you can’t handle sadistic torture scenes, graphic gore, and lots of blood, you should stay away from The Collection.
Final Rating: 6/10
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