In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.
Showing posts with label Josh Stewart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Josh Stewart. Show all posts

Thursday, 25 April 2013

THE COLLECTION [2012]

The second instalment (and probably not the last) of Marcus Dunstan's Collector series, titled The Collection goes for bigger and bolder.  Sadly that almost never makes it better.
It neuters the terrifyingly unsettling ending of the original and twists the story into something resembling Abbot & Costello meets Saw II with it's goofy house of endless passageways of tricks and traps.  The dialogue is atrociously bad, the camerawork is dull and the characters are flatter than Olive Oyl's chest.  I can't even believe it's made by the same folks who worked on the first film.  

2 broken, broken arms out of 5

Wednesday, 24 April 2013

THE COLLECTOR [2009]

Marcus Dunstan steps away from the Saw and Feast films to write and direct this surprisingly effective piece of home invasion torture porn.
The Collector (nothing to do with the 1965 psycho thriller of the same name) started out as a prequel to the Saw series but was fortunately rewritten to become something oddly unique.  Aided by a simple yet wonderful setting, fascinating camerawork and an intelligent protagonist, the film rises far above the other films in it's genre before it.  Sure it's got some gaping plotholes and some wonky writing here and there but all in all it's an enjoyable, vicious little film that packs some great surprises.

3½ giant spider-webs out of 5