The sequel to 2009’s The Collector. Marcus Dunstan was back to direct and Josh Stewart was back to play Arkin. We have a different actor for both The Collector and for Arkin’s wife, Lisa. Randall Archer dons the Collector mask in this one while Navi Rawat plays the role of Lisa.
Let me guide you through the first act to give you a general idea of what we’re working with here. Elena has a boyfriend, Brian, who cancels their date. She ends up going to a party with Missy and Josh. It’s one of those loud ass parties with a DJ and everybody is dancing. It’s the type of place you will never find me in. At the party, Elena finds Brian making out with a chick, so she punches him and runs off crying. She ends up in a room with a red trunk, with Arkin inside. While this is happening, The Collector unleashes a death trap that has a body count high enough to be in the same discussion as Ghost Ship. Yeah, shit got real. Josh got f’d up. Missy ends up trapped inside a cage of sorts and gets crushed with 20-30 other people. Arkin asks Elena for help, but she chooses not to in the midst of the panic, but he frees himself. He escapes the room, gets out in the hallway, sees Elena and The Collector behind her. Naturally, Arkin bails because she didn’t help him. I think that’s fair, to be honest.
Arkin is arrested while in the hospital. Then this dude named Lucello shows up. He was hired by Elena’s father, played by the great Christopher McDonald of Happy Gilmore and Requiem For A Dream fame. Lucello will get the arrest taken care of if Arkin will lead Lucello and his posse of “soldiers” to where Elena is captured. WIthout much of a choice, Arkin agrees. He leads them to this abandoned hotel, I think, and that’s where the real plot begins.
As you can imagine, lots of people get got during this. Lots of cool traps, but I honestly preferred the ones in the original more. This made more sense that he would have shit set up the way that he does. So this is more logical. We get to know a few people, but as I said, lots of death, so don’t get too attached.
I do have a gripe and it is a spoiler, so skip this paragraph if you want to keep it real. At the end, when the place is on fire, Elena starts busting up those aquariums. Why the hell did she suddenly stop bashing them? They needed as much time as possible. She couldn’t have possibly known how long it would take the firemen, so why stop when there were at least 3 other aquariums? That annoyed the hell out of me. The ending was interesting.
I always thought that we would get a third one based on the ending, or a prequel. If you saw the original, you know that this isn’t The Collector’s first rodeo. It seemed like a missed opportunity. The budget for this was apparently around 10 million and grossed 8.9 million at the theater. Once you total DVD and blu-ray plus whatever they get for streaming, it had to have been close to profitable, I would assume. Either way, just go on a tighter budget the next time. You don’t need explosions and fire every time.
I remember liking this film, but thinking that it missed the mark. I agree with that sentiment now upon seeing both. Interestingly enough, IMDB gave the original a 6.4 and this a 6.1. I agree with the 6.4 for the original, but I don’t think that this is quite a 6.
Rating: 5.9 – It doesn’t feel like a 6. This could have been better. Abby kind of ruined some of the flow. I felt that they could have shown more of what he did to other people he had captured. This felt a little like Resident Evil or Aliens. Just on a smaller scale. Lack of follow up with a sequel also hurts the ending.
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