After escaping from someone that almost killed you, why would you go looking for them again? In November 2012, Arkin was finally free from the nightmare of The Collector, or was he?Directing this 82 minute horror/thriller is Marcus Dunstan.
Making a bloody mess in this one is: Josh Stewart as Arkin, Emma Fitzpatrick as Elena, Lee Tergesen as Lucello, Erin Way as Abby and Randall Archer as The Collector.
After Arkin escapes from the serial killer known as The Collector, he's resting in the hospital trying to explain everything that's happened. That's when Lucello shows up asking if he saw a young woman
during his escape. Arkin recognizes the young woman, but doesn't know if she's still alive. So Lucello asks Arkin to help find her and fill Lucello's team in on what to expect when they enter the Collectors domain. Unfortunately, what started out for Arkin as just a little help quickly turns into reliving a nightmare and fighting for survival... all over again.
Writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan, who also wrote the first film The Collector (2009), are back again to pen the sequel. This time around we see a return of a couple of characters, and get more insight on the dark natural of The Collector himself. Not a lot of insight mind you, it's not like finding out why he does what he does. It's just seeing him in his, element if you will, you realize he's been doing this for awhile. For me, getting to know something about the killer in question is so much better than watching a flick for an hour and never know who or why. Movies like that are a cop-out to me, like you couldn't be bothered to tell a full story. Have killer, weapon, bodies... end! I'm always left with... why? Why, did someone pay you for a script like that?
Quick interesting side note: Come to find out when the first film was written up, it was originally made to be a Saw (2004) prequel, called Midnight Man. However, the producers didn't like the idea, so instead we got two cool movies that could stand on their own in the horror genre. Making something new is always an upside to me. Even if it is about a man in a mask... killing people... in twisted... ways. Wow, suddenly it doesn't seem so original. Oh, well, least it helped the horror genre, rather than hurt it, unlike some of the other titles out there. Now, I won't go pointing any fingers, but, if I did... Leprechaun 4: In space (1996).
For the most part the story is still a slasher/survival flick like the first one. It still has plenty of painful, mess making traps looking for some poor victim to trip in to. Along with the return of the sadistic individual looking to continue adding to his twisted collection. This time however, we get a bit of a revenge and rescue slotted into the mix.
The playthrough was really good and held my attention. It starts off with a bit of banter between friends, then before you know it, all hell breaks loose and the blood flows. After that strong start, things take a two second break, and before you know it, you're back to running for your life and trying to stay alive.
Now, even though I stated it was originally intended as a Saw flick, I will warn you it doesn't have the same high quality cool Saw style traps. These are more of a brutal hack and slash style. You can tell the Collector is smart due to all the stuff involved to do what he does, but the actual traps are more caveman smash.
Between the killer looking job Kristen Donaldson did with the set decoration and the cinematography work by Sam McCurdy you get a great setting for all the doom and gloom the movie has going on. Now, it's a bloody and gory flick, which isn't everyone's cup of tea, so fair warning before getting into this one.
The cast is cool, I really liked Stewart's character. Although I usually like Tergesen's roles, I didn't really feel like he did much (character wise) in this one. There's a bit of depth to his character due to back story, but because of all the going ons in the storyline that depth gets lost along the way. So Tergesen's character winds up feeling more like an extra rather than one of the main co-stars.
Overall, as much as I liked the first film, this one was a lot better. You get more of a storyline, more characters (which means a higher body count) and awesome looking special effects. So, this one is definitely worth catching.
It's rated R for violence and language.
3 stars