The Collector

This week, hosts Frank and Andrew discuss the 2009 home alone horror The Collector! What happens when you try and rob your boss but end up in a room full of bear traps?! Please join us for a scene by scene break down of this iconic film.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Welcome to You Killed Clyde. I'm your host, Frank, and today we're going to be discussing what happens when you decide to rob the rich family you work for, but you end up in a pile of bear traps. Folks, today we're talking about the 2009 film The Collector. On our journey with us today is my dear co-host Andrew. Andrew, how are ya?

SPEAKER_00 0:35

I'm good, Frank. I'm coming off the heels of, I know we're trying to book uh Collector today, but I just saw Obsession last night, and I am obsessed with that. But of course, we're not talking about that today, so I won't say too much other than it might be my horror film of the year so far. Um absolute, uh, absolutely a gem.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

I will say I did watch it last night as well, and one thing we did talk about, which I agree with, is the main actress in that film. Holy shit. Her acting is so fucking good.

SPEAKER_00 1:10

Like I was I was blown away totally. Her her performance is what makes that that's a movie that easily could have still been fun, but not as great. Obviously, I mean you've seen the movie, obviously it revolves around her performance, but it just that really that movie really uh really lives on her amazing performance. And uh I was surprisingly terrified at some scenes, they were really freaky.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Did not expect that from this kind of movie, but yeah, I think also like I mean, obviously we will cover this one day, but I will say there is like a very heartbreaking like oh, there's several, there's a couple her story is heartbreaking. But the thing is, like, when you think of I don't know if you've ever thought about this, but like if you were to make a wish, and there are a lot of movies that do this, but you really have it has to be so calculated, and obviously, like he makes the wish not thinking that it's going to come true, but what a dangerous, you know.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Yeah, I think too, just uh to to say a little more about this film before we to turn it into a whole its own podcast, um, is that in an interview with Kerry Barker, he said something that was like I think really like poignant or really like on point with this, is that he says um that inherently the wish of like messing with fate and someone's autonomy and love is inherently cursed.

SPEAKER_02 2:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

So no matter how he you worded that wish, you it would probably have been like just as destructive and awful, as opposed to wishing for something material that didn't affect someone's like willpower and will. Like I think I like and I like that idea a lot. God, yeah, this movie has there's so much to say about it, and I won't I can't keep going too much about it before we get into collector here.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

But um Yeah, let's um let's let's come back to the film that we are to talk about today. Yeah, let's see what we're doing. Which is the collector. Yeah, we're getting a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

We're both excited. We just saw the movie last night. I think we both have a lot to say about it, and we're we're we're getting into this recording session. So let's uh let's not tempt ourselves and let's put a little bow on this for now and we'll we'll save that for another podcast.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

We'll put it in the cupboard inside a container for later.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

Good idea, yes. I'm just brimming with excitement about it. Oh, with about the collector? No, the session. The collector, not so much. So, collector, uh, I know you're gonna introduce the film and stuff. You have stuff to say about it. Um, but I will say upon watching this film, I think I actually remember liking the second one a lot more. And this one I did not like as much, but uh, we'll get into that.

SPEAKER_01 3:53

Can you imagine we go on a 15-minute tangent about the second one? So people who listen for like 20 minutes, and there's like we don't actually cover the collector in this episode.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

Reminds me of that one scene in The Exorcist. Do you know that The Exorcist? We jump films for the next 45 minutes.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

I do want to say my opener on this film, and I'll get into the background. So there wasn't a ton of background on this movie, but I will say the background that I found, once I share it with you, it's going to click why this movie may feel familiar to you. And so I'll just leave that hanging out there, but we will get into it. I have a lot of questions about this film, and I will definitely get into those more specifically as we move through the film. I really, really like the idea of booby traps scenarios where like I really like that saw, you know, feeling and aspect to it. I also really love that it takes place in a single block of time, like don't breathe or die hard. Like I love movies that you know that you see the character in real time as they like traverse this scenario. I think that's really like suspense building, and I think it's really, really well done.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Yeah, I think I I love I've always loved the idea of like a house of horrors, whether that's a booby-trapped house or like a house where every room's a trick or a trap or a haunting or something. Uh, in this case, of course, we have a booby-trapped house, very like you said, you brought up Saw. Um, like to the point of ridiculousness in this movie. Yes. Um I think he thought he was fending off a small like army from South America or something. I don't know. Uh, but I I love the idea of uh a house of horrors. And I do, yes, I love that we this movie is it takes place over an hour and 29 minutes, and it's pretty much exclusively in real time once he gets to the house, which I love.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

Also, I love the camera work in this movie. They do some overhead shots where you get a bird's eye view into the house, and you can see parallel scenes happening, and it kind of follows the user through the experience. Like it's very uh cool, very well done. I just like my question is what okay, oh my god, okay. I'm burgeoning with questions. My main question is this is an observation. So the family uh obviously gets kidnapped in the time that the family gets kidnapped at the end of the day, up to the time that Arkin arrives, this guy has booby trapped this house in like home alone times two. Yet he's trapped the family in the basement. So who are the traps for?

SPEAKER_00 6:59

Yes, I think this is what I was I was kind of joking about earlier, is that you you have to wonder, like, let's say he was anticipating the authorities or something, or anyone. Most normal people, like in real life, when there has been like booby trapped like meth houses or like those drug houses you see on TV. Um, it's it's usually traps, you know, if it's in a bush, to they'll trap the bushes or whatever, but then it's just like the doorways and stuff. So like these weird, like he traps random objects. Like there's two specific objects. They're like, what the heck? Like a golf club and a pair of scissors that someone might access. Uh like it's fun. Like it's they do. Yeah, yes. Like you've heard me before. I've people who've listened before, you've heard me talk about Chekhov's guns concept. And this film is like exclusively that for the first part of the film. It just shows you all the setups that's gonna happen later in the film.

SPEAKER_01 7:53

Um I actually was really looking forward to you bringing those up as we go through. Like, I was like, I know bring up the like the chandelier with the knives zip tied to the little bulbs.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

I think I think the nature of traps makes that obvious. So don't worry, I won't inundate you with uh too much of that here. No, please do. I need it.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

Yeah, I'll bring up because they do because at the beginning they go through like a series of shots where they'll like they'll focus in on the scissors and then they'll crawl up the wire that's attached to like XYZ. And at first I didn't really understand why, because for 45 minutes, no one like we don't revisit those, and then as we do, I was like, Oh, okay, I I get it. But yeah, these traps, just like Home Alone, and this is not a joke, these traps rely solely on the idea that a person would be at the right place at the right time. Yeah, like these are not like someone would have to access the scissors, someone would have to step in the dining room, but again, the family is in the basement being tortured. So who is he expecting over?

SPEAKER_00 9:04

Yeah, like these traps, like I guess the I would use the word like over designed or convoluted. Like, this is not like it's not like a false floor into a spike pit, right? This is not like a tripwire shotgun. It's like the most innocuous objects at times that is like this guy really just is he just think of everything. I'll just trap this in case they grab the scissors when they attack me in the living room. Like, I don't like I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

And he meticulously one room meticulously has fish hooks hung from the ceiling. Like that's like a room that like no one would even go into. Like, like, I don't even understand that what's the one on its way to some other room.

SPEAKER_00 9:43

It's also like just kind of a shitty trap. Yeah, like it is, like it relies on someone barging in and just running their face into the fish hooks, and like even then, he's just like, Oh, this this hurts. Ouch, just pulls it out and he's fine. Exactly. He's like it's like a minor annoyance. Like, he has like the most like he has freaking the most lethal traps in the house that like kill you. Then he has like, oh, this will just give you a little scratch.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

Also, my question is, how long do you believe it would take him to set that trap up? All of them. Yeah, like four days.

SPEAKER_00 10:18

The the tripwire traps, especially, needed power tools. Like he had the so the the the power, so like the there's several traps that use a lot of hook and line that he had to have screwed into the wall and set up that would take a long time, even if you're quick, because you don't want to set the trap on yourself. Two the stairs, the the spike stairs, like he would have to go under the stairs and like nail them upwards. Like, I don't like that's really a lot of time.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

He'd have to spend time meticulously placing each fish hook on a wire. I know. You know what I'm wondering? I'm wondering if he has like a kit, like it's just an easy setup.

SPEAKER_00 10:59

Yeah, like maybe he's just like maybe he had like a little crew moving there, do it with them when they left before he's like, Oh, I'm just like setting up this booby-trapped house for some reason. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 11:08

I will say, like, in a in a positive note, I do think the killer is like effective and very creepy. And I'll go into the mask and um some of the like allegories behind the creation of the killer, which I do think are really cool. And actually, you know, like I know we're kind of making fun of, you know, because I I do think there's like the premise of this movie is absolutely bonkers. The execution, in my opinion, is not bonkers, it's actually pretty good. And so, like, I would give like I I actually really, really like this movie, and it's a movie I revisit often. And the collection I'll probably watch later today. I'm like obsessed with that movie.

SPEAKER_00 11:46

So yeah, I found it entertaining. I think too, when you watch when we you watch number two, this feels kind of like a part one.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

Oh, yeah, to me.

SPEAKER_00 11:55

Like this is very much, especially part two. Well, we'll talk about it later, but this movie ends directly out on cliffhanger that would then go into part two. Um, and yeah, but back to the killer. I love the really quickly. I love the I love that killer's mask, and I like that they gave him the cat's eyes at night. Yeah, he has the he has the uh nocturnal glow to his eyes. I like that a lot. He looks like a bug or a spider. Ooh, a lot of spider motifs in this movie, isn't there? Oh, did you notice? I did notice, yes, from the from open credits.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

I wasn't really sure that he would get that one, but anyway, yeah. It only lasted for 17 minutes. The crack. There's only 33 separate cuts about a spider, you know.

unknown 12:35

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

At the beginning, it's like, Jesus. Yeah. Okay, the other thing I was wondering, and maybe we can talk about later, is I don't understand who in this movie, and maybe we can play a little game as we go through, as we go through the characters, who you think is the collected? Because they're not all part of his collection. Like the guy in the box who just continuously gets stuffed back in that fucker. I don't know what his purpose is. Like, is he the collected? Yeah, yeah, he is. But then what about the family?

SPEAKER_00 13:11

I don't so this is the odd part about this about the motif or the operative operatus Miranda. I'm saying this all wrong. Anyway, um, the weird thing about this is you're right. The we learn in this movie that he collects someone, kills the rest. Cool, cool concept, whatever. Oh, I didn't get that.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

But I seriously did not get that.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

So, our friend Larry Horn later in the box, he does give us a bit of lore. He says it very quickly, but he when he does this home intrusion, he kills everyone in the family but one and takes one for to for his collection. The the non the part the part we have to consider that is odd, and I think this was just done to add another character in the film for like the lore and to you'll see later when they try and out-trap the trapper. Um but you get the sense that okay, why like if that's the case, then why was Larry ever brought to this house in the first place? Like, wouldn't he have returned to his lair, dropped him off, bring this empty case, and then put like you know, the the wife or Michael or the or Hannah in this big box, right? Right, yeah. So, like that is odd, and like and and then I think of it up to the point of if he was pressed for time, let's say he and did the home invasion on that couple, which we'll talk about in a second, um on the same day, why would he still he still wouldn't need to bring the case inside? Uh I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 14:42

I maybe the other question though, no, but the other thing is like when he goes to collect Larry and that couple, it seemingly in that first house that were introduced to at the very beginning of the film, there are no traps. Like it would be interesting if like someone had stumbled upon like this. Is what I mean. It seems like I I like the premise of like, hey, there's a trap house, not a trap house, sorry, like a house of horrors, but no, no, I don't know what you mean. Yeah, but I feel like I don't really understand necessarily the like you said, the the operandi modus, which is totally wrong, but anyway.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Yeah, modus operandi. Sorry, modus operandi. There we go. That's that's what how you say it.

SPEAKER_01 15:23

All right, well, let's let's get into the background. And as we go through these scenes, there's also a really sorry folks, uh, spoiler alert. There's a really funny cat scene in here, and I feel terrible saying that, but it just made me laugh my ass off.

SPEAKER_00 15:38

I thought, yeah, I thought that scene, like at first I was disturbed about the cat's pre like the cat's like position it was in. Like it was, and then it kind of ends up being ridiculous.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Like, it was like a slapstick comedy all of the sudden. Yeah, anyways, and oh whatever. Well, I cannot wait to dive into that. Okay, folks, I want to get into some light background on the collector. Okay, so I did my best this time, and I've been doing this lately. I decided like not to look at Wikipedia at all. Like, I'm just trying to source like articles, material from the web, incredible sources, film critics, you got it. But I swear, there is not a whole lot available on this film. So I will go into the background, uh, but it's not gonna be like not gonna be huge. So The Collector was co-written by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, with Dunstan directing. So the two had previously paired on Saw 4 and 5, and I didn't know that. And now this makes total sense, like giving the premise, right? Yeah, and so this film was originally titled The Midnight Man and was proposed as an origin story for Saw's main villain, John Kramer. What like that's a that's a really cool idea, don't you think? Like it's low stakes, it's low tech, it takes place in one home, it's not super elaborate.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

That DNA connection is really cool, actually. Just that nugget alone is worth like even if you found nothing else out, that is so cool. Yeah, and I was like, I want to watch The Midnight Man, and also I actually like I like that name. Yeah, I like the Plector too. I like the Plector, but the Midnight Man is pretty, I like that a lot.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

It's also and like I think if you were to re-watch this and watch it like under the guise of oh, this is a prequel. Although I will say, like, John Kramer and this character are completely two different people, but perhaps this could have been a pseudonym that John Kramer had tried on before getting to his full fruition, you know?

SPEAKER_00 17:46

Yeah, and they've they've obviously like they obviously retooled um this movie. Uh the the killers, obviously, different different uh way they like to go about uh torturing or get killing their victims, right? John Crainer Kramer falsely acts under the um righteousness of teaching people a lesson, a life lesson, whereas this guy clearly just delights in the torture of his victims.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

Yeah, this guy is very, very sadistic. Yes, he is. And it's it's evidence, and we'll talk about that later too, because part of what I don't understand, basically, this is a podcast where I like to learn about the movie because I don't know anything about it, like even after watching it like several times. But I don't understand what his like what is he doing with the father and mother? Like, what is his is it just sadism? Is it just fun? Is it just torture porn? I I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

I think this movie almost goes this movie I think you could almost categorize at times a little bit of torture porn category. Um, but I will say too that this movie I always like a movie that does ask you want to ask all those lore questions. That's always fun because it always creates a lot of discussion with your friends after you go see a movie. And again, I won't bring this up again, this podcast, but it was like obsession last night. You see that movie. This movie, they're not similar at all, but I just mean you I I love when I go see a horror movie or a movie, and I walk out and I want to discuss the lore implications of the characters and this and what happened in the movie. I love that a lot, and this really does too.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

Yeah, I also like because like I'm I think we talked about this before, but I'm not like a super big fan of like exposition, like we don't need that, and in fact, I'm wondering if you know, films I watch where characters spend a lot of time together talking about you know nothing, like I'm I'm more of like a show don't tell, like like move me through the film. Television is different, but with a film, we have a limited time together, and I really want to be entertained. And I think one thing this movie does, and why it was slightly difficult to write the script, is because it moves so quickly from one area to another, one thing happening to another. And I would argue obsession is very similar, like, not to go back to that, but you're right, there isn't a whole lot of exposition in that film, and that's what makes it exciting. I don't know who made the wish willow or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

Yeah, and you're I think too, like I think that that that is a consensus amongst people who like really enjoy good. I think good movies are fallout format. Good movies, the best movies are show don't tell. And it's why, like, this is a whole other we can almost do a side, a side podcast, not on horror film itself, but like the devolution, the de-evolution of films because of streaming services, right? Um Netflix has come under massive flack for this over the last few years. You really see, for example, Stranger Things, you look at the dialogue from season one, it actually sounds like a bunch of kids that would talk to each other that way, versus season five, where we have three exposition dumps inside of 24 minutes, um, where they just treat the audience like they're not intelligent, like they're not smart. And um, I always love show, don't tell. Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

It also lends itself to like I'll give you an example. So I need to bring up Nightmare Elm Street Part One at least once a podcast because it is one of my top 10 favorites. Here we go, folks. Buckle it. It's an amazing movie. I love hearing about it. But in part one, you you start off in a nightmare, and you never really learn. Like you do learn a little bit about you know the background in a scene or two, but really it's very mysterious how all of this came to be. And similar to this film, The Collector, which we are talking about today, I feel the same way. I don't need to know, but going back to the background, I do think it's really cool. That the inception was originally, you know, it was a part of the Saw universe. And I think that's why they're so similar. And according to author Joe Lipsett of the Horror Queers, please DM me back, Joe. Uh you can't really deny the parallel between the collector and the saw franchise with a focus on grizzly traps, the use of blue and green color filters, slow motion action sequences, and close-ups of bodily injuries abound. And I agree. There's definitely a parallel here. But I think as we've discussed, the killers are, now that I've considered it, quite different from one another.

SPEAKER_00 22:40

Yeah, I saw the invention itself is inflicting the uh the torture. Whereas in this movie, he not only once he's got his victims after they've suffered his traps, um, he personally delivers his sadistic torture and uh maiming and flaying to uh a gross degree. You know what I'm wondering?

SPEAKER_01 23:03

I'm wondering if maybe he while he's inflicting torture, in case he might be interrupted, he booby traps an entire house. Yeah, on the off chance that someone might come home.

SPEAKER_00 23:19

Like, maybe he's actually just like extremely like absolutely bored, paranoid and bored. And he's like, Well, if they make it past the door, I gotta do the hallway. If they make it past the hallway, maybe they'll stumble into this bear trap room, or maybe they won't go to the base at first, they'll run into the children's room and slip on this acid pool. But what if they want to headbutt the bathroom? We gotta put a fish hook trap. Yeah. Also, one set of stairs is fine, the other one spikes. Yeah, and I'm just gonna leave the kitchen completely untouched. Yeah, the chip. I might have to make some craft dinner if I get hungry around midnight. Which is fair. Like if you were spending a whole night torching people, I'd probably get hungry and want to make some probably have like some takeout here, but yeah, like a nature relic of protein, just crumbling all over them, you know?

SPEAKER_01 24:12

All right, okay. In an interview with Collider, director Mark Stunstan explained just what the collector is. This is more on crafting the killer. So, what I'm gonna talk about is more about like the actual killer himself. So the director says he was supposed to be the human version of a spider. And all a spider does is set up a trap for its prey and then eat at its leisure. He'll kind of watch and see how people adapt and try to survive, but ultimately they're done because they've already been caught. And so we talked about this earlier. I don't know if you noticed the amount of spider motifs in the early part of the film and the credits, but they were literally driving home this point to the audience that this killer is akin to a spider.

SPEAKER_00 25:00

Yeah, there's a lot of not only the spider, but like especially the first part, just a lot of like insect motifs, too, uh, at that first part of the film that uh Arkin is working on the house in the daylight.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

I think it's funny though that this guy is so originally I was like, Well, there's a scene later where he lets a spider loose, and you're like, Oh, he has a heart, you know, like he's so lovely. But then you're like, Well, he's an exterminator, so he's killing insects. So maybe it's just spiders that he has an affinity toward.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

I'm gonna guess I I think it literally is just I think he, I think knowing the themes of the movie, I think that is the case.

SPEAKER_01 25:42

Writer Patrick Melton says it made more sense to highlight the villain instead of the main character because with all the great horror franchises, it's really kind of the killer instead of the main character. That's the big star. And actor Juan Fernandez, who plays the collector, he explains in an interview with Why So Blue how the character's humanity shone through the veil of evil. This I kind of found a little funny, right? Like actors are hilarious. So he says he was setting traps, he was trying to psychologically do what society is doing to people. At one point, the mother is putting Botox in her face, and that is a trap of beauty in society. The most real moment in the film was where he saves the spider. That moment where he lets the spider go was a pivotal point for me in the story because it showed his humanity. He could have killed it, but he puts it outside because creatures and animals have no evil. It's people who have that. That was my take on the collector. And uh I understand he really, really is sympathetic toward a sadistic mass or uh serial killer.

SPEAKER_00 26:48

Uh yeah, I I think that's a bit of a stretch um in terms of what you're what he's extrapolating out of that. Um, I don't really I guess you can find what you want to find or what everyone has different opinions. I don't know that's redundant to say, but like her injecting Botox, a trap of beauty, like I whatever. And then um I I don't cool, I guess make her evil. No, I don't like I don't like the subtext there that he's basically saying, like, okay, like a spider, he's he doesn't look at things as evil or good, he's just a spider who you know, which kills things because it needs to eat and stuff. Um, I don't buy that at all. Like this family is undeserving of this torture they go through from what we know. And then also, I don't give a shit about him saving the spiders. Him saying the spider is cool in the sense that it it lets us know this psychopath has some kind of like I guess views on what's like he finds acceptable and not acceptable for in terms of saving a creature's life versus torturing humans, I guess. Sure.

SPEAKER_01 28:00

Like this guy is not benevolent. So this is kind of what I was saying. Like, actors are like, I think like this guy is trying to find like a deeper meaning in this where there isn't, but I don't really believe there is one. Like, no, there is a moment where he lets the spider out. I totally understand he has affinity for spiders. I guess that shows that he has a soft spot in some ways, but at the same time, he's also an exterminator. So, do you know how many fucking spiders he's probably mass murdered?

SPEAKER_00 28:27

Yeah, Jesus. I think that's you're fine. I think this is a case of finding stuff that's like not really there. And I guess, like, sure, he has one percent humanity uh in a bathtub of 99.9% um sadism. And also, we are running the contest. If you can name every movie we've named or referenced in this pod, we'll send you a pack of Starburst.

SPEAKER_01 28:57

Well, they know that they've gotten around Elm Street on lock. So there you go. All right, Andrew, we're gonna play a game. It's called How does Andrew think the collector was received?

SPEAKER_00 29:13

The way you said that was just so it's called uh this I think this movie was received poorly. Uh, I'm I'm from what I remember too. I think this is I didn't look this up recently, but I'm pretty sure I've seen it before back in the day. Uh, I think the score is pretty low. I'm gonna guess like below 40% to 30% on uh Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes. But I'm gonna guess because this one did get a sequel, I'm gonna guess it did pretty well with audiences.

SPEAKER_01 29:46

You are correct. Whoa, okay. I know I'm I'm very shocked, actually. So, well, this one's a kind of a softball, let's face it. So the collector received a 29% on Rotten Tomatoes with the site's critic consensus reading. Increasingly tedious displays of gore make this torture porn home invasion horror movie more programmatic than provocative, which I disagree with. On Metacritic, the film received a weighted average score of 29 out of 100 based on 11 critics indicating generally unfavorable reviews. And Bloody Disgusting gave the film a three and a half out of five and wrote that the collector is a raw, gritty, and uncompromising horror film that puts the previous Saw film to shame. So very mixed reviews. I mean, you are right, it was poorly received by critics, but Bloody Disgusting, in my opinion, gave it the type of review that I would give it. I would not give this, like, I would probably give this movie like a six and a half out of ten. Like I really enjoyed it. It's not Oscar buzzworthy, but it's pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 30:52

Yeah, I got I didn't, I don't when I finished this film, like, wow, that was awesome. Like, I I would just like that was that was fun. I liked it a lot. I have a lot to say about it, but uh six and a half is right where I sit with it.

SPEAKER_01 31:02

Okay, cool. And you know, sometimes after we go through the scene by scene, our views raise, like or they or they lower. So who knows?

SPEAKER_00 31:10

I've actually come to love about this, about doing this with you is I've noticed like we'll we'll talk about some scenes and I'll rediscover either my love for parts of the movie or the movie itself, or realizing that maybe it's not all it's cracked out to be.

SPEAKER_01 31:26

I think too, like when you go through the background and you're like, like, to be honest with you, learning that this movie was proposed as a saw prequel automatically makes me find this movie more engaging and interesting. And that's something I would not have come across unless I had done my research, right? So that's another benefit, I guess, of doing the pod. All right, Andrew, the collector grossed $10 million against a $3 million budget and spawned a sequel, The Collection, which was released in 2012, which, like I said, I also really enjoyed. You have seen that film, you said, correct? The collection, yeah. I I really like that movie. Okay. Andrew, are you ready to get into the film? Yes, let's do this. Okay, I like to just do this disclaimer. Andrew and I are gonna break down this film scene by scene. So if you haven't seen it, pause. Take a break and come back and join us.

SPEAKER_00 32:24

The movie came out in 2009. If you obviously, if you listen, you're listening to this, you have some and drone of horror movies. Please go watch. If you have not, you'll have a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 32:33

For the cold open, we get straight into the action here where we land on the exterior of a suburban home where a couple enter after a night out. They're kind of canoodling and flirting, and I'm assuming they're like a little drunk. They discover a mysterious box in the middle of the room, and they proceed to open it up. As they do, a look of shock and sadness appear on their face as the main character seems to recognize something or someone familiar. As he backs away, he's nabbed by blacked gloved hands, and the scene comes to a close. Now, my question here is I guess now that I've just went through that scene, there's obviously a trend here where the collector is bringing the past victim into the new home in that box. Like, what's in the box?

SPEAKER_00 33:26

Yeah, I guess I then that must I guess that is kind of a pattern. I but I just I'm curious why he does that, I guess. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 33:34

Did you notice that the man in the scene, Larry, notices it almost seems like whatever is in the box is familiar to him?

SPEAKER_00 33:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:44

Or was it just pure horror at like anything that would have been in that box that's like horrifying?

SPEAKER_00 33:50

I don't know. I almost want to bring up the scene, but I um I I don't know. I forget, but he was horrified by it. So, but I think it wasn't shocked though. So I think maybe he did recognize something.

SPEAKER_01 34:02

Yeah, he seemed almost like tearful. Anyway, that fucker gets put in the box. So after about 15 minutes of creative credits featuring none other than the spider motif, we got to the exterior of a home where various tradesfolk are hard at work restoring the home to its former glory. So it's here we're introduced to Arkin, played by Josh Stewart, who I love, who's one of the tradesfolk working on the home. Now, we're also introduced to the Chase family, and we quickly learn they're planning on taking off for a couple weeks, leaving their giant renovated home unattended. And did you notice that the home does not have an alarm system? I just cut that out. I just found that really weird. Like I didn't understand.

SPEAKER_00 34:50

Actually, I'm I'm gonna put some uh I'm gonna rub that your nose in it in just a second here. Um, but I'll say this too. I'll just just to go back really quick. Um, I've brought this up before, I brought up with Ginger Snaps. I love the 2000s horror scene movies for this, for the and even action movies, um, for the uh simple purpose, I love the opening credits that the two early 2000s movies did and the and the and the uh the 2000s movies in general. They'll do this really cool, edgy soundtrack with a montage opening credits. It happens in Dinger Snaps, happens here, happens in a load of other movies from that time period. Um and I really love the the sound, the thumping soundtrack, and we get a cool montage of like you get the insects, the spider, and we get a house with floor plans, which is kind of a cool.

SPEAKER_01 35:40

Oh, that is cool, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:42

Yeah, and then I also like to just a little remark here. Um, Arkin has a classic 2000s, like I wore this in high school, the a classic 2000s outfit of a t-shirt over a long sleeve. Oh, yeah, yeah. And like that's a yeah, and to to your last point there, we actually when he leaves the house, um, Arkin actually makes a note and like he looks at it before leaving the the door. He looks at the alarm uh pad. There is an alarm pad there, yes, he that he remarks upon.

SPEAKER_01 36:15

So this temporary vacancy leaves a very sweet opening for Arkin, who we learn is a professional safe cracker. We also learn that his ex-wife owes some pretty powerful loan sharks some cash they're coming to collect. So Arkin has until midnight tonight to gather the funds to help pay these people off. So Arkin Arkin's plan is to enter the house later that night when the family is gone to just rob them blind. But I was wondering, he has his sights set on a safe. And before we get to that scene, how how does he know what is in the safe, if anything?

SPEAKER_00 37:01

So this is what I was curious about. He knows the safe, he seemingly knows the location of the safe, and he knows that there's uh possibly a jewel in there. Um and it seemingly from two there's two scenes that he remarks upon. We have a scene where he's staring at the wife of the home, uh putting Botox in in the mirror and stuff, and we think we think that oh, I thought for a second that he's actually checking her out for a minute, but he's actually looking at the painting, the the mirror that she's looking in that were that guards the safe. And then he also picks up um prior to leaving the house, he picks up a uh some mail that lets the audience know that the this these family are jewelers. Um they have like the Michael's name is on one of the envelopes, and it says they're like I think they own a jewelry, a jewelry company.

SPEAKER_01 37:56

Okay, all right. All right, interesting. Okay, well, that makes sense. So, therefore, he would have knowledge then that these people might have some jewels in their house. Yeah, but he's seen uh but I I I fully get your point when you're like what how he would have no, I'm just gonna go on record here saying he would have zero knowledge that there is anything in that save unless the father or mother directly told him there's a giant ruby inside.

SPEAKER_00 38:21

That's the thing, too, is and me. I had subtitles on when I watched this. I watched this twice, and uh I had subtitles on because the audio, my copy of it, the audio was very, very low. Um, but uh they he seemingly knows there's a single valuable gem in there. We learned like we learned in the movie that he why how he yeah, I don't I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 38:44

I don't know how he knows this, but also like we can't, I mean, we can't spend I mean, you know, whatever. There's so many like fucking unknowns in this. I guess the question is does it matter? Yes, does it matter? Not really, yeah, exactly. Well, anyway, we transition to nighttime where the home and grounds are shrouded in darkness. Arkin easily enters the front door of the home by picking the lock. Again, it doesn't appear there is an along. Like, does he how did why doesn't he trip the lock?

SPEAKER_00 39:15

I don't get it. So, two things here, Frank. One, we get the German Shepherd tied up to a chainpost that actually scratches his mask. This is a sign of things later to come. I also call this Chekhov's German Shepherd. Um, well then the reason why, and this is what this is what should tip us off the audience, is I he enters the home, and yes, you're right. We saw that alarm pad earlier, not like 10 minutes earlier, and he goes in and no alarm goes off.

SPEAKER_01 39:52

Okay, so this is what I think. I think that he I think that he went in with a plan of disarming the alarm, because he obviously knows the code, right? But he didn't anticipate that the collector was there who has previously disarmed the alarm.

SPEAKER_00 40:11

You I I'm not trying to make fun of you here. You've literally just described the plot of the film. Okay, yeah, yes, Chris didn't understand that. A jewel thief cased a joint unknownly to him, unknown to him, a sadistic serial killer called the collector also cased a joint and broke in ahead of time. But wasn't it so so in his opinion? You're looking at this, you're looking at this, so wait a second. You're telling me a guy broke into a house, but the alarm was already disabled because he didn't know there was the collector there.

SPEAKER_01 40:48

I just got that now, to be honest with you.

SPEAKER_00 40:51

What?

unknown 40:53

That's the film.

SPEAKER_01 40:56

No, sorry. I was busy recording the script. You're like, hmm. That's a dead stairs. In all honesty, that go to the second floor? In all honesty, I will say, in my defense, it is sometimes hard to like watch and write. I I I guess okay, okay. Okay. So he begins his adventure in the family home. He goes up the stairs, he locates the safe right behind the owner's bedroom mirror where he had previously seen the wife injecting herself with Botox. And he kind of gets straight to work. So he's starts cracking the safe code, but before he can enter the safe, he hears a creaking noise from below. Like not that old, not that odd for an old home. He kind of just ignores it until it becomes obvious there's someone else afoot in another part of the house. And we see another figure traverse the very same steps, landing on the very same creaky old step, causing Arkin to escape to a nearby bedroom. So at this point, I think Arkan assumes the family is home.

SPEAKER_00 42:14

Yeah, he he he for sure knows some some someone's there and coming upstairs right away.

SPEAKER_01 42:22

We get a really cool like split overhead shot here where we see both of them in different parts of the house. Like one is in the hallway where Arkin was, and then Arkin is in the bedroom. And what I think not only do I love this like type of camera work as I mentioned, but I thought it was really cool that you're seeing two figures up to no good in the house together with completely different agendas in a split screen. That was cool.

SPEAKER_00 42:53

The split shot's really great at setting up the juxtaposition of those two characters that like they're both there for nefarious purpose, but like we don't really realize at this time just how deep our Arkan thief is in right now, like how deep he's in and how much trouble he's in. And I love the that I love that like that it's just a door dividing them. Um and I like that it's set it's setting up the division of these two going head to head later in the movie. I like that a lot.

SPEAKER_01 43:22

And also this movie, it it's kind of interesting because the collector doesn't know Arkin is in the house for a very long time.

SPEAKER_00 43:32

No, I know it's right.

SPEAKER_01 43:33

If you're really watching it, he doesn't really know that he's there, even though we are so entrenched in the idea that he's in this house with this killer.

SPEAKER_00 43:42

I also like to think too, I also love the idea that the collector like we will this is just me a spitball and having some fun here, but I love the idea that the collector in his mania might think he's like paranoid because uh like Arkin several times sets up like a soundtrap or distraction. For him to move around the house while the collector goes and investigates the noise. And I like that a lot. I thought it was kind of funny how like the collector is like, huh, what was that noise? Like runs out of the room. Like there's no one there. Oh man, I'm real late.

SPEAKER_01 44:14

He's like, and then he walks into his own bear trap and dies. Yeah. So Arkin kind of at this point, he prepares to abandon ship, wanting to make a quick exit through the back door, but lo and behold, is stopped by a mere four deadbolts. And I am assuming, once again, with the IQ slip, that the collector put those deadbolts on the door.

SPEAKER_00 44:44

Yeah, so this is at first I thought the family two things here. One, he we yes, he does go to the uh try to exit the that deadbolted door. And I thought at first I was like, oh, like this family's super paranoid and like had four deadbolts. No way. And then I was like, like really? I know, I know, I know. It is funny though, like the amount of hardware this guy is installing in this house. Yeah, it's four and four free. Like he didn't charge the family anything.

SPEAKER_01 45:23

Okay, so there's another nicely suspenseful scene here where Arkin decides to return to safeguracking, but again stops because he hears screaming from the floors below. As he approaches, the father of the family makes a sudden appearance, bloody and bruised, and he thinks Arkin is responsible. And as the father, you know, the father looks like shit here. Like the father's been through like a shitstorm of torture, but he musters up some energy, he grabs a golf club and attempts to attack Arkin, but before he can get anywhere, a trap is sprung. And what is this trap? He is pulled across the floor, hoisted up to the ceiling, where he is then dropped two stories below, further fucking him up.

SPEAKER_00 46:17

Yeah, also, how about the actual mechanism that sets the trap off? He that Michael grabs a golf, tries to grab a golf club and in a bag in the corner, and it's the head of the golf club that's a false head now that pulls the wire that triggers the children. Why would that be trapped? Who's going golfing?

SPEAKER_01 46:39

But you would have to completely anticipate that there would be someone in the house that the father would want to attack. Either he's using it for self-defense, offense, or golfing.

SPEAKER_00 46:53

You know, it's like so like this is kind of crazy. Does this killer like does he have all these contingency plans? Like, oh well, if you fight in the master bedroom, someone's for sure gonna grab a weapon, like the golf club. I'll trap that. And it's like, when we fight in the living room, someone's for sure gonna go for that only pair of scissors that are visible. I maybe like maybe that's what he's doing. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 47:12

Or if a cat was thrown from the floor to the windowsill, what would the next best thing happen be? Like, Jesus, dude. So at this point, like Arkin obviously wants to get like the fuck out of here, right? He realizes the windows are boarded up. He grabs a nearby phone to make a call, but when he pulls the receiver up to his ear, he gets poked by a needle in the receiver. Now, I I guess like we have talked about this, but before I move on, I did want to ask you a couple questions. So, similar to home alone, how does the trap setter know where and when to use the traps? Like, how did he know someone would stumble upon the telephone?

SPEAKER_00 48:00

And also, as far as lethality is concerned, that telephone's like not really a big deal. No, why even such a minor headache? Yeah, like it stabs him in his ear. It doesn't go all the way in his eardrum, it stabs him, but it's like, okay, that would suck. Um, yeah, some of these traps are like so they're so like bleash!

SPEAKER_01 48:24

Sorry, but doesn't the phone trap make more sense than the golf trap?

SPEAKER_00 48:29

Like the phone is something that makes more sense than the golf club for sure.

SPEAKER_01 48:34

Like, all right, dude, okay, you could have saved some time, honey. So Arkin is now injured, and if that wasn't bad enough, he attempts to place his hand between the windowboards and gets a fistful of razors. So this place is boobied right up, right? Or we're quickly learning that. And this is kind of like when the shenanigans in the death house get a little relentless. So this is what we were talking about earlier. So we get some foreshadowing here of a different, like different death traps being rigged up around the home. Some of these, most notably the chandelier, become important later on. Arkin also notices like a casual layout of bear traps. And his goal now becomes avoiding these traps and getting out of the house. Like, I think at this point he's abandoned ship, he's no longer concerned with the safe and the jewels. And where else does he want to go, Andrew? But into the basement, where he discovers the father chained to a chair, bruised even more so and covered with blood. Okay, so we're kind of learning here that uh I mean, the collector is just torturing these people, right? Like the dad is in a chair, he's bruised and bloody. There seemingly is no rhyme or reason behind it as of yet. And Arkhan, after speaking with the father, he learns that there's a gun in the safe. And he actually gives Arkhan the combination. So Arkhan doesn't even have to safe crack. He now has the combination, but he assures that he'll get the man out of here. And before heading upstairs, finds the mother of the house in a bathtub. So she pleads with Arkan to remove the tape from her eyes, but he realizes he can't because it's been secured to her face.

SPEAKER_00 50:29

Yeah. And so these two are in pretty rough shape, I would say. Yeah, it's so like I I feel so terrible for these two, and especially the wife in the bathtub who's got like the tape pinned to her forehead. It's oh but you know, Andrew, they represent the evil in society, yeah, and saving the spider is subjectively good.

SPEAKER_01 50:52

Yeah, it's like the dude sewed a piece of tape to her temples, like that's not good. So he says to the mother, he says, Listen, I'm gonna need you to scream because his sole goal here is what you mentioned earlier. He wants to distract the collector so that he can gather the gun and also search for the couple's youngest daughter, Hannah. And here we get our first real intimate glimpse of the collector. He's wearing a mask that reminds me of the one worn by David Cronenberg in Nightbreed. I don't know if you've ever seen it, but it is a movie I would love to cover one day. But the mask is absolutely incredible. And I have a little research break on the mask here. So Dunstan had stated the basic concept for the villain was a human version of a spider. So makeup effects designer Gary Teencliffe wished to craft a mask similar to the burlap bag worn by Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th part two, but also reflect the killer's infatuation with insect. So he made a quote, Guise Made in Hell. So the mask was flocked to give the appearance of tiny hairs, like an insect, and pulled tight via laces featured in the back. So, in addition, reflective contact lenses gave the face glowing eyes in the dark, finishing off the bug complexion. So they really did try and lean into this sort of freaky insect-like character. And you mentioned the eyes earlier, and I think they did like a pretty good job on those.

SPEAKER_00 52:36

Yeah, the I I loved the like I really liked the how much dread they were able to make off of just him staring at things, and like you would see the light flicker over those those insect-like eyes. I know they refer to him, like the cat, like those nocturnal eyes that animals and and insects have, um kind of making him seem not entirely human. Does he also to you somehow seem childlike?

SPEAKER_01 53:08

He seems like so, like I know he's a sadistic murdering bastard, but there's this moment where he kind of like tilts his head and you see the reflection on the contacts, and I just felt this innocence. I know that's insane.

SPEAKER_00 53:24

I I don't think it's that. I think he's someone who's completely lost in the like I think he's so in his element. Yeah, I think you're right. I think he's maybe he's like lost or caught up in like the bloodlust. Yeah, I think he loves what he's doing. He absolutely loves what he's doing. I think maybe he's got the sense of wonder, like he's got this, it's as messed up as it sounds, a sense of like he this was like the things that start happening to him were unexpected, but he's still he's not entirely upset about it.

SPEAKER_01 53:54

That's kind of what I was saying. Like, when I say like childlike, I mean there is this weird, focused sense of wonder. Like you said, yeah, that's the perfect way to put it. There's a sense of wonder in this guy. So as Arkin goes in search of Hannah, we see the masked man is not so happy with the screening. What does he do? He proceeds to slice off the mother's tongue, further inflicting pain on this poor captive woman. And the mother, though, did not satiate his desire for bloodlust as he returns to the father and slices off his ear. So at this point, if we weren't already aware, this gentleman just loves to inflict pain. So we cut back to Arkin, who's located the gun, but no bullets. He's also discovered something in the safe, Andrew. A red ruby. Bingo. So as he realizes there are no bullets in this gun and he is properly fucked, he hears another noise from a nearby closet. And what pray tell is in the closet, but none other than Larry from the cold open stuck inside a mysterious box. So collector box. So just like we said, this dude, first of all, I kind of feel bad for Larry because this dude has been stuck in a box, which is like I would fucking the sheer mass of my body would break through that box, but damn that guy is like a cirque de soleil level of stuffed into that thing.

SPEAKER_00 55:42

Yeah, it's like it's almost like the box looks small on the outside, like deceptively big on the inside. I don't know. It's definitely like a chest that he has dragged to this location.

SPEAKER_01 55:53

I guess my question is, and I know we talked about this a little bit at the top of the podcast, is his intention to collect another person from this house and then discard Larry and put that person in the box? Or does he bring these people to, like you said, a location where he has a collection? Which we kind of, I guess, learn in part two slightly, but it really doesn't answer that question.

SPEAKER_00 56:17

Yeah, I think I think this is now that we realize now that I'm thinking about it, we have that scene in the cold open. I think he brings the victim from the previous house to the new house and kills them there, and then takes a new victim and puts them in the box. Because you'll we'll get to the ending, but he has to make room in that box.

SPEAKER_01 56:36

So then it's like he's not even collecting that. It should be called the temporary collector.

SPEAKER_00 56:43

The temporary box transporter.

SPEAKER_01 56:46

Yeah, it's like you're it's what a complete waste of fucking time.

SPEAKER_00 56:50

The house caller.

SPEAKER_01 56:51

You know what I wonder? Maybe if he goes to a new home and he can't find someone suitable, at least he has someone in his possession.

SPEAKER_00 56:59

Oh yeah, yeah, actually, that's also a great that can be a great guess. Maybe he can bring someone back to his lair later to torture if he needs to. Yeah, talk about that for IQ, eh?

unknown 57:11

Um.

SPEAKER_00 57:13

Yeah, so Horn does Horn Horn does explain. Yeah, he explains, he collects people, right? To Arkin, but I actually thought this was really, really funny. And I kind of inserted my own makeup dialogue where he starts freaking out, and Arkin's like, all right, back in the box, and just kind of shoves them back in. Nope. He does, he does say to Arkin. You're doing too much, Larry. He shoves him back in the box.

SPEAKER_01 57:39

He's literally like so. He says, Larry does say to Arkin during that scene. He says, he collects people, he only kills people he doesn't want. If you're not chosen, you'll never leave this house alive. And like you said, Arkin's response is to stuff him back into the box. Okay. Enough if Larry puts his hand on his forehead. Okay, let's go back in the box. It would be kind of funny if he like accidentally chopped his fingers off by closing the box lid.

SPEAKER_00 58:16

Or there's like a minute scene of him trying to kick the box closed, like jam it shut because it won't shut. He has to sit on it and then close it like a suitcase.

SPEAKER_01 58:28

Geez, Louise.

SPEAKER_02 58:30

Stop, right?

SPEAKER_00 58:32

Yeah. That was so weird. Okay. I will say, I like I will say that one thing I like, I think Josh Stewart lends this to the character already, but I like the idea that um Arkin is readjusting for the scenario that he's in, and he realizes that, like, like, for example, in this case, Larry for now, he'll he'll be fine. He won't die in that box. So he can go back in the box. And like the family, right? Like, he he knows he's trying to get out and he's trying to find the daughter, and he's trying to accomplish a mission at this point, as opposed to like, like, and he can't he cannot introduce Larry into his mission that would just make it go worse. So he's like, for now, I need to put you back in the box.

SPEAKER_01 59:13

I think he's very much I I understand where you're coming from, but let's take a step back here for a second. If you found a struggling man inside a box in a closet, hopefully your first instinct would be to make sure they are okay, pull them out, maybe ask them. Like, what is the difference between if Larry got stuffed?

SPEAKER_00 59:39

No, we so like listen, he doesn't have the time for this. Like, Larry's making way too much freaking noise for one. He's got the collector can't know, like, at this point, the collector does still doesn't has not spotted Arkin yet. The collector knows something might be up, but like because the collector's being lured around the house, but at this point, he's back in the basement torturing the family. And he he cannot afford, he needs time up there. He cannot afford to have Larry trying to escape because I'm sorry, if Larry would we find it, we see us, we see this a bit later, but Larry's obviously bound to the box with chain and bolts through his feet. And um, if that were not the case, even I as Arkin, I would say Larry's probably gonna try and escape, yeah. Right, he's probably gonna freak out, he's probably panicking. Get me the f out of here. I need to go. So that's bad. That's gonna get Larry killed uh from the altruistic perspective, and then from the perspective of Arkin, I would say, I can't afford to have this guy right now blow my cover.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:45

I can't, but there's no way in hell. You would stuff that person back in the box.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:49

I would. I do it. Larry, you're going back. Larry gets the box again, okay? Like he went back in the box.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:57

Uh well, we'll catch up with Larry in a little while. I think he gets stuffed back in the box again. Anyways, okay. Uh, as Arkin finishes stuffing Larry into the box, he slinks back through the upstairs hallway and into another room where something sticky awaits. His shoes stick to the floor, and not only is the floor covered with a sticky substance, but it's also acidic, and his shoes melt upon impact. But wait, Andrew, he's not alone in the room. The family cat is also stuck to the acidic floor and it's meowing. But did you notice Arkan is not bothered by the fact that this cat might meet an untimely death? He's bothered by the fact that the cat is making noise.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:50

Yeah, so that's what I'm saying. Like, like he is a fucking asshole. Yeah, yeah. Arkin is kind of in mission mode here. He's like, he's like, okay, you're going to the back of the box and you're too loud. Cat, I know you're probably suffering immensely, but please shut the fuck up. I'm trying to like not get killed here. Also, for for our science people out there, I'm curious what substance would only react to the plastic and rubber. Like, it reacts to the rubber of a shoe. It reacts to the cat's fur, but is not reacting with the wood, I guess, too much. It's like it's a good call. Like, I'm curious.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:25

It looks like alien blood, quite frankly.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:26

I don't know what it is. It's like not acidic enough where it's eating through the floor, but it like slowly melts stuff. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:34

Yeah, because the cat, he actually like Arkin tears the cat from the sticky substance and he throws it across the floor of the room and it lands on the windowsill. Which this is kind of like this is where it becomes like basically a slapstick comedy where you're hearing in the background and it's like kind of ridiculous.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:55

Yeah, and for like if for those who haven't seen it yet, or in the interview, and for those who have seen it, like I really thought I forgot, I did not remember the scene at all, and I thought this was gonna be a very heart-wrenching. Obviously, most small people hate to see pets die on screen, it's it's terrible. But this scene, it's like one, when the cats pulled up from the ass, I thought we're this huge, gory, awful mess. But the cat the cat is seemingly fine, like it's like some of his fur and a bit of blood was left behind.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:24

That's what I was saying. When you said earlier, like it seems to eat at things slowly. I I I don't really understand because he he literally tears the cat off the skin, and the cat is like laughing, like it's totally fine.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:38

Yes, that's the thing. The scenes I I expected this to be a very disturbing scene where the cat's skin was gonna get ripped away to we're gonna see his blood and guts. I was like, ooh, I don't like this for with pets, but um, yeah, it turns into a like a point of loot, like absurdity when he's like whoops the cat across on the windows.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:58

And then, you know, they do that thing in movies where they'll film like like a puppet, or they'll film like something animatronic, and then they'll they'll cut to like the actual animal. So they cut to the cat, and the cat's like just kind of walking along the window, so like nothing happened, just in time, Andrew, to be chopped in half by another booby trap, a window equipped with a guillotine. So that cat is toast and it quieted down just like Arkin initially wanted, anyway. Yeah, that's fair to say. But at this point, like I you know, I I know sometimes we play this game where I like to ask the question, how on a scale of one to ten, like, how bad do you think Arkin deserves to die at this point? Like, he's robbing a family, he stuffs the dude back into the box, he doesn't care about this cat's life. At this point, I'm like, is Arkin like a good, like, is he a hero in any sense of the word?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:05

No, he is a morally, I would say a morally great character, but ultimately, like, I will I will stick to the fact that it's do or die for Arkin and the family. If Arkin dies, the family's for sure dead. So we are now at a high-stakes game here where we can't afford the niceties and the altruism. The altruism has to go because he's already being altruistic for the family. He's trying to save the family and find the daughter. Yeah, so Larry, again, I stick to by this. I know it's evil. It's an evil act in and of itself to stuff him back in the box. Yes, but it's for the greater good. And the cat, too. The cat, it's sad that the cat is an acid, but the cat might blow his covers where he's like, shut the fuck up. Like, he needs to get out of here. And the cat's dead either way, if he gets discovered. So I I think I would not call him, I don't think he deserves to die here. I think this. Is like this is collateral damage to a greater good that he's trying to do right now. Okay, well, that's fair.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:07

Well, he frees himself and he returns to the basement again where the mother is still in the bathroom. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold on. I gotta I know I glossed over something.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:18

Okay, go ahead. I was thinking this point. Yeah, so that noise, the thump through the window, the trap, does bring the collector back upstairs. And fellas and ladies, thank God for throw pillows. Um, so Arkan proceeds to hide in the 20 to 30,000 throw pillows that are on the bed, and the collector's no clue that he's buying, but like for sure, this would look like someone's underneath there, but the collector maybe can't see that well. He's like, Oh, those are just a lot of throw pillows, and then he leaves. Yeah, he leaves.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:48

It's like, dude, you were in the room earlier for probably at least two hours getting that floor prepared, and you didn't like you didn't notice that the anyway. I just I also thought that was really funny because there's a shot where you see Arkin's face peeking out from behind the trail. He's like, never find me here. That's so true. So uh Arkin frees himself uh and he returns to the basement again where the mother is still in the bathtub. So he unlocks her restraints using a paper clip he lifted from upstairs, you know, because he's a safe cracker, and he frees her from her bathtub prison. So the two attempt to escape the basement, and as they approach the stairs, she sees her husband like strung upside down, dead. And for some reason, this really bothers her. Yeah, for some reason. So she kind of loses it and she races up the steps. But who is right at the top of the stairs but the collector who stabs her right in the stomach? So just when you think the wife is dead, this poor woman, we discover that she's not dead. So the collector proceeds to sew her mouth shut, continuing to inflict pain on this poor woman. So, aside from the parents and Hannah, there is a fourth member of the family. I did not mention earlier, their daughter, Jill. So it turns out Jill did not go on the family vacation but decided to stay in town to make out with her boyfriend. So her and her bow attempt to enter the home, but quickly realize the locks have been changed. They decide to try the back door and bingo, gain easy entry into the home. I want to pause here quickly to say they are playing one of my all-time favorite songs, Bella Legosi's Dead by the Bajas. And I like that's when I was like, oh my god, the moves, the music in this movie is outstanding. So the two some immediately start having sex in the living room, completely not tripping any of the traps.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:11

And we get we get we get a couple of fake outs, like they uh she's about to step on the stairs and pierce her shoes with the nails, but then she's dragged away from that, and then they almost trip the um I think it's the chandelier trap or the knife trap on the wall. It's almost like her head is set up for a guillotine because he bends her she's laying back on like a counter while he's kissing her stomach or something. And it's like he's on the verge of triggering like the big knife trap on the wall.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:42

So before they can get more hardcore, they notice the creepy collector watching them and licking his lips.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:50

And yeah, the collector, it's like we get a couple scenes. He he was planning on watching most of that show, he was very into it.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:59

He was, and while this happens, and I'm not sure why. Arkin enters the dining room, like covered with the bear traps, and he hides under the table, but I couldn't understand why he did that. He doesn't he doesn't alert the couple, yeah. He's not there to try and save them. I didn't get it.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:21

Yeah, I wasn't sure. Yeah, I thought he was gonna setting up to ambush um the collector here or like like save them or strike a blow, but he does he just like gets in the air and is like, I'll just do nothing here. I'll just chill. Like, I'll just watch them fuck too, like the collector.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:41

And you know what? I'm not I'm I'm half convinced he was licking his lips too. He probably was so the couple notice the collector, uh, and they get like you know, freaked out, which I would as well. So the collector springs into action, he shoves the boyfriend into the dining room where the boyfriend is enveloped by bear traps. And again, I wanted to just point out the fact that like this is another instance of like a person dying, but not tripping one of the traps. Like the collector kicks the boyfriend into the traps, yes, and also these like these also like I find this really odd.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:30

Like the the other traps are like trip wires, there's like a couple of knives, but like his trap room was like, let's put 20 bear traps on the ground, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:40

Like maybe someone will come in and try and have some dinner.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:44

Like that's like excessive amount of like that's a lot of hardware. Bear traps are very heavy. Individually, each bear trap is very heavy to lug around. To to put that many down, and I'm I want to assume too. I know it's for the movie, I know like I get it, I get it, but like he must have like these bear traps must have been like really wound up and spring loaded too. He like like chops into these, like completely obliterates the limbs of this guy. Oh yeah, he gets annihilated.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:11

Yeah. So Jill and the collector proceed to struggle, and during this, she manages to contact the police. So she drops her phone to the floor as the police pick up. So there's kind of a phone call happening, you know, off to the side. The collector seems like fascinated with Jill. Like he he ties her to the staircase with barbed wire in what seems like four seconds. Yeah. And he's kind of like touching her and playing with her, which leads me to believe that she is the one that he will actually collect from this household.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:54

Yeah, because he like he kind of like he he takes his knife, he kind of insinuates that maybe he's gonna like assault her. And I hate trigger warning here, but um, it doesn't go this way at all. There's none, it doesn't, he it just kind of might be insinuates he wants to play with her that way in a gross way with a knife or something, because he's kind of like smelling her and stuff. Um, but yeah, he also he ties her up like seconds. He must have a spool on his hip of barbed wire that when she wraps around her neck and wrists.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:25

It just it just brings it me back to the idea that he has like booby-trapped this entire house in maybe a couple hours. Like he's just very fast. Like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:38

It's like old hat. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:41

But this so Arkin Arkin, this you mentioned this earlier, but Arkin sets off an alarm on the upper floor, and it causes the collector to go investigate this strange noise. And at this point, I I realize like we're really far into this movie, and I've realized that the collector still doesn't know that Arkin is in the home.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:09

Question mark? I think I think the thing I would I could guess here is one, if he doesn't realize it's an intruder, then it's gotta be the fact that he's he maybe he knows that that little girl's running around still. And that's why that's who's like that's why he keeps like like if there's no girl involved, then he'd probably wise up to the fact that someone's purposefully leading them to separate rooms. But I would guess here this is a case of like he's trying to find that little girl and she's probably screwing around setting shit off, and he's like, hey, I gotta go find her.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:44

I had thought that he, and we'll get to Hannah, the youngest daughter, in a minute, but I thought that he had kept her like securely in a an in an upper area of the house. Like I didn't know that she was like skimpering and scampering around. Did you get that impression?

SPEAKER_00 1:15:04

Yeah, I did because the family, when he questions um Mike and his wife, and they say like they both keep saying they don't know where Hannah is. Like she's in the house, they don't know where she is. So I was on the impression that like I feel like they would have known that like they would have been all captured together. So my impression was whether right or wrong, is that um Hannah did evade capture and was like hiding in the walls or behind under beds or something.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:32

Unless Hannah represents the innocence of humanity, and the collector was like, forget about it.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:41

Because he's a guy. Like, or maybe yeah, maybe he's in a letter run around because at the end of the day, though she can't get out and there's traps, like yeah, everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:49

She's also like the personification of innocence.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:52

Yeah, maybe.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:54

So Arkin does manage to free Jill, but in her panic, she grabs the pair of scissors seen earlier in the film, setting off a booby trap, which causes her to fly across the room and into a screen full of nails. And that was batshit crazy.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:20

Yeah, the thing too, like, I uh like this is the most ridiculous dead of the entire film. But I'll say a couple things here is that like she saw her assailant, she saw the collector, who's the one that killed her boyfriend, strung her up. And if you were to think, like, even with a panicking brain, you'd be like, okay, maybe Arkin's internet, but then why would he free me all of a sudden? And she like she gets freed and it's so hostile. It's like, why are you here? That's why she goes to grab the scissors because she's scared of Arkin. Like, the guy, why would he set you free only to kill you? Like, that's the only thing I didn't like about it.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:59

But I think you have to think about it like she hasn't seen him. Like, you are correct, but I also wonder if in that mode, everyone is a fucking enemy. You know, like maybe she's just freaking the fuck out. Like her boyfriend just got bear trapped in front of her page, and then she got tied up with barbed wire. Like, she's probably like, oh, you know.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:22

That's fair. I think, I think ultimately you can make an argument either way.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:26

Did you know that this makes three of three of Arkin not saving anyone? Yeah, Arkin's not a hero, but he's not really saving those people. But he does, he is, yes. So he does manage to escape the family home through what seems to be the only window untouched by a boopy trap. So he is free from the home alone house of horrors, but before he can hop off into the distance, he turns back to see the family's youngest daughter, Hannah, is indeed a captive in the house. Fuck. Holy shit. And like she's alive. She is so because he's a robber and not a killer, he decides not to call for help, Andrew, but go back into the fucking house.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:15

Yeah, this is so this is the funny part. We are in 2009 here. Why would he not have his cell phone on him, right? To call for authorities or something. But I I mean, I will always forgive a film for this. I'm just saying I would also call for tons of backup to come to this house and you know save.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:35

Go to a store or something nearby. Anyways, he decides to go back in the house. And this next part is like maybe a uh a bit of a hoot. So because upstairs, the man in the box, Larry, frees himself somehow, and he yells for Hannah to run. So this is happening upstairs while Arkin is outside. So before Larry can get anywhere, you got it. He is stuffed back into the box by the collector. Yeah. So suddenly, for some reason, like so. This kind of answers the question for earlier. So I think you are right. I don't believe maybe the collector knew where Hannah was, because for some reason the collector finds Hannah and he takes an interest in her and he begins to chase her around the house. But even though, you know, she's five years old, she seems to escape. And just as he closes in on the little tyke, Arkans slams him over the head with an object, knocking him unconscious and fleeing with Hannah into a nearby room.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:52

That's the cool thing, too, about this is where we see when the collector, like when the collector confronts someone who's on the loose, like, especially the scene with Hannah, the ambient soundtrack, like there's an ambient screaming, not his voice, but like there's voices that are recorded screaming when he's like like trying to inflict terror upon them with just his intimidation factor. And it's kind of cool. I like that they used the music and the ambient soundtrack to add to his aura of like menace.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:24

Are you sure that's just not Larry screaming from the box?

SPEAKER_00 1:20:27

There was that. There was that, but no, this was like very obviously an ambience screeching.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:35

So Arkin and Hannah have escaped into a nearby room, and he urges Hannah to stay off the floor as he's cooked up a booby trap of his own. So the collector at this point is like pissed. So he I love that we said that he enters the bedroom just as Arkin tips over a fish tank and Hannah tosses in a TV, banking on electricing the fucker. But as we've guessed up until this point, the collector's super smart. What does he do? He uses Larry as a decoy, he tosses Larry onto the floor, electricuting him before using his body as a plank. So the collector stands on top of Larry and he begins hurling knives at Arkin, but again, Arkhan and Hannah escape into a neighboring room. So Larry does die. It's kind of funny though, because like I thought Larry potentially was maybe a coveted possession of the collector, but the collector doesn't give a fuck.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:52

No, he's a means to an end at that point. And poor Larry, like that poor guy. He's I feel so bad for Larry. What a shitty go. He comes home after a night out. He probably thinks he's gonna get lucky with his wife, and then is stuffed into a box, carried over, and probably that box for 24 hours or more, and then is used as a human shield. Like that sucks.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:21

So, Andrew, after a brief back and forth, Hannah descends into the basement, but before Arkin can hop down the chute, the collector captures him, and we cut to Arkin, who is being hung from the ceiling by fish hooks, and the collector wakes him up with a slice to the forehead just before using a handy pair of pliers to pluck out one of his teeth.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:53

Actually, so two things here, which I like to I want to talk about here, um, is one before he gets knocked out, this is important. Um, right as he gets knocked out, Arkin does pull off the guy's mask, the collector's mask, and Arkin's face is one of recognition. So, based on evidence that I have that we've seen the movie, I am dead to rights. I think that the collector is the bug guy that he talked to at the very start of the film about the hornet's nest in the backyard.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:26

Um sorry, I was gonna say is it is weird though, because I don't think at this point we don't see the collector's face, we just see Arcanine's perspective.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:37

The film keeps uh probably maybe for the second, I think even in the second film, you never ever actually see his face ever.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:45

But how do we know it is the exterminator, not to jump to the end?

SPEAKER_00 1:23:51

So like like I like I said here, so at the start of the film, when we have him working inside in broad daylight with the families doing uh contract work or whatever, Arkin goes to the back to put on a door on the outside shed, notices there's a like I said, with the insect motif, we have a bunch of close-up shots of hornets landing on Arkin's hand. So at the front of the house, briefly before Arkin has an interaction with Jill and they smoke together, um, he interacts with one of two men in white jumpsuits or exterminator suits in front of the master, I think it's like master exterminator pest control van or something. And the one guy takes his mask off. It's the only other character that's it's the only character Arkin interacts with um at the house who he hasn't seen at the house yet. Like, you know what I mean? Like he's seen everybody else that we've seen in the house, we know is a known factor, whereas this is the only unknown factor because we don't see the collector's face. We know he's interacted with a pest control guy, and when he removes the mask of the collector, Arkin recognizes the guy. So it I I that's why I say I'm almost positive it's the pest control guy who takes his mask off and gives a thumbs up to Arkin at the start of the film when he asks him to remove the hornet's nest. That's a fun little just a fun little fun fact, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:18

No, that makes sense because I was wondering because they seem to be so clear on who this is, and I think I may have missed, you know, I missed a few things, but I think I may have missed like why he is so sure it is this person.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:31

But what you just said makes sense. And then part uh thing too, when he's being tortured, it's not just pliers, it's like he uses a chisel and a little hammer to shatter out his tooth. And that I think that's almost worse than being it pulled out with pliers, and it's so painful.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:48

Oh Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:50

Okay, so well uh so while the collector has Arkin in his possession, a police officer arrives responding to Jill's 911 call from earlier. So the police find the collector taking a nighttime stroll in the rain. I don't know if you noticed that. And when the officer moves in to investigate, he's attacked by the collector's German shepherd. Back in the basement, this allows time for Arkin to painfully remove himself from the hooks. Oh, yeah. And he discovers the collector's plan to blow up the family house to smithereens, covering up all trace of his antics. So Arkin grabs Hannah and the Ruby, don't forget, and the two attempt an escape. So the collector does pursue them through the house, firing his shotgun until Arkin drops the foyer chandelier rigged with knives in place of bulbs that we saw earlier to slow him down. And Arkin and Hannah make it to the yard and flag down a cop car. Hannah is then carried to safety, but Arkin is struck and taken away by an ambulance. And as they look back, the family home explodes behind them, destroying any trace of the collector. And so, as you think, the collector is toast, Andrew. The ambulance flips over. Yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:32

Yeah, the ambulance is rammed here by the collector's vehicle. And this strangely, like they filmed. I I think they actually had the actor strapped down while they rotated a fake bin of an ambulance because it's not CGI, and you see the hair and all the objects in the ambulance tumble like it's in a dryer. And I I would I would love I would love to see the behind the scenes. I think they actually spent a pretty penny on this scene. Despite how quickly this is, because um Josh Stewart strapped down to the gurney, the the stretcher in the ambulance, and you it live action, you see the stuff tumble around. I think it's a fantastic shot uh inside the ambulance here.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:16

It's very cool, but it it also brings to light the fact that Arkin had finally escaped the House of Horrors.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:25

And you think the collector is dead, and the poor guy can't catch a break.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:30

No, and there's no police escort, like he's just by itself. Like it's just very convenient. But uh, yes, it's a poor guy.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:38

So the doors open, and the collector steps in. He drags a struggling Arkin to the mysterious box and seals him inside. And the movie comes to a close with the collector driving off into the moonlight, preparing us for a very juicy sequel.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:00

Yeah, and I think too, like this this ending, especially when you see it, this feels like a part one of two. Like it very much feels like a part one. This doesn't even feel like a full film. Um, it does, but like it really feels like it feels like part two makes this story complete. And part two really, if you were dissatisfied with this ending and how the hell that he went through, the ending of part two is fucking amazing. And uh our our uh Josh Stewart Arkin here gets his own back. You know what's interesting too?

SPEAKER_01 1:29:32

Like, I always wonder, because I'm assuming sequels are the result of the first film being a success, right? That's kind of a fact. So with this film, I wonder they end it off like okay, there could be a sequel. So I just found that interesting. Like that this movie really doesn't come to a close, and they didn't know there would be a sequel. So I just find that interesting.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:59

I think I think it's it's gotta be like a gamble, right? Yeah, it's probably it's probably a gamble, like you know what we'll set up a cliffhanger, it'll probably be successful enough that um like we'll make a sequel.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:13

Okay, so Andrew, to wrap this film up, what kind of what's your has your opinion changed? What do you think?

SPEAKER_00 1:30:22

Uh yeah, like I so I watched this twice, and I think I love this film's mood. I love the film's there's parts of this film that are like there's like a film grain, and so part of it almost reminded me a bit of Sinister, like I'm kind of maybe I'm about to watch, like, especially the beginning, there's a bit of this like like found footage, it's not found footage, but the way the camera work and the the film grain, it's almost like we're watching a film inside a film for a minute, and I like the aesthetic of this movie. I love the soundtrack, is I just I don't know what it is about the soundtrack. I love it. I love the 2000s aesthetic in that beginning, the beginning shots. Uh I love the credits. I think the collector's terrifying. I think he's genuinely unnerving and creepy like throughout the whole film. Um, but there's a lot of like that, like there's like uh 40 minutes of just like hide and seek kind of thing running around. Yeah, exactly. I think this is where the sequel is just a better film, uh, from what I remember. This one definitely deserving, I would not give it any higher than a six and a half. Um, because we do the pacing's good overall, but yeah, it's not bad. We do get in a bit of a lull of the hide and seek factor in that second act for a bit. Um, so this was gonna sit around a six to a six and a half for me. I I would agree.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:43

Yeah, I it's weird. The stuff that I think is maybe a little bit more problematic for me is some of the unanswered questions. Like, I wasn't really, and and like I said, like I don't need like a big exposition dump, but I just wasn't sure about the collector's motivation. And I really wasn't sure why Larry was in the box, and I wasn't sure if one of the family members was supposed to then enter the box. Not a big deal, but just some things that I think I wondered while I was watching it. And by no means does it remove my you know glorious six and a half. I gave this movie, but it's definitely just stuff I I found a little bit wonky, I guess, about the film.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:24

As a whole I I I entirely agree. I think like we said we talked about earlier in there in this in the movie, but like it's always great when the director and the writer propose questions that the audience will have that don't need to be answered, right? And I think there's a lot of movies, and especially in horror, horror, especially, right? I've I've talked about this for don't show the monster, and I've talked about um uh that less sometimes is more, but this is a case, this is a speci a case where I would say I think we could use some more exposition dump somehow, show don't tell, on the collector's habits or like what his modus operandi, and it still wouldn't kill the buzz around him being a terrifying villain. Like, wouldn't it be cool if there was a human sacrifice element to this movie? Yeah, like he brings he brings, like maybe he would bring the new person to be tortured in front of the family so that family would know what's coming or something. Yeah, like I think that would be kind of cool. Like he he would strap the family down, they'd be unharmed, and he'd bring this new person out of a box, and you know, Larry could even explain to the family hey, he captures these people. Larry does a PowerPoint before the family gets pulled into a pool, as you're gonna be yeah, yeah, in a much better film. Um, that might have happened, uh, but uh unfortunately does not. So yeah, that wraps that about sums up my thoughts on this. And I had to thanks so much for doing the uh you did some great groundwork here with the background and the uh that started the this pod. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:01

Well, that is the collector, y'all. Join us again for our next feature film.