When Elena Peters’ boyfriend cancels on their date because he has to work, she instead is convinced to go out to a party with her friends Missy and Josh. The location of the rave is disclosed only to a few and they enter with a password aptly quoting Poe. The three are having fun mixing with others their age and it isn’t long before Elena spots her boyfriend kissing another girl on the dance floor. Elena punches him and storms off separating herself from her friend Missy. Entering an otherwise empty room, Elena discovers a red trunk sitting in the middle of the floor. Curiosity avails and she opens the trunk only to be tackled by the man trapped within as she springs a trap and very nearly dies freeing him. Terrified by the sight of the bloody, tortured, crazed man within, Elena flees from the room and subsequently triggers an even larger trap.
As you watch the first fifteen minutes or so of this film there is no surprise that it is written and directed by the creators of the Saw sequels. It is filled with impossible scenarios and over the top gore meant to shock and awe but succeeds only in disgusting the viewer. Having watched the first movie, The Collector, a few weeks before The Collection came out on DVD, I was highly disappointed and almost regretted my purchase. If it hadn’t been for the return of Josh Stewart in his role as Arkin, I probably would not have watched further.
Needless to say, the movie does improve as Arkin, now a “free” man who is on the mend from his time being tortured by the Collector, is persuaded by Lucello to hunt down, find and save Elena. Arkin takes them to the abandoned hotel where he was held for an undisclosed period of time and is double-crossed by the mercenaries and forced to enter the building and endure the many varied traps within.
This is the point where I feel the movie actually began to improve. Though the traps were not nearly as ingenious as the first movie, there were moments when the suspense built enough to hold your interest and follow them through to the end. The ending of the movie was definitely worth watching and completely made up for the faults of the beginning. It may not be a keeper (unless you absolutely have to have a complete collection) but it is definitely worth renting to finish the tale of Arkin.
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