The Collector (2009)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A handyman attempting to rob a house to pay off a debt finds himself trapped in a nightmare of elaborate, lethal machinery.
The story
To pay off a debt to loan sharks, handyman Arkin O'Brien decides to break into the home of the Chase family to steal a valuable ruby. However, upon entering the eerily quiet house, he discovers that a sinister intruder has already broken in and rigged the entire building with a series of lethal, complex traps. Arkin quickly finds himself hunted by a masked man who has turned the residence into a deadly maze, forcing him to navigate a terrifying environment where every room poses a new, gruesome threat to his life.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Arkin O'Brien breaks into the Chase home to steal a ruby but finds the father, Michael, injured and the house rigged with traps. Michael reveals his wife Victoria and daughter Hannah are also held captive. Arkin learns from a trapped man named Larry that a 'collector' kills everyone in a household except one person. After Victoria is tortured to death and Jill is killed by traps, Arkin attempts to escape but is forced to return to save Hannah. He eventually manages to rescue her, but they are captured by the Collector. After Arkin is brutally tortured, he manages to trap the Collector and escape with Hannah. However, Arkin is hit by a car while trying to flag down police. The Collector, who was an exterminator at the house, ambushes the ambulance and kidnaps Arkin, placing him in a red trunk. A post-credits scene shows the Collector watching film slides while Arkin threatens him from inside the trunk.
- First release year
- 2009
- Runtime (minutes)
- 90
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Marcus Dunstan
- Writers
- Patrick Melton · screenplay; Marcus Dunstan · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Josh Stewart · Arkin O'Brien; Michael Reilly Burke · Michael; Andrea Roth · Victoria; Juan Fernandez · Chad; Karley Scott Collins · Jill; Madeline Zima · Hannah; Robert Wisdom · Larry
- Genres
- horror; thriller
- Themes
- survival; home invasion; torture
- Tone and mood
- raw; gritty; uncompromising
- Premise and plot tags
- home invasion; serial killer; traps
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Midnight Man
- Franchise connections
- The Collector
- Content notes
- gore
- Reception
- The film received generally negative reviews from critics, described as 'torture porn' with 'tedious displays of gore.' It was a modest financial success relative to its low budget.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 29% · scale: percentage · review count: 76; Metacritic · score: 29 · scale: 100 · review count: 11; Bloody Disgusting · score: 3.5 · scale: 5
- Production trivia
- The original script was intended as a Saw prequel.; The writers of The Collector went on to write multiple Saw films.; The DVD version includes an alternative ending that cuts off the final 25 minutes.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…