The CollectionMovie Reviews

No
Avg. Critic Score: 36 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
17 not for kids
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 75
    Slant Magazine |

    Whereas the later "Saw" films were hampered by bloated backstory, various ostentatious agendas, and self-satisfied sadism, The Collection feels utterly unburdened by anything but its lean, fleet-footed plot. Read full review

  • 67
    Entertainment Weekly | Clark Collis

    Remarkably, the result manages to be both more preposterous and more efficient than its predecessor, with a couple of deaths occurring so swiftly they border on the subliminal. Read full review

  • 60
    NPR | Ian Buckwalter

    Genre aficionados are likely to revel in every crunched bone, gratuitous decapitation and slow-motion iron-maiden impaling. Read full review

  • 50
    The Hollywood Reporter | Frank Scheck

    Unfortunately, the Collector simply isn't a very interesting screen villain. Clad in a black mask that reveals only his eyes and mouth, he mainly communicates by heavy breathing. It makes one yearn for the perversely witty chatter of Jigsaw. Read full review

  • 50
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    The Collection is an honest title. The movie is just a lot of other people's greatest hits. Read full review

  • 50
    Village Voice | Nick Pinkerton

    The Collection doesn't have much to recommend it beyond a first-reel bloodbath rivaling "Blade" and "Death Ship." Read full review

  • 42
    indieWIRE | Eric Kohn

    The whole thing is a fairly yawn-a-rific affair until the vengeful prologue establishes a wicked role reversal, hinting at the better movie that filmmakers more interested in storytelling would have made. Read full review

  • 38
    Washington Post | Michael O'Sullivan

    Dull and repetitive, even by the standards of an already repetitive genre. Read full review

  • 20
    Austin Chronicle | Marjorie Baumgarten

    An exercise in pure sadism, The Collection moves at a clip that leaps over plot holes in its race to elicit fright. Read full review

  • 0
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    The Collection is bloody, disgusting and ridiculous, but the one thing it's not is horror, not real horror, not in the sense of tense or scary. It's not cinema, either. It's not even fun. Read full review

View more reviews for The Collection on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says not for kids "Torture porn" sequel packed with bloody, gory deathtraps.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that The Collection (sequel to The Collector) is a "torture porn" movie made by veterans of the notorious Saw series. Though it's perhaps not quite as sadistic as other entries in the genre, there's definitely no shortage of grisly violence -- for example, a scene in which an entire club of dancing young people is mown down by a giant rotating blade. There's tons of blood (spraying and spurting included) and severed limbs and heads. A young woman is kidnapped, guns are fired, and a dog is (seemingly) stabbed and decapitated. A topless woman is briefly shown, and there are some other mildly sexual situations. "F--k" is used several times, as are other salty words. The previous film was something of a sleeper, so only hardcore horror fans are likely to be interested.
  • Families can talk about The Collection's violence. How intense is it? Is it scary, suspenseful, or just disgusting?
  • What's the appeal of "torture porn" horror movies?
  • How do the filmmakers treat the heroine's disability? Is she a role model?
  • What are the best examples of teamwork in this movie?
The good stuff
  • message true1 Positive messages: Though things get off on the wrong foot and sometimes fall apart, there are some examples of characters successfully working together and trusting one another. They keep attempting to solve a difficult and deadly puzzle.
  • rolemodels true1 Positive role models: One character, after showing cowardice and selfishness, learns to help others. The female lead, who has a slight disability (deafness, with a hearing aid in one ear), shows strength and empathy for others in a tough situation.
What to watch for
  • violence false5 Violence: A young woman is kidnapped and held prisoner, but she escapes before she's tortured. (A few other young women aren't as lucky.) An entire roomful of dancing people is mown down and sliced up by a huge rotating blade. Viewers see several decapitations and severed limbs. Many other characters die in deadly booby traps; they're stabbed, squished, or chopped up. There's lots of blood, including spurting and spraying. Dead bodies are shown in various states of mutilation (though these seem more like hideous sculptures than actual humans). A dog is stabbed in the head and then decapitated. Guns are fired at a horde of mindless, zombie-like creatures.
  • sex false4 Sexy stuff: A topless young woman -- a background character -- is briefly shown during a dance club sequence. Also during this sequence, the camera lingers on body parts -- hips, stomachs, etc. -- while young people dance. Some kissing is shown. (The main character's boyfriend cheats on her.) A mutilated body with naked breasts is shown, though it's more like a gruesome sculpture than anything human.
  • language false4 Language: Language isn't very frequent but does include several uses of "f--k" and a use of "d--k."
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false1 Drinking, drugs and smoking: A secondary character is shown passed out in a chair with a glass of alcohol (Scotch?) nearby.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Looking for more reviews? Movies.com Critics Say:

Dave White

3.0

Dave White Profile See Dave White's Profile

The saw-ing continues. Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

Read more movie reviews at Movies.com

The Collection Featured Trailers + Video Clips

Watch All Videos