The Collector

Directed by Stuart Wheeldon

2024

Montsegur Films / Nine Ladies Film

A quote from Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist novel opens up a new 30-minute film from local filmmaker Stuart Wheeldon who hopes to deliver a similar sense of dread as the themes explored in that horror classic.

Influenced by the story’s religious angle, right off the bat the film introduces us to a man staring at a Jesus effigy at a church before visiting a graveyard.

We are then whisked to an American-accented Nigel Barber as Father Raymond. He is performing an exorcism of ‘Kathy’, who is self-harming but appears to be under the influence of an entity who speaks in a malevolent voice.

After this we head to a pub where a satanic voice chants “Sarah” as a woman (Rachel Prince) prepares her bar for business. When opened, our priest arrives to explain about the mysterious circumstances surrounding the previous owners’ encounters with voices but Sarah dismisses his concerns. What could be causing the disturbances we ask?

Well, we have to wait as we smash-cut to “8 months later” - although not before seeing a pint glass and bar stool spookily moving on their own.

One thing that sticks out about The Collector is an absence of 'build up' and could do with a bit of a polish. Character drama, backstory, dialogue - all this could provide some helpful basics of where we’re based and who these people are. This is essential world-building, but sadly we get thrown into loud music and a demonic possession that occur minutes into the film and we know don't really know anything of the context.

This is also true of the film’s music, which has horror flourishes that work nicely at times. But it’s overused and even from the start, this loud orchestral score is attached to multiple sequences throughout - including one of a man “walking about a bit”. It often seems somewhat unwarranted given the shots it aligns with.

Back in the story, as the voices and strange occurrences continue, Sarah is still reluctant to believe in anything unearthly, yet Father Raymond continues to warn her about possible impending doom. Despite her doubts though, she places a crucifix on her wall for protection and the nuisance phone calls get darker as an eerie voice describes how they want to “collect” her.

Despite The Collector using some fine actors and an interesting pub location, the story structure needs a bit of a rethink. The sound mix in particular requires some more attention as the bombastic score is almost constant throughout and when it does die down it’s replaced with voices and unnatural sounds before booming back in.

It’s even present for an intimate doctor’s office sequence where I was struggling to hear the dialogue. Moments of silence are crucial within the horror genre and The Collector requires some quieter sequences of dread to build up tension.

In the end, the film provides solid nods to its collection of influences and a spooky pub is ripe for haunting shenanigans. Father Raymond provides the final back-story to the supernatural goings-on, which involve a fiendish music box and everyone throws themselves into this project passionately. However, to raise the bar towards it’s obvious influences, the film could do with a big trim in the edit room and an even bigger turning down of the music volume knob, both of which would help it become a more effective horror tale.

★★½

2.5 / 5

Michael Sales