The fans of the goriest horror films should be happy to hear that the third entry in The Collector saga, entitled The Collected or The Collector 3, is already in development. Like the previous films, Marcus Dunstan is taking responsibility for the direction and has co-written the script together with Patrick Melton. The two have got an admirable run as writers of new generation horror movies, being also responsible for the stories and screenplays of titles like Feast (2005) and its sequels, Saw IV (2007), Saw V (2008), Saw VI (2009), Saw 3D: The Final Chapter (2010), Piranha 3DD (2012), or the upcoming Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019). Also, they have been credited for delivering the screenplay for the announced Halloween sequel Halloween: Retold.
With these references, if you have never seen any movies from The Collector saga, it is easy to try to figure out what are the plot elements and the intentions in this new sequel. In fact, it’s been stated that the original The Collector (2009) script, earlier entitled The Midnight Man, was at one point shopped as a prequel to the Saw franchise, but the producers opposed the idea and dismissed it. In the first movie, Desperate to repay his debt to his ex-wife, an ex-con plots a heist at his new employer’s country home, unaware that a second criminal has also targeted the property, and rigged it with a series of deadly traps. It all had gory and terrific endings. In the sequel, The Collection (2012), a man who escapes from the vicious grips of the serial killer known as The Collector is then forced to help rescue an innocent girl from the killer’s booby-trapped lair. And more gore and fancy bloody killings appeared.
The full cast for The Collector 3 is not revealed yet, we only know that Josh Stewart will reprise his role of Arkin, a character appearing in all the titles of the saga. Also, Emma Fitzpatrick, who was Elena in The Collection (2012), is back to the character.
Although they never were favorites of the critics, The Collector (2009) and The Collection (2012) were very welcome by the horror fans tired of all those sugar-coated teenage slashers, and lovers of the cruelness and rawness of titles like the Saw or Laid to Rest movies. This is why I consider the announcement of The Collector 3 being in pre-production is very good news. And while we wait for the release of the movie it is always good to remember the trailer of the first title of this trilogy:
