The Collector (1965)

08/29/2015 21:28

Film: The Collector

Year: 1965

Director: William Wyler

Writer: John Kohn and Stanley Mann

Starring: Terence Stamp, Samantha Eggar and Mona Washbourne

 

Review:

This film takes place in Great Britain, with our main character played by Terence Stamp. We see him at first walking through the countryside with a net and he catches a butterfly. While doing this he finds an older house that is up for sale. While there he discovers a cellar that is dungeon like.

Next we see he has bought the home and has made up the cellar to be habitable for someone and we learn what he plays to collect next. The film shifts to Stamp being in the city and stalks a young woman played by Samantha Eggar, an art student. Stamp followers her until she is alone and then uses chloroform to render her unconscious.

She awakens to find herself locked in the cellar of Stamp’s home. He makes it very clear that she cannot leave and that she is his prison. She is faced with being stuck there with no chance of escape or outwitting Stamp to make her escape. We also see that Stamp isn’t the completely nice captor he seems to be either.

Can Eggar get away before it is too late? Or is Stamp on to collecting something other than just butterflies now?

This film does not have a lot of great action sequences, but is a solid psychology battle. Stamp has it set in his mind what he wants and will do whatever he can to get it, which is Eggar. The times when Stamp snaps and shows what he is capable of, it can be somewhat scary.

What adds to it is, this could really happen and someone could really do this to others. Stamp gives a great performance. Eggar has a great performance herself as the scared, prisoner who tries to match wits with her captor. She will stop at nothing to free herself and will play whatever angle she can.

If you like psychology thrillers, I would advise you to give this film a view. I believe you will share a similar admiration for the two characters and get to enjoy a good film. If you are fan of acting, I would recommend this film as well; watch Stamp as the unsocial captor reveal himself as the delusional madman he emerges to be.

 

My Rating: 7 out of 10