Author: Vf DVD

Format: NTSC

Release Date: 2010-03-18

Details: Amazon.ca In the vein of The Silence of the Lambs and Seven, The Collector, by Jean Beaudin, is a morbid and often effective thriller, but which only half-convinces. Detective in the Quebec City police department, Maud Graham (Maude Guérin) has a weakness for cats, loneliness, justice and young delinquents. While taking in Grégoire (Lawrence Arcouette), a 16-year-old prostitute, and Frédéric (Charles-André Bourassa), a 12-year-old runaway, she investigates the murders of several young women, who have been found mutilated. The destinies of this obstinate woman, two young misfits and a serial killer (Luc Picard), particularly sadistic and intelligent, will intersect, until a horrible outcome... Despite the richness of Quebec literature, the screenwriters and directors rarely draw their inspiration from it. Jean Beaudin, a popular filmmaker in the best sense of the word, is an exception. It was he who adapted for the cinema Le Matou and Invisible Man at the Window (Intimate Memories) and, for the small screen, Les Filles de Caleb and Ces enfants d'ailleurs. Although freely inspired by Chrystine Brouillet's novel, the screenplay for Le Collectionneur, written by Beaudin and Chantal Cadieux, has kept the mix of bonhomie and horror, humor and suspense that made the success of the book. Exploiting a genre little approached in Quebec cinema, Le Collectionneur benefits from the photogenic charm of Quebec, well rendered by the dark images of Daniel Jobin, as well as excellent performances from actors, particularly those of the two teenagers and Luc Picard, remarkable like a mad killer. Despite these undeniable qualities, this thriller runs out of steam halfway (before a successful finale), and some characters are not very convincing, including that of a transvestite sculptor (Yves Jacques), not very credible, and that of Maud Graham, whose mystery remains whole. --Eric Fourlanty

UPC: 807581501304

EAN: 0807581501304

Languages: English

Binding: DVD

Item Condition: UsedVeryGood