Plot
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.
Release Year: 2009
Rating: 6.2/10 (14,496 voted)
Critic's Score: 29/100
Director:
Marcus Dunstan
Stars: Josh Stewart, Andrea Roth, Juan Fernández
Storyline When the Chase family moves to an isolated house in the middle of nowhere in Detroit, Arkin is hired to fix the windows and the doors. Later he meets his daughter and his wife that has a debt with dangerous sharks and needs money, but his week payment is not enough to pay her debts. Arkin plots to heist the safe of Michael Chase during the night to raise the necessary money. However, when he arrives in the house, he finds that a sadistic criminal has imprisoned the family and planted traps everywhere. Arkin seeks a way out of the deadly house to save his life.
Writers: Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan
Cast: William Prael
-
Larry Wharton
Diane Ayala Goldner
-
Gena Wharton
Juan Fernández
-
The Collector
(as Juan Fernandez)
Josh Stewart
-
Arkin
Michael Reilly Burke
-
Michael Chase
Andrea Roth
-
Victoria Chase
Karley Scott Collins
-
Hannah Chase
Madeline Zima
-
Jill Chase
Haley Pullos
-
Cindy
(as Haley Alexis Pullos)
Daniella Alonso
-
Lisa
Patrick Rizzotti
-
Bowling Ball Cleaner
Jayme Suzonne Riser
-
Bar Dancer
Krystal Mayo
-
Bar Dancer
(as Krystal Dawn Mayo)
Michele Diane Pate
-
Bar Dancer
Nicole Antranette Fisher
-
Bar Dancer
Opening Weekend: $3,576,296
(USA)
(2 August 2009)
(1325 Screens)
Gross: $7,706,394
(USA)
(20 September 2009)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes:
The alarm panel is Napco but the control panel is a different manufacturer.
User Review
Visceral fun
Rating:
Arkin is an ex-con turned handyman who cases the houses that he works
on. When his wife needs money to pay off some dangerous loan sharks, he
decides to break into the house that he's currently fixing up, that of
the wealthy Chase family, ahead of schedule. The family is all set to
go on a vacation, so he figures it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
When he hits the house late at night, everything seems normal aside
from a suspicious guard dog leashed in the front yard. Arkin shrugs it
off and goes for the safe, but while attempting to crack the
combination, he hears someone moving about in the house. You see, Arkin
isn't the only intruder on the property. A sadistic madman has beaten
him to the punch, only he isn't interested in collecting gemstones.
He's interested in collecting people that he deems worthy, and those
that he doesn't will meet a most unpleasant end.
Going into this film on the weekend of it's theatrical release, at the
very least I had hoped for a pleasant diversion. It had certainly
caught my eye, but the director's connection with the atrocious Saw
franchise gave me reservations. Fortunately, not only did I have
nothing to worry about, but seeing it wound up being the best time I
had in a theater last year. What transpires for the majority of the
film's running time is a tense game of cat and mouse between Arkin and
the collector. You can tell that the latter suspects someone else is
running around the house, but Arkin manages to avoid him while trying
to rescue the family in the process. In fact, the collector never would
have known about Arkin, as he was out of the house without ever having
been spotted. That damn kid!
Marcus Dunstan and his crew really did a lot with the budget they had.
The film has a unique look and sound design. The look is a large part
of what drew me to the film in the first place back when the TV spots
were airing. Solid use of music as well. It's fierce, it's visceral and
it's nasty, but the atmosphere created here is what sets the thing
apart from others. That and the collector himself, a wicked villain who
goes after his victims with an intensity that I found refreshing. No
slow slasher walk here. The eyes were a nice touch too, reflective like
those of an animal.
The security system from Hell is an intriguing twist on your typical
home invasion setup. It certainly makes for some unique situations.
There's a different trap around every corner, so no running at full
blast to make an escape and you had better watch where you fall. The
boyfriend's fate is the film's best set piece, almost Grand Guignol in
it's execution. There's also one demise that can best be described as
human flypaper.
There are some suspension of disbelief flaws in there, but I enjoyed
the ride too much to really mind in this case. It's a mean horror film
that is strong on mood and takes itself seriously. Hard to believe it's
from the guys behind various Saw movies, as I can't stand any of those.
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