Absolutely the worst movie.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

That's a splendid film. Superb acting, excellent directing. For the first time I saw this film in 1965, in Greece (we had no TV at the time) and it was really a fantastic play. Although the story -a real drama- contained just two actors, I had no problem to follow it with the utmost interest. The general plan of this story was somehow copied later, in other films. As far as my country is concerned I think this certain film was never played on TV (or at least it may have been played once (?) during the last 50 years (!!). Unfortunately, I've just seen (on IMDb) the Greek translation of the title. But it's wrong. It's not "O strangalistis" but "O syllektis". In Greek "strangalistis" means "strangler".

No – Not Really. Terence Stamp constantly has the same psycho-look on his face. He actually looks like Mr. Bean – which indicates how much my thoughts were drifting during this supposed thriller.Man kidnaps young lady – holds her hostage. He wants her to fall in love with him. When she does – or pretends too – he has too much psycho impotence to react accordingly. The young lady has innumerable escape opportunities which she does not take advantage of. There is so much credibility lost through-out this arduous 2 hour film that it boggles. The dialogue is monotonously repetitive – He says "Please love me and talk with me"– and she replies "I hate you and set me free why don't you babe – you just keep me hangin' on" (well not quite). At the end she dies blissfully and we hardly know why. Our psycho-killer can continue on his merry trajectory and make a sequel.

One of my favorite things in life is finding or discovering obscure but great movies. Especially films that I've known about for quite some time, but was never able to find. Sometimes I'll cross paths with a film that is so unknown that I've never heard of it, yet so great that it feels like I should have known it forever. Recently I discovered "The Collector" ('65) by William Wyler. A film about a passionate but lonely butterfly-collector who kidnaps a beautiful girl, and holds her as a hostage in his cellar. Not to violate or sexually abuse her, but for the satisfaction of having her in his presence. And, the hope that she'll eventually fall in love with him.This is a film that you should place in context. For the basic storyline and some of the more specific subplots are somewhat of a cliché at the present time in cinema, but where fresh and daring at that time. Prior to 1965 there already were movies about 'darker' characters, and even psychopaths of course. Films like "Leave her to heaven" ('45/John M. Stahl) and "Possessed" ('47/Curtis Bernhardt) were already pretty dark, but still in a certain Hollywood style. In 1958 Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece "Vertigo" delved into some new cinematic territory. "Vertigo" was a film of which the essence; the core, was the human psyche of a man in trouble. A man struglling with his deepest and darker longings and desires. Then, in 1960 Hitch made another masterpiece called "Psycho" ('60) and Michael Powell in England made "Peeping Tom" ('60). Those two films were – at least in my humble opinion – the 'parents' of what is now known as the 'slashermovie' or 'psycho-movie'. A certain kind of genre was born. Films about sick, dark individuals were becoming more interesting and popular at the same time. This is the context in which you should place Wyler's "The Collector".This film is full of great elements. The purity of the story, the style and mood of the film, the great performances by two leading stars Terence Stamp as Freddie and Samantha Eggar as Miranda, the great almost dreamy music score by Maurice Jarre, the wonderful cinematography of one of my heroes Robert Surtees. It's a film that uses lots of elements that are now being viewed as clichés, but never feels like a cliché itself. Of course this is because of the year it was released, but also because of the great and daring choices of director William Wyler. I was very happy to have found this great and obscure picture, and recommend it to anyone who likes the darker side of cinema.

Director William Wyler's adaptation of a novel by John Fowles concerning a disturbed young man's obsession with a beautiful woman who he eventually kidnaps and places in a basement room. The film is solidly made and acted and while it is interesting to watch, it is never gripping or compelling. It doesn't have any of the sordid messiness that the material requires and would have given it the edge it needs. Wyler's solid direction is at odds with the material. It's too neat and tidy. Samantha Eggar is a standout despite the fact that the ending feels like a cop out.I was interested in seeing "The Collector" only because it was directed by William Wyler who was one of the top directors in Hollywood from the 1930's through the 1950s. "The Collector" is fascinating because the story itself is a bit perverted and falls into the realm of Hitchcock, not Wyler (I kept thinking about Hitchcock's "Psycho" throughout). Why would Wyler, a solid veteran of Hollywood Movie Workhorses, be drawn to a dark film about an egotistical "head-case" who collects butterflies and decides that he wants to collect a beautiful woman he has long admired and keep her to himself? I have not found anything about his reasons but his involvement makes "The Collector" worth a look. Certainly, nothing about the story makes it worthy. What might have seemed daring and cutting edge back in 1965 now seems tame and has been done numerous times and better (the film is like "Misery" with the gender roles reversed). Nothing about what happens between the beautiful Miranda (a painfully beautiful and likable Samantha Eggar) and creepy Freddy (Terence Stamp) is really unique or even very interesting. But "The Collector" does hold your interest. The movie's opening moments are confusing. Wyler's attempts to establish Freddie as a character does not work completely enough to substantiate the act of kidnapping. Once Freddie has kidnapped Miranda and places her in a dungeon like setting, "The Collector" starts to come together. It becomes a character study of a demented, delusional loser who still pines for love and his prisoner's attempt to some how get out of the situation alive. In the scenes between Miranda and Freddie, Wyler's strength shines and Eggar is particularly good. She's lovely to look at and you can certainly understand why Freddie is attracted to her. Eggar's eyes show us how she is trying to assess the situation for an escape while Freddie keeps changing his methods and reasons for holding her captive. Without Eggar or a comparable actress, "The Collector" wouldn't work at all. It is too bad that what limited success the film does achieve falls squarely on Eggar's shoulders because Terence Stamp's Freddie is the reason the film fails to compel. It's not necessarily Stamp's fault. He is a great actor and though he is playing a stiff (or a demented dork), Stamp is never stiff or dull. "The Collector" simply does not establish how we are meant to feel toward Freddie until the very end when a piece of throwaway narration finally lets us know that he is psychotic (probably a sociopath). I doubt the intention by Wyler's was to create this ambiguity. If the film had made Freddie's character clear, then we would feel more peril for Miranda and her situation. As it plays out, we are confused by him and never really know if he is dangerous or just a bit of a lonely nut looking for love. This confusion elicited some seemingly contradictory and expected reactions. Take for example the scene where Miranda is tied up in the bathroom while the neighbor visits Freddie. When Miranda turns the bathtub water on so it overflows I found myself actually not wanting the neighbor to notice. I was actually on Freddie's side for some reason. If Hitchcock had made "The Collector" then I could see him doing something like this. He's the type of director who would have loved to have the audience side with the psycho but he would have made Miranda somehow unlikeable. In Wyler's film, he has not convinced us of Stamp's true nature (the upbeat, chirpy music that underscores many of Stamp's scenes certainly does not help). Therefore, the film feels uncertain and unfocused and it kills any tension.In the end, it comes down to the direction. As good as Wyler is, material like this is not something that is within his expertise. Perhaps he was, in his late career, trying to do something new. Having been a long time film maker, he might have sensed the changing times and tried to stay relevant. It's a worthy effort. "The Collector" required a director with a vision to create a sense of constant menace. The material should not have been smartened up the way Wyler does it but played for it's pulpy, scary aspects. Hitchcock could have done it. Certainly Polanski could have too and his "Rosemary's Baby" just three years later managed to be lot of what "The Collector" could have been.