Collar

Released by: Unearthed Films
Released on: November 18th, 2014.
Director: Ryan Nicholson
Cast: Nick Principe, Ronald Patrick Thompson
Year: 2014
Purchase From Amazon

The Movie:

Recently directed by Vancouver's Ryan Nicholson, 2014's Collar was shot in the filmmaker's home town and has throughout its brisk seventy minute running time an authentic feeling of filth. The movie starts out by introducing us to its main character, a large homeless man (Nick Principe) walks down the street. He's filthy, he looks unwashed and maybe disease ridden and he cuts a frightening and imposing frame. He's got a strange past it would seem, having done time as a priest at one point, but these days he's on skid row.

Two young men with cell phones are in the area shooting 'bum fights' style videos and after seeing this guy, referred to as Massive, in action they decide to follow him around to see what sort of footage they can come up with. They have no idea what they've gotten themselves into as Massive rapes and kills his way through the seedy side of the city while a female rookie cop tries to sort all of this out and put a stop to a man who seems unusually Hell-bent on carnage. He's also got a thing for dog collars…

While the supporting characters all do reasonably good work here, particularly the actresses cast as the various prostitutes (they're all pretty much just brutally raped here - this film pulls no punches in the sexual violence department) it's Principe who really stands out. He plays his derelict psychopath perfectly, using his large size to muscle his way through a few fights and to convincingly manhandle the aforementioned streetwalkers he comes into contact with. He's made up to completely look the part, what with his shaggy and unkempt beard and hollow looking eyes, and while his part is short on dialogue he's able to communicate a serious threat with his body language and physical performance. It might sound corny to see it, because it feels corny to write it, but the guy is just fucking scary. Which is, of course, the whole point.

Like most of Nicholson's movies, the makeup effects are much better than you'll find in a lot of other indie horror pictures. There's some strong, intense gore here and it looks to have all been done using practical effects. More often than not these effects are quite realistic - splattery enough to make an impact but never so over the top as to play to camp standards. The movie also goes at a good pace, never overstaying its welcome and ratcheting up its intensity while taking us on a tour of the atrocity exhibition that Massive is laying out for us.

Nicholson and his crew also do an impressive job creating a very realistic atmosphere, the backstreets and alleyways where much of the movie plays out never look like sets, they look pretty authentic. The whole thing has this really effective feeling of uncleanliness about it. Collar is the type of movie that will make you want to have a shower when it's done, it's relentless and it's mean and it's nasty but it's also very well made and pretty entertaining. It might put shock value over narrative but the story that the movie tells is strong enough to hold our interest.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Collar arrives on DVD framed at 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen and as dark as the movie is, it looks just fine on DVD. A couple of minor compression artifacts pop up in the darker scenes but the picture is otherwise pretty pristine (it was shot digitally so print damage never factors in here) while detail is very good for a standard definition presentation. Colors are reproduced fairly well given that the movie takes place in very dark locations and often under what looks like natural lighting. It's a gritty looking film to be sure, but it all works.

The only audio option on the disc is an English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix, there are no alternate language options or subtitles provided. Levels are well balanced and there are no issues with any hiss or distortion. Dialogue is easy enough to understand, no issues here, the audio is fine. There are times where the sound mix is a little 'ambient' so it plays around with levels a bit here but that's obviously been done intentionally and it works in the context of the movie.

Extras are slim, limited to a still gallery, a trailer for the feature, trailers for a few other Unearthed Films properties, menus and chapter selection.

The Final Word:

Collar isn't going to be for all tastes, it is a very dark and at times pretty disturbing film, but fans of the strong side of underground/indie horror should appreciate what Nicholson and his crew have assembled with this one. It's a gritty, atmospheric movie with surprisingly good performances, the type of strong effects work the director is known for that tells a simple but more importantly effective story.