Rent The Collector (1965)

Great film of John Fowles' novel. - The Collector review by Steve

Terence Stamp- cast just before his tenure as a sixties face- plays a psychopathic butterfly collector, who abducts and imprisons Samantha Eggar's beautiful arts student. It's a two-hander, mostly set in a single interior.

 Although this is is a tense and unorthodox work of suspense, it is as much about class, and the stultifying conservatism of post war Britain. And its mistrust of modernism/modernity. Eggar is the creative, liberated butterfly trapped in Stamp's killing jar. She represents the new rules of permissive London.

She was nominated for an Oscar, but really Eggar and Stamp are captivating as a pair in their long, intense scenes together. The adaptation from John Fowles' novel, works as a very creepy thriller and a perceptive and evocative snapshot of its time.

William Wyler is often unjustly overlooked. It's remarkable that a director from the golden age was still making such relevant, invigorating and challenging films which capture moments in a changing world. It was mostly shot in Hollywood, but this is a key document of sixties London.

Classic Hammer Horror style but with a twist - The Collector review by CP Customer

Extremely good performances by Terence Stamp and Samantha Eggar in this unusual sinister movie. Although slightly dated the performances make it entirely watchable, together with the glorious technicolor and somewhat unexpected ending.

Creepy, claustrophobic psychological drama. Great stuff! - The Collector review by RP

Way back when, John Fowles was one of my favourite authors. He's perhaps best known for 'The French Lieutenant's Woman', 'The Magus' and of course 'The Collector'. I haven't read the book for some years and from memory there are some differences between the book and the film, but it's a pretty fair adaptation.

The young(ish) pre-fame Terence Stamp is excellent as the psychopathic butterfly collector and stalker Freddie Clegg, who wins big on the football pools and so can afford to buy a country house and convert its cellars into a cosy little prison for the next item in his collection, art student Miranda Grey, played by the lovely Samantha Eggar. Freddie is socially awkward and shy, professes his love for Miranda - but she is repulsed both by the fact that he has kidnapped her and by his butterfly collection, which of course he has killed. It can of course only end in disaster and without giving too much away, Freddie goes on to stalk again...

This is a claustrophobic psychological drama, superbly acted (the two leads won Best Actor and Actress Awards at Cannes) and directed. Great stuff - with an excellent 1960s period feel that places it firmly in an era just a short time ago, yet so far away.

[Aside: I enjoy trying to identify film locations, and recognise the victim leaving Belsize Park tube station (I used to live nearby), Haverstock Hill, Hampstead High Street, Holly Bush Hill and Mount Vernon where the kidnap took place.]

If you enjoy a creepy thriller then give this a try. 5/5 stars - excellent.