“I’m not a misogynist, I love women” - Ryan Nicholson
Vultra Video has created quite a treat for Plotdigger Films fans. We have an excellent VHS release of Ryan Nicholson’s “Collar” ahead of its US theatrical premiere at Slaughter in Syracuse. This release is now sold out, and if you were one of the lucky ones, you truly got a great piece for your collection as well as a chance to see the movie well before the dvd & blu release.
Let’s examine what’s included before we talk about the film. Take a moment to enjoy the outside art. Each copy was signed and numbered by Ryan. Pop open the clamshell case and notice the bright orange tape. Bask in it’s safety cone-hued glory. The stickers on this tape are looking slick. A folded poster of the box art is included. My favorite part is the limited card with an attached swatch of the jacket the killer “Massive” wore during the film.
First up, we have an intro from Ryan. He is on location at the shack where most of the film was shot. This is Massive’s warm safe place, to murder, cannibalize, and rape. We’ll get to that in a minute… Ryan’s intro is informative, and gives you a little behind the scene’s glimpse of visuals and a few stories. The shack actually is filthy. You get the feeling this is going to be an uncomfortable film.
Collar opens with Nick Principe as “Massive”, an ominous homeless man pushing his pentagram-adorned shopping cart around various locations. He’s unkempt, filthy, and likely infested with vermin. He keeps having these flashbacks… I’ll not say to what. Suddenly he decides to shave off his dreads. Does he clean up well? Fuck no.
This is one of Principe’s best roles since “Summer of Massacre” where he played the mentally challenged hermaphroditic sister. Massive has almost no dialog, but his screen presence is sinister and his batshit craziness is through the roof. The shack roof, that is. Not just any shack, the love shack. There’s a bunch of non consensual penetration going on in there. Ryan wasn’t kidding during the intro when he said there’s a lot of rape. These scenes are not overly brutal rape, but its frequent enough to add an extra thick layer of sleaze to this exploitation excursion.
So story goes this big psycho homeless dude lives in a filthy shack fucking, killing, and eating various bystanders, other homeless, and some local prostitutes. One of these ladies of the night gets away and alerts the police. A rookie cop responds with her partner, and things go downhill for them pretty quick. Lil’ miss rookie gets herself collared up by Massive, and that’s just the start of her troubles. The escapee finds some friends to posse up. Will they lynch that nasty rapist bum Massive or will they just wind up more meat for the beast?
This is a filthy, grimy film. Its the equivalent of that nasty shack. There is a story to all this grit and sleaze, and a decent side plot about the voyeurs. I’m glad there’s some back story to Massive, kinda clues you in on just how he became fucked up worse than a soup sandwich.
For the budget Ryan and team were working with, I think they pulled it off successfully. There are some good practical fx at work for our enjoyment. Head-crushing, gut-munching fun for the whole fucked up family. The whole film has that retro feel to it, and being presented in VHS format just adds that additional visual element and makes for a great package. I cannot tell you the audio is completely on point, as I found myself having to turn the TV almost all the way up to be able to hear most of the film.
I would recommend Collar to fans of exploitation and sleaze. If you already are into Plotdigger, this will be a treat for you. Vultra Video and Plotdigger put out a great collector's piece and chance to see the film early! Proud to have this gem in my Plotdigger collection.
Score: 4/5
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