Collar: Brutally Good Study of a Voyeuristic Society

Collar (2014)

Director: Ryan Nicholson
Writer: Ryan Nicholson
Starring: Nick Principe, Aidan Dee, Mihola Terzic

Collar is the latest film from indie shock legend Ryan Nicholson. It centers on a humongous, deranged homeless man (Nick Principe) and his attack on a rookie cop, collaring her with a dog leash and doing all manner of atrocity to her. All the while, an amoral teen duo document the acts in secret on their camera phones, hoping to make a buck off the suffering of another.

The movie is nuts. It’s dark, gritty, and shocking. Nick Principe (Chromeskull) delivers an amazing performance as the crazed homeless man, “Massive”. There really isn’t a dull moment as Massive leaves a path of destruction through the slums and other parties come into play, some to stop him, others to just watch. It’s brutal and really conveys a question on the morality of the voyeurism of horrors, real life violence for entertainment and profit.

The acting ranges from surprisingly competent to amazing. Nick Principe is another Kane Hodder in the making, but with more range in this writer’s opinion. Hodder is famous for his ability to drive a character while having his face hidden behind a mask, as he did with Jason on four occasions and Victor Crowley three times. But on the occasions he has taken the mask off, he does leave a little to be desired for facial emoting. Nick has done both. He was displayed his ability to portray a dangerous masked man on two occasions with Chromeskull and as Max Seed in Seed 2. But he has acted a wide range of characters without masks, such as in many of Tommy DeNucci’s films, all of them well portrayed. In this, Collar, he reaches a new high point. Massive is portrayed with true skill and devotion. He comes across as a true empty vessel, inhuman violence that cannot be reasoned with because there is simply no one home to hear his victim’s pleas.

The effects also deserve praise. All of them are done practically and impressively. I always look for seams, wires, and inspect the consistency of fake blood. As an fx artist, I can’t help it. I found no flaws. Not one. Instead what I witnessed were top notch gore effects that I haven’t seen in too many other films, or at least not pulled off so convincingly.

The end result is a shockingly brutal film with a surprisingly earnest question. Who is really the biggest monster? When Massive meets his voyeurs, the enormous brute’s malevolence actually seems to pale in comparison. This is a tremendous film, Ryan’s best to date in this writer’s opinion.

And be sure to check out Ryan’s next project, Gutterballs 2 (maybe even 3!) up for crowdfunding HERE  on Indiegogo!