The Collector (1965 film)  

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The Collector is a 1965 British-American psychological horror film directed by William Wyler and starring Terence Stamp and Samantha Eggar. Its plot follows a young Englishman who stalks a beautiful art student before abducting and holding her captive in the basement of his rural farmhouse. It is based on the 1963 novel of the same title by John Fowles, with the screenplay adapted by Stanley Mann and John Kohn. Wyler turned down The Sound of Music to direct the film.

Plot

Freddie is a lonely, socially-awkward young man who purchases a farmhouse with winnings he has earned from the football pools. An amateur entomologist, he spends his time capturing butterflies, of which he has a large collection. Frederick begins stalking a bourgeois London art student named Miranda Grey. One day, Frederick follows Miranda into a pub in Hampstead before abducting her on the street, incapacitating her with chloroform.

Miranda awakens inside the cavernous, windowless stone cellar of Freddie's 17th century farmhouse, which he has adorned with a bed, furnishings, clothing, painting tools, and an electric heater. Miranda assumes she has either been taken for ransom or to be used as a sex slave, and insists to Freddie that her father is not wealthy. Freddie explains he is not seeking sex or ransom; he explains that he and Miranda used to ride on the same bus years earlier in Reading and that he continued to follow her into London after she enrolled in art school. When Freddie proclaims his love for Miranda, she fakes appendicitis as a ploy to escape but is caught. Freddie agrees that he will free Miranda after four weeks, an allotted period he believes will allow her to "get to know him".

Freddie gradually allows Miranda small luxuries, such as leaving the cellar to obtain sunlight and take baths in the house under his supervision. When Freddie fondles her aggressively, Miranda tells him she will not fight him should he rape her, but that she will lose all respect for him. During one of her baths, Freddie's neighbour, Colonel Whitcombe, arrives at the house to introduce himself, resulting in Frederick gagging Miranda and tying her to pipes in the bathroom. She floods the bathroom in an attempt to get Whitcombe's attention, but Frederick diverts him, claiming his girlfriend inadvertently left the tub running.

Freddie recurrently mentions one of Miranda's boyfriends, with whom he observed her socialising on numerous occasions. He allows Miranda to write a letter to her mother, but discovers a small piece of paper in the envelope asking for help, and tears the letter apart in front of her. During a conversation about art and literature, Miranda further alienates Freddie, who accuses her of being an elitist. He proclaims that they could never be friends in "the real world". On the 30th—and allegedly final day of her captivity, Freddie prepares a meal in the house for Miranda, and gives her a dress to wear for the occasion. Over dinner, he asks Miranda to marry him. She agrees, but Frederick senses her hesitation. She attempts to flee the house, but Freddie corners her in his study and chloroforms her before lying with her in an upstairs bedroom. When she regains consciousness in the cellar, Frederick assures Miranda he did not rape her. He tells her he intends to keep her until she "tries" to fall in love with him. After having a bath one night, Miranda unsuccessfully attempts to seduce him, but he senses her artifice and compares her to a prostitute.

When he escorts her back to the cellar during a rainstorm, Miranda seizes a shovel, with which she strikes Freddie on the head. Though wounded, Freddie takes advantage of Miranda's subsequent hesitation and manages to drag her back into the cellar and she accidentally breaks the electric heater just after their struggle. Miranda remains locked in the cold cellar, soaking wet, while Frederick receives medical attention. He returns three days later to find Miranda ill with pneumonia and goes into town to get a doctor. When Freddie returns, having changed his mind about a doctor, he finds Miranda dead. Freddie buries Miranda's corpse under an oak tree on his property. A short time later, Freddie, convinced Miranda brought her fate on herself, again drives around, now stalking a young nurse in the hopes that he might have better success overall with a different sort of woman.


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