FAQ

Socially withdrawn bank clerk and butterfly collector Freddie Clegg (Terence Stamp) purchases an isolated house in the English countryside so that he can kidnap the love of his life, art student Miranda Grey (Samantha Eggar). At first terrified and rebellious at being held captive, Miranda eventually begins to eat and tries to cooperate, based on Freddie's promise to release her in four weeks.

The Collector is also a 1963 novel by English novelist John Fowles. The book was adapted for the movie by Stanley Mann and John Kohn.

Unknown to Miranda, Freddie has had a crush on her since they were teenagers back in Reading. He mentions that he even sat next to her on a bus a few times. He is quick to point out that he didn't kidnap her for ransom or sex; he just wanted her to be close to him and to get to know him.

Three days after leaving Miranda wet and cold in the basement, Freddie returns after getting medical help for the gash she made in his forehead with a shovel. He finds her shivering in her bed, weak and panting, obviously ill, and this time not pretending. He rushes off to town to get a doctor, leaving the basement door open, but Miranda is too weak to even try to escape. Freddie drives up to the doctor's office but, at the last minute, turns away and goes to the chemist (drugstore) instead. By the time he returns with the pills, however, Miranda is dead. In a voice-over, he explains how he buried her under an oak tree in a box that he made for her. He talks of the first few days when she was there, remembering his feelings for her. He admits that he might have been his fault that Miranda did the things she did that caused him to lose respect for her but then concludes that she asked for everything she got. In the final scene, he drives into town and begins stalking a young nurse.