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[Salvage]
Plot:When a container washes ashore the residents of a sleepy cul-de-sac are plunged into violence, terror and paranoia. Ring fenced by the military a single mother must overcome all the odds to save her daughter.
Cast:Shahid Ahmed,
Dean Andrews,
Sufian Ashraf,
Ben Batt,
Linzey Cocker,
Shaun Dooley,
Trevor Hancock,
Kevin Harvey,
Paul Howell,
Neve McIntosh.
My Thoughts:Works on a basic level.
Review:"Salvage" is another in a line of horror films where some secret government experiments has been let loose, and it wreaks havoc on a town or community. This movie however, manages to do it on a smaller scale than most genre features do. The pic carries the feeling of a film like "Carriers", but is more "28 Days Later"-esque in it's building of suspense and terror. The pic follows a young teenage girl, who is dropped off at her moms place on Boxing Day (European Christmas).
While there, she makes a discovery about her mom that sets her off. The girl runs away to a nearby neighbors house. Her mom tries to get her to come out, but during the commotion, soldiers suddenly show up and demand the girls mother get on the ground. Pretty soon, soldiers are swarming all over the neighborhood, and choppers are zooming by up above. All of this coincides with a mysterious container that has washed up on the shores of the town, and it's deadly contents, which have escaped.
One thing this movie doesn't do is raise expectations above what it can accomplish. There aren't any scenes of dialogue where the container is propped up as having something nightmarish, terrifying, or super-deadly inside. Rather, the film leaves us to imagine what might've been in the container, and what has escaped. And we are also left to determine on our own just how dangerous or not dangerous it is.
Granted, when we finally do learn of the boxes contents, it ratchets up the films suspense levels, but it also works better because we haven't been scared or spooked into believing the container has this really bad thing inside. Rather, the viewer is made to believe whatever is inside has caused quite a stir, commotion, and panic, but the whole aspect of it is more mysterious, and the films as it goes along, makes you want to know more and more what was inside. The movie also avoids going the zombie movie route.
With people infected with any virus stalking around, and biting and eating people. Granted, those kinds of films work sometimes, but these days that plot arc is tired and stale. Especially in indie horror circles. The performances in this film are also very strong as well. And that's the other half of an almost perfect sphere. The actress who plays the daughter in the film, and the actress who plays the Mother in the film, both give great performances. And very strong and emotional ones as well. The movie focuses heavily on the aspect of loss, and how a mother and daughter crisis, can pale in comparison to an ever bigger crisis.
And how chaos can strike just like that, and tear two people who haven't even gotten a chance to reconcile their differences, apart. The film balances out it's horror and claustrophobic elements nicely with a heavy blend of drama and good character development. And that's what sets it apart from being just another forgettable indie horror picture about some escaped experiment running amok in a town, and killing off it's residents. As a matter of fact, this movie manages to be horror without resorting to the typical aspects of it.
Yes it has blood and gore, and non-human elements, but it also manages to capture the emotional and dramatic elements of a horrific situation, and blend them perfectly together with a lot of "what if?", and "high terror" scenarios, where a day that starts off with a heated argument, between Mother and daughter, soon turns into a scary afternoon, and a terrifying evening and night. This allows the movie to finish up with a high-suspense finale, but also exposes the film to it's one weak point.
Which is it's ending feels rushed and kind of abrupt. As if you're on a rollercoaster, and just as the car reaches the big dip, it stops, and everyone is then rolled back into the launching pad, and told to exit the ride. "Salvage" however, despite it's "cut-you-off-at-the-knees" ending, does manage to successfully fulfill enough potential to be an interesting and different indie horror viewing experience.
Positives:Good performances by the two female leads, a decent story, and a well-crafted script.
Negatives:The ending feels rushed and abrupt.
Overall:Three out of four stars.
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