Salvage (2009)

Salvage is set in Liverpool in England & starts on Christmas Eve as the fourteen year old Jodie (Linzey Cocker) is dropped off at her mother Beth's (Neve McIntosh) place in a peaceful little cul-de-sac to spend Chritmas there with her. However after a big argument Jodie storms out & disappears insides a neighbors house, Beth is annoyed & things get even worse when fully armed special ops from the army surround the close & cut it off, they prevent any communications from getting in or out & warn the residents to stay inside or risk being shot. Scared & confused Beth just wants to get to her daughter Jodie but soon realises that something big is going on, something that the special ops will do anything to keep quiet...This British production was directed by Lawrence Gough & was produced to celebrate Liverpool's title as EU City of Culture in 2008 which just sounds bizarre to me, anyway what we have here is a horror thriller that tries to pile on the tension & suspense but never ends up being anything particularly special. The script starts off like a typical thriller as everyone thinks terrorists are on the loose & the events seen are very vague with no explanation behind them other than guesswork from the character's but then it shifts into monster film mode for the final twenty minutes or so. Salvage has quite a few similarities with Aliens (1986) actually, the base under siege setting, the mother daughter relationship that drives the character's & the presence of a slimy monster who wants to kill everyone as well as the special ops army unit sent there to kill it. The first hour or so is fairly forgettable actually, I mean the script does an effective enough job of building tension & suspicion & keeping you guessing but it never really goes anywhere & I personally didn't like the character's or the setting that much which obviously didn't help. There are a few problems with the script, it's never explained why these heavily armed special ops unit couldn't kill one single mutant monster when a badly injured woman with a poker can or why Sharma was covered in blood when threatening the army unit with that meat cleaver & I just felt there wasn't enough explanation behind what was going on. The script manages to capture the character's quite well & they end up feeling like proper people & the downbeat ending (taken from The Night of the Living Dead (1968)) may not satisfy everyone. The script was partly inspired by an actual real life incident when the container ship MSC Napoli was beached on Branscombe Beach in Devon during 2007 & local residents flocked to the scene to steal whatever they could find! I remember it being widely reported back then in the media although having said that the actual container on the beach has little relevance in Salvage & doesn't play a great part in proceedings.Salvage was filmed on the disused sets from the old soap opera Brookside (1982-2003) which finished a few years ago but is still well remembered over here. The setting was instantly recognisable even though much of the film takes place in a house which to be honest could have been anywhere. There's a bit of gore but not too much, there's a slashed throat & some blood splatter but not much else. The monster looks alright even if it's only seen very briefly. The film is well made with quite frantic camera movement when needed & there are a couple of nice jump scenes here especially the first time you see the monster as someone unexpectedly shines a torch in it's face.Filmed on Merseyside in Liverpool here in the UK this obviously had a low budget but it doesn't really show expect for the intimacy & claustrophobic nature which both work in the films favour to be honest. The acting is good, there aren't many people in it but the performances are good.Salvage is a watchable British horror thriller that tries to keep you guessing & tries to crank up the tension but with little in the way of a pay-off expect standard monster film clichés it perhaps doesn't make the most of the careful build-up. Not a bad film I suppose but I wouldn't call it a great one either, worth a watch but don't expect a classic.

I have to disagree with some other reviewers about the low-budget look of this film. In my opinion, the budget was more than adequate for the story and I gave the film at least one additional star because they did so well on a small budget. I think it looks great.On the other hand, I had some issues with certain aspects of the finished film. One of the most frustrating is that the director, in an attempt to capture maximum realism, often permits the dialogue to drop to very low levels or has the actors speak the lines in a frenzied/excited state. I'm a Yank and, between the sound levels and the accents (to me), it can be difficult for me to hear and understand some of the best and most critical dialogue. Since the DVD version has no subtitles, I had to stop and replay scenes several times to appreciate what was being said. And replaying scenes two or three times is not a good way to get the feel of a movie.Every single plot element in this film has been seen before, too. But I don't think that this is necessarily fatal, since the same thing can be said about virtually every other horror film.Another problem I had with the film was the behavior and composition of the military force addressing the "problem." I've worked a lot with the military and with law enforcement and I am constantly amazed at how often screenwriters write in scenes in which soldiers or officers operate independently. You know...one soldier is sent here to check a house, a single detective is sent to arrest someone dangerous, and so forth. I can tell you with certainty that one thing the military and law enforcement do NOT do is send single people here and there, especially with nobody overlooking the situation or backing them up. Overwhelming force is the rule, especially when the operation is not intended to be covert, as is the case in this movie. (Oh, it IS intended to be covert? Well then, why are the soldiers going door to door giving instructions to the residents? And why are they engaging in free-fire with unsuppressed weapons in the middle of a town?) I also believe that the director showed the "creature" too often. In fact, this would have been a lot better film if they hadn't shown it at all. There still would have been lots of gore and action, but it would have maintained the mystery.So, what's the final verdict? Pretty good acting, good script (in general), not too long, lots of action, and a bit of mystery. I say it's worth your while.

I agree with who thinks this movie is very good done. The lack of money is pretty obvious in the poor locations and effects, but the acting of the two key players is great, though they are not well known. And the rhythm, after the first 15 minutes, get fast and claustrophobic.The atmosphere and the situation basically is deeply disturbing, just from the beginning, when it occurs a the transition in perspective of the film, through the change of character after the first few scenes (very good and original idea).From a certain moment, I kept jumping on the armchair every ten seconds for the scares I got. Even if I don't understand English at 100% (for ex. I didn't get the quick but vital explanation of the whole thing, given by the soldier, because he was talking too convulsively), nevertheless I enjoyed this movie very much.

This is one of the worst films I have ever seen. I can't remember the last time I watched a film as bad as this. I reckon I could make a better film with my mobile phone if I was given the set of Brookside for the day and a few bottles of ketchup. Its as about as scary and shocking as lady and the tramp, so if you are a big horror fan I would give this one a miss. The acting is awful to. I had never heard of this film before it came on sky box office and after watching it I realised why. When you sit there watching a horror film and laugh out loud, somethings definitely not right, either with the film or yourself and as far as I'm aware I'm all gravy.