Salvage

Released by: Revolver Entertainment
Released on: 3/22/2010
Director: Lawrence Gough
Cast: Shahid Ahmed, Dean Andrews, Sufian Ashraf, Ben Batt, Neve Macintosh
Year: 2009
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The Movie:

Salvage is set in a small coastal town in England and it follows a young woman named Jodie (Linzey Cocker) whose father has dropped her off at her mother's place for Christmas vacation. When Jodie shows up, her mother Beth (Neve McIntosh), is in bed with a guy named Kieran (Shaun Dooley), and it's obvious from Jodie's reaction that she is not happy to be here. She takes off to go find her friend's house, hoping to crash there instead of stay with her mother, but Beth chases after her. As they're running down the street, they see one of the neighbors come running out of his house doused in blood, screaming at the top of his lungs… and then the soldiers show up.

Everyone is told to get back inside their homes and we soon learn that the army is there to contain a problem that literally washed ashore in a giant shipping container that landed on the beach not far from town. With the army doing their thing, the townsfolk begin to panic, understandably so, and those contained to their homes begin to speculate as to what could really be happening outside. Beth decides that she's going to get Jodie back regardless, and they soon find themselves up against a horrible threat that nobody anticipated.

Owing a fair bit to Ridley Scott's Alien, Lawrence Gough's Salvage is a decent take on the monster run amok premise, substituting the isolations of deep space for the confines of a small coastal town. The creature effects aren't going to impress anyone, but Gough is savvy enough to make sure that his beasties mostly stay confined to the shadows, letting our imaginations do the work that the effects team couldn't. While this isn't a new tactic, here it is at least an effective one. What's not left to the imagination is the carnage that the mysterious new arrivals in town leave in their wake. Salvage is a pretty gory film, but it never goes so far as to become ridiculous in that regard.

The film is interesting on a sociopolitical level as well, as it does a good job of playing off of the western world's fear of terrorism. As soon as the military comes into town, much of the populace assumes that some sort of terrorist attack is the reason and, understandably, they start to speculate. Of course, the reality of the situation is that this is entirely not the case at all, but it does make for some interesting characterizations and actually goes a ways towards making the set up just a bit more believable than it would have been otherwise.

The film isn't perfect. The budgetary constraints are evident at times and it feels a little familiar in spots, but it is well acted (Neve McIntosh in particularly is very believable here) and features some interesting, well written characters. If the premise isn't going to win any points for originality, the film is at least entertaining and at times surprisingly tense.

Video/Audio/Extras:

PLEASE NOTE: THIS REVIEW IS BASED OFF OF A TEST DISC THAT MAY OR MAY NOT REPRESENT FINISHED, RETAIL PRODUCT.

Salvage looks about as good as it should in this 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen presentation from Revolver Entertainment. The image is often times rendered in cool colors, so there are lots of blues and grays on screen which doesn't always lend itself to the most amazing color reproduction but you definitely get the feeling that this is the way that the film is supposed to look. There aren't any problems with heavy print damage though some minor compression artifacts can be spotted in a few of the darker scenes. All in all, the movie looks pretty good here.

The English language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound track on the DVD is a good one, with some nice atmospherics in the rear channels that heighten tensions nicely. Dialogue is clean, clear and easy to follow and there are no problems with hiss or distortion to note. No alternate language dubs or subtitle options are provided.

First up is a commentary track from Director/Co-writer Lawrence Gough, Actor Shaun Dooley, Co-writer Colin O'Donnell, and Associate Producer Alan Pattison. This is a pretty solid track that talks about how this project got off the ground by starting out as a short film (why it wasn't included here is a mystery, it would have been nice to see it) before turning into the feature length production seen on this DVD. They cover the usual subjects - casting, locations, set work and effects - and the discussion is lively and interesting throughout.

From there, cruise though the selection of interviews with Gough, Dooley, Actresses Neve McIntosh and Linzey Cocker, Producer Julie Lau, Executive Producer Lisa Marie Russo, and the film's two Production Designers, Colin Taylor and Malcolm Smith. The interviews cover some of the same ground as the commentary but the participants who pop up here who weren't in that track offer up some interesting information and it's nice to see the Production Designers chime in on their work here.

Rounding out the extras is a ten minute behind the scenes segment that features some fly on the wall footage of a few scenes being blocked and shot alongside bits showing the cast and crew relaxing and goofing around on set. It's moderately amusing but not quite as informative as the interviews and commentary were. Menus and chapter selection are also included on the disc.

The Final Word:

Salvage turned out to be a nice surprise. It's a well made, if modestly budgeted, feature that packs in some nice tension, some interesting ideas, and a few fun scares alongside some strong performances and decent effects work. If the test disc is anything to go off of, Revolver's DVD looks and sounds pretty decent and contains a nice selection of extra features as well.