The Movie:

I'm a horror film fan, first and foremost. I've watched a lot of scary flicks over the course of my lifetime, and I've reviewed many of them during my years, including my tenure here at DVD Talk. This website has sent me dozens of low budget, direct-to-video fright films to look at over the last few years. Often, they're frankly pretty bad; however, sometimes a title comes along that's a diamond in a rough. It might be a low-budget work that does something interesting and different, like The Chair - or a little-seen gem from another country, like the Belgian Artifacts. Films like these can make slogging through the likes of Uli Lommel's dreadful Dungeon Girl almost worth it.

Almost.

In any case, out of all these genre flicks, I can honestly say that nothing has surprised me as a DVD Talk reviewer more - in a positive way - than the 2009 British horror romp Salvage, recently released Stateside via Revolver Entertainment. This lean 76-minute exercise in claustrophic terror has just about everything I wish more low budget horror would have: a strong script, good direction, genuine characters played by solid actors, and a few well-designed surprises. Add to this a DVD package including some generous extras (more on these in a little bit), and you've got a title I'll be recommending to horror fans for some time to come.

Salvage begins on Christmas Eve morning in England. A father is driving his daughter to her biological mother's house, much to her reluctance, for the holiday. The girl, Jodie (Linzey Cocker) is a few hours early in arriving. Unfortunately, her mother is unaware that Jodie is due so early, as she is entertaining a one-night-stand as a guest. Jodie walks in on the couple who are . . . enthusiastically preoccupied . . . and in disgust storms out and goes to a neighbor's house. The mother, Beth (played brilliantly by Neve McIntosh) dresses then chases after her, leaving her frustrated lover Kieran (also played well by Shaun Dooley) aggravated. Beth makes a scene at the neighbor's, but the family melodrama is interrupted by armed military soldiers who suddenly swarm into the community, guns drawn, and shoot one of the citizens. Quarantining everyone in their homes, Beth and Kieran are left to their own devices to figure out what is going on, as phone reception is blocked and the televisions soon are cut as well.

To say anymore would spoil the mystery of this story, and I really don't want to do that with a movie of a caliber like this. Salvage is best seen without a whole lot of foreknowledge, much like the fantastically well-made shocker The Descent from a few years back. In fact, I think even the DVD cover spoils a bit too much. Needless to say, the goings-on after the opening 15 minutes described above are dark indeed. And much like the protagonist in The Descent, Beth is put through the proverbial wringer over the course of the story in her quest to be reunited with her estranged daughter.

I have a lot of praise for this little film. Director Lawrence Gough has a nice eye, and a number of shots are well-composed and well-timed. Neve McIntosh and the rest of the cast are uniformly solid. It helps that their characters are genuine and believable. This is a nicely-written script from Colin O'Donnell, and I felt like I was watching "real" characters responding to a "real" nasty life-and-death situation. Given its relatively short running time, O'Donnell writes dialogue that cuts to the chase yet fully rounds out his main characters. It all leads to a climax that is both shocking and emotionally true.

And just so I don't discourage the gore hounds, once this film gets going, there's quite a few blood-soaked shocks that are effective. The characters may be adult and sophisticated, but Salvage balances them with some hard-R scares. In this sense, it's perhaps best compared to a film like the great 28 Days Later. It also effectively utilizes its holiday setting to counterpoint the established aura of dread without emphasizing Christmas itself; in other words, in terms of mood, it's more akin to the recent Ghost House Underground shocker The Children, also set during the holidays, than it is to the seminal 1970's slasher film Black Christmas.

I really don't want to say much more - This is a film that's best discovered on your own. I don't hesitate in highly recommending this British import to horror film fans Stateside.

The DVD

Video:

Revolver Entertainment provides a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation of Salvage. The image gets a bit grainy at times, and some artifacts are present - but nothing that really took away from the viewing of the movie. All in all, it's a fairly solid visual presentation.

Sound:

Two audio tracks are available on this disc: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and 2.0 Stereo. Both are English language mixes. The 5.1 Surround Sound appears to be the default and the option I listened to. It's a very aggressive mix, and appropriate for the horror mayhem that occurs. The electronica at the start of the film was perhaps a bit too aggressively loud, but it was the only occurrence throughout.

Neither subtitle nor foreign language options are available.

Extras:

Kudos to Revolver Entertainment for loading their release of Salvage with some generous extras. First and foremost is a feature-length commentary track with the participation of director Lawrence Gough, actor Shaun Dooley, writer Colin O'Donnell, and producer Alan Pattison. A random sampling suggests it is straightforward and informative.

Cast and Crew Interviews (44:33), as you might divine from the running length, is much more in-depth than the usual brief extras with soundbyte comments from the filmmakers. Here, title cards read off specific questions followed by various cast and crew providing detailed answers to them. Lead actress Neve McIntosh kicks things off with over 7 minutes of comments just on her own. Great stuff, if you're interested in the film itself.

Behind the Scenes (10:07), finally, is less developed and insightful, though it does provide some on-location footage.

Final Thoughts:

Salvage, a 2009 low-budget British import arriving to DVD Stateside thanks to Revolver Entertainment, is one of the best horror films I've seen since The Descent. And like that movie, Salvage is all the better when you don't know its secrets going in. Regardless, it has a good premise well-executed by its writer and director, and combined with strong acting, especially by lead Neve McIntosh, this is a horror film the resonates both thoughtfully and viscerally. Highly, highly recommended to horror film buffs.

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