Salvage

Is there really any room for yet another British apocalyptic frightfest to grace our screens with typical working class grit winning out over government led militia? Well, in Salvage's case there is at least a suggestion that this genre-bending quickie can hold its own with the bigger budgeted boys and it certainly has a unique take on an interesting B-movie premise.

A teenager from a broken family, Jodie is being driven to see her estranged mother on Christmas Eve when armed military personnel invade her cul-de-sac and shoot one of the neighbours dead.

Having earlier caught her mother inflagrante with a stranger, Jodie flips out and crosses the street to a friend’s house and so her mother Beth is torn between parental concern and survival as one of the other neighbours breaks in and seems to be in a zombified state. The key to the issue seems to lie with a washed up container that (similar to the Branscombe wreck in 2007) becomes a focal point for the locals to give in to their baser instincts and scavenge the wreckage with disastrous results.

The film is being released on a multiple format same day release, a strategy which has yet to fully capture the imagination of the public and in a way degrades the film since it looks like a straight-to-DVD also-ran from the off. The performances and general tone are better than the similarly staggered Mum & Dad, which attempted an identical ploy to little avail and shared the same sense of something being severely rotten just under the surface of suburban normalcy.

The performances are relatively strong given the budgetary constraints, with Neve McIntosh excelling as the put upon mother and the film affords some effective dramatic scenes amidst the blood spattered carnage. Whilst the ending heavily telegraphs whose going to buy the farm and in which order, there are some recommended moments along the way.



Released in cinemas, on DVD, iTunes and Sky Box Office on 19th March 2010 by Revolver Entertainment.

Written by Simon Cole.