Salvage (2009)

Creature features is something you never can get enough of. There arent as many being made these day, mainly because there hasnt been a real Aliensequel for some time but from time to time one or two pops up from nowhere. Salvage is a fine example of one that takes its obviously low budget and pours on loads of suspense, the nailbiting kind.

Salvage starts with a young girl being driven by her father to a small town somewhere in England to spend Christmas with her estranged mother, very unwillingly so. While driving they hear a report on the radio about a shipping container that has landed on the shore nearby but they take no notice of it. The girl is dropped off, earlier than expected, to find her mother in the bed fucking some stranger, causing her to run to the neighbour across the road. Mom comes after to try to speak to her daughter but isnt let inside, coz she is a baaaad mom. All of a sudden, when she is standing outside her neighbours house thinking of what to do, she is struck to the ground by a soldier telling her to remain on the ground. All of a sudden another neighbour comes out of his house, covered in blood wielding a hatcher and is quickly put to death. Everyone is told to go back to their houses, to lock their doors and to let no one in. At first they do as they are told but when they (Mom and her lover) hear noises from the attic, they realize that something else is going on. Something is out there and it seems to have something to do with that mysterious container.

The best thing about Salvage is the way it keeps the suspense tight and rolling all throughout. There are actually very few creatureshots, for budget reasons I suppose, but thats all the better for the plot. Neve McIntosh and Shaun Dooley provide good acting and the only negative thing about the movie is that is is too short! 76 minutes including end credits is a bit too short for a movie that could have been at least 20 mins longer. The plot is also simple in the extreme, the cause of all this is basically told with two sentences by a character, but it still works fine. This is a creature feature that is more interested in telling a story and not showing off a halfdecent cgicreation, and one of the best I have seen in quite some time. Recommended.

Though I suppose that I could be blinded by Neve McIntoshs wonderful nudescenes and the movie is crap. Naw, but they did raise the rating a bit.