Salvage Review

9/10

As you have all figured out by now, I really like the old horror movies.  When I get into newer ones, a lot of the time, they are independent films.  The reason for this is that they often have a much more authentic feel, and don't worry about following the stupid mainstream formulas of Hollywood.  This 2006 flick is an example of this category, and it was actually featured at the Sundance Film Festival of that year.  

The movie starts off very well with a menacing introduction. We meet a teenage girl named Claire, and she is waiting for her boyfriend to pick her up from work.  Soon after, the boy Jimmy's truck comes by, but he isn't driving it.  A man named Duke proceeds to tell her that he is Jimmy's friend.  Duke takes her home, and then breaks into the house and kills her.  I was very engrossed by this scene, because it was very quick and unexpected, and the killing was quite brutal. 

It is later seen that this whole occurrence was only a dream, and Claire wakes up at work.  She then leaves, and Jimmy is there to pick her up.  She proceeds to tell him about the dream, and he basically makes a joke out of it. Regardless of this, Claire is still scared as can be, and she keeps on having visions of the psycho.  I really find this interesting, because instead of just flashbacks, they show what happens after the killing, and how Duke is on the run. I have never seen anything like this before, and it is one of the coolest plot ideas ever. 

As the movie goes on, more details of this man are given, and we actually see more encounters between him and Claire. In her mind and ours, this can't be real, yet it really does look like it. I love how the movie plays games with the mind like this, because the many twists in plot keep you going, and it makes it impossible to tell reality from imagination. 

Another thing that really moves this film along is the cast.  While no one gives an Oscar worthy performance, the characters are very realistic, and they make me feel the emotions they're experiencing. Lauren Lewis really shines in the lead role of Claire, because she has such a great way of expressing the terror that she is going through, and she really convinces us of how crazy she is going.  She is also a very likable girl, and makes us have a lot of sympathy for her. Chris Ferry is absolutely terrifying in the role of Duke, because he has such a great way of masking his insanity with a very nice guy personality.  Then when he begins to be violent, you see such an evil and brutal quality in his persona that it's crazy.  Cody Darbe was pleasant enough in the role of Jimmy, and while he doesn't give a whole lot of depth to his acting, I don't see that as bad, because he really didn't need it. 

The violence portrayed in this movie is sick, gory, and very sadistic.  Even though there isn't that many scenes of attacks, the ones that do happen are so memorable that a larger number would've been unnecessary.  The actual murder that took place in Claire's dream was extremely morbid, and it was one of the most painful scenes I have ever had to watch. It was so slow, and the blood curdling nature of it made it all the worse. I also really loved the fact that the gore was not cgi, because it made things feel so much more realistic for me. 

The ending had me very shocked, because the plot twist had grown even more, and just when you think you have the movie figured out, it slaps you in the face with something else before the credits roll. I absolutely loved this, because it kept the surprise alive the whole time.

I really really enjoyed this movie. It was so innovative, and it had me on the edge of my seat the entire time.  I would be nervy enough to call it the "Inception" of the horror genre, because it had me questioning the reality of what was happening every second.  I recommend this movie to any fans of modern horror, because it was certainly one of the best that I have watched in a very long time.