I wasn't entirely sure if Salvation was a good fit for this blog, but thought I would take a chance on it. Initial signs were good, but it became clear that this is more of a drama with thriller elements to it than anything more. Directed by Mackenzie Munro and written by Alex Runnels, this had a host of recognisable names among the cast, but it never quite headed in the direction I was hoping for. The screener of Salvation I watched for review wasn't the final version, it had some lines of dialogue, some music, and some visual effects missing, I won't include these missing elements in any criticism I might make about the movie.
Angela (Ashley Moore - Festival of the Living Dead, I Know What You Did Last Summer TV series) is a troubled teen who has spent her life going in and out of foster homes. After spending some time in juvenile detention, her caring case worker, Nick (Theo Rossi - Army of the Dead, Ghosts of War, Luke Cage TV series) is able to give her one last chance, by arranging for her to live out in the country with a religious family. Hesitant at first, over the weeks that follow Angela comes to start to really care about her new family, not even minding the bizarre snake worshipping religious sect they are members of. After witnessing the hidden dark side of the pastor (Thomas Jane - 1922, Before I wake), Angela must struggle with her conscience over whether to keep quiet and get to stay with her new family, or come clean over what she witnessed and potentially get taken away.
With the snake worshipping cult in the mix I automatically assumed that Angela would slowly discover the dark side of the religion, eventually fighting for her life. I had in the back of my mind that it would turn out the cult were sacrificing foster children to the snakes they worship. This very much was not the case at all, while there are some strange and trippy montage sequences of the church group, the horror is more grounded and realistic. It was refreshing that the friendlier characters did in fact turn out to be what they appeared to be, in particular the husband and wife (Skeet Ulrich - Scream and Claire Forlani - Mystery Men, Police Academy: Mission to Moscow) were lovely characters. It was clear not long into the movie about the pastor's 'demons', with him shown to be constantly wrestling with a gun while looking miserable. Other key characters include the pastor's weaselly son Luke (Devon Bostick - Survival of the Dead, Land of the Dead) and the family's other foster daughter, Carolyn (Samantha Gordon). All these characters had their roles to play, and there wasn't a bad actor among them,.
For the majority of the ninety minute film this was more of a drama, with only the third act really ramping up the tension and thrills. Those moments were there to serve a purpose, with the film more about Angela's transition into a more sinless person, her experiences, however bad they were, transform her into a more caring and well rounded character. There wasn't much call for special effects, sure the ones that were potentially present might not have actually been added in the version I watched, but this was more a drama than anything needing the inclusion of blood, gore, and horror.
Salvation was decent enough despite not being what I really wanted. I liked the morose protagonist, and I liked the growing relationships with the characters she meets. I thought that the antagonist could have had more done with him, as he doesn't really feature all that much despite being an integral person. Not the most exciting movie out there, but Salvation was still a decent enough watch.
SCORE:
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