Scalps (1983)

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

I think I've got Fred Olen Ray's schtick down now. After watching however so many of his movies, I think this is his approach: to take a completely trite excuse for a story that anyone who has ever seen a horror movie could recite in their sleep and then suck it of any of the life and possibility of interest it ever could have had. His movies are usually short, barely clocking in at over an hour, and that entire first hour will be "characters" wandering around doing absolutely nothing of interest and certainly nothing that will invest them with a personality, or give you any reason whatsoever to care about them at all. After he has lulled you to sleep better than your grandmother could when you were six months old, he'll start deploying with the actual "horror" movie stuff, ie. gore, but as I said, you'll be asleep or perhaps even comatose by this point.In the first hour of a Fred Olen Ray movie, he carefully constructs as many barriers between you and caring about his movie as he can. In the last ten or fifteen minutes, he throws the things you probably watched the movie hoping to see at you, ie. the blood and guts, but you probably gave up at barrier 3 or 4 and have long since stopped paying attention to the movie and started doing something else."Scalps" has a few extra barriers between you and it, aside from its most sturdy, ie. the tedium of it. These are the picture quality and the sound. The movie looks like it was filmed through mud. You can barely make out what you are seeing, anyway, so even if it wasn't boring and pointless, you wouldn't be able to see it.The sound was obviously all recorded in post production, making it stick out like a sore thumb and sound entirely unnatural and distracting throughout the entire movie. It makes you want to watch the characters lips at the beginning at least, knowing it's probably totally out of sync, but then you realise that you can't really see their lips - remember? The movie was filmed through mud.The plot is something to do with college students (I guess) going to stay in an Indian burial ground. They wander around doing nothing and saying nothing of interest for an hour until they are killed in a variety of admittedly gruesome ways. One is clubbed from behind by something that looks like a topless Dame Edna Everidge. In the movie's most noteworthy scene of violence, a woman is, indeed, actually scalped, so at least there was a reason for the title other than the racist exploitation of Native American myths the movie engages in.The scalping scene may not look all that realistic, but it must have cost some actual money. If they could afford to do that, why couldn't they have come up with a plot for this mess, a boom mic, and a camera lens that wasn't covered in sludge?

A group of college archaeologist students travel into the California desert to dig up Native American artifacts. Despite the warnings of town drunk Billy Ironwing, the group trespasses into a burial ground and accidentally unleashes the spirit of Indian shaman Black Claw, who possesses one of them and begins killing. I've had this Fred Olen Ray horror flick for over a decade, but never watched it until last night. It is certainly limited, but good fun thanks to some gory special effects (including a scalping that rivals MANIAC) and some goofy stuff (why is the shaman shown wearing jeans in the early bits). Fred certainly got better technically over time, but this still proves to be better than the stuff he is cranking out now (those horrible BIKINI T&A movies). The final credit promises a SCALPS II: THE RETURN OF D.J., but we never got it. C'mon, Fred, don't let us down! We need that before you stop making films.

I had always heard about Scalps as people say it's Fred Olen Ray's best horror flick. Well if this is his best, I'd hate to see the rest! The film starts off a little dull, but starts to get better as the group make their way into the mountains. The atmosphere is quite creepy in a low-budget kind of way and reminded me slightly of The Evil Dead, plus the location is similar to The Hills Have Eyes. I love the shot of the rotting skeleton when the car goes past, but no one sees it.Once they have set up camp, the group hear mysterious drumming, see strange faces in campfires, and so on. There are some hilarious lines such as "I broke a fingernail!", and also when the girl says that the drumming is coming from hell. The scalping scene is probably the highlight of the film, and is brilliantly done - it really surprised me. When the girls throat is cut, she writhes around in agony and it looks realistic. Also the part where he removes her scalp is really cool. There's another good gore scene when a mans head is chopped off, but it's not quite as impressive.Overall, Scalps is worth a watch if you can tolerate low budget horror. It's nothing amazing, but does have a low budget charm about it.

Gritty, low-budget horror film from Fred Olen Ray. A group of teens on an archaeological dig disrupt the angry ghost of an Indian. One member is possessed, and by the end of the film, the cast is pretty much dead. The first half takes a while going nowhere, but a certain feeling of dread hangs over each shot of the film, and helps things move along a little bit smoother, especially when nothing is really happening. The murders come quick and are quite bloody, something this movie is known for. The special effects rank as pretty good, to just plain cheesy. The acting is passable and the characters are not a pain to watch. The film was shot on a pretty creepy piece of land, and it keeps the story moving. The movie is pretty flawed though. Scenes are shown out of order, creating confusion to a basically simple story. Some of the action takes place in complete darkness, which is just annoying. The video print I saw many many years ago was basically unwatchable at times. The DVD release is cleaned up but still pretty bad in spots. For the basic horror fan, this is fine for a view. Two And A Half Stars.