''Scalps'' is a 1983 American
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...
directed by
Fred Olen Ray
Fred Olen Ray (born September 10, 1954) is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter of more than 200 low-to-medium-budget feature films in many genres, including Horror film, horror, science fiction, action film, action/adventure f ...
that concerns a
vengeful Native American spirit.
Plot
Six college
archeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
students work on a dig in the California desert, despite the warnings of a professor and an elderly Native American. When the group digs around in an
Indian burial ground
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
for artifacts, they unleash the evil spirit of Black Claw. The entity possesses one of the group and begins slaughtering them one by one.
Cast
*Jo-Ann Robinson as D.J.
*Richard Hench as Randy/Black Claw
*Roger Maycock as Kershaw Ellerbe
*Frank McDonald as Ben Murphy
*Carol Sue Flockhart as Louise Landon
*Barbara Magnusson as Ellen Corman
*
Kirk Alyn
Kirk Alyn (born John Feggo Jr.; October 8, 1910 – March 14, 1999) was an American actor, best known for being the first actor to play the DC Comics character Superman in live-action for the 1948 movie serial ''Superman'' and its 1950 sequel ''At ...
as Professor Machen
*
Carroll Borland
Carroll Borland (February 25, 1914 – February 3, 1994) better known by the stage-spelling Carol Borland, was an American professor, writer, and actress. She is best known for having portrayed Luna, the daughter of Bela Lugosi's character, C ...
as Dr. Sharon Reynolds
*Cynthia Hartline as Ann
*
Forrest J Ackerman as Professor Trentwood
Production
Ray says the idea for the film was suggested to him by a friend,
Donald G. Jackson
Donald G. Jackson (April 24, 1943 – October 20, 2003) was an American filmmaker.
Biography
Born in Tremont, Mississippi, Jackson grew up in Adrian, Michigan. As an adult he struggled to become a filmmaker for many years while working at an ...
. "It was meant to be the cheapest film possible," said Ray. "I used to describe it as ''6 Kids, a Station Wagon and a Tent'' and it pretty much was."
Release
The film was re-edited by the distributor. Ray later recalled:
The cut we turned in was the one we wanted. Unfortunately being pretty green about that end of the business we also gave them, the distributor, the trims and outs and the result was their "improved" version. The Lion head was only meant to be seen for one or two seconds, but we shot a lot of it in order to have footage to choose from. It was a big mistake giving 21st Century the leftovers, but I don't think anyone would have guessed what was going to happen with it. They also cut in some shots of the killer Indian before he actually appeared in the story. It was maddening.
The film was given a
limited release
__FORCETOC__
Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
theatrically in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
by
21st Century Film Corporation
21st Century Film Corporation Inc. was a theatrical distribution company formed sometime in the 1970s as a production company and distributor. Menahem Golan served as CEO of the company from 1989 to the company's bankruptcy.
History
The compan ...
beginning in December 1983.
The film was released in the U.S. on a
double feature
The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown.
Opera use
Opera ho ...
video format by Continental Video alongside another feature - ''
The Slayer''. It was cut by five minutes or so, in order to make room for the second feature, but all the gruesome scenes and violence are intact.
The film was released on
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
by Olen Ray's
Retromedia Entertainment in 2004.
This release is currently
out of print
__NOTOC__
An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book ...
.
Ray says the film mentioned at the end, ''Scalps 2: The Return of D.J.'' was a joke, one he used on ''Phantom Empire'' and ''
Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers''. "I used to promise sequels where I never intended to do them." He says, though, that a fan once sent him a fan-made sequel.
The film was loosely remade in 2004 as ''Blood Desert'' by Stegath Dorr.
88 films released the film on bluray
References
External links
*
Review of filmat Hysteria Lives
{{Fred Olen Ray
1983 films
1983 horror films
1983 independent films
1980s American films
1980s horror thriller films
1980s English-language films
1980s ghost films
1980s mystery films
1980s teen horror films
1980s slasher films
21st Century Film Corporation films
American exploitation films
American films about revenge
American ghost films
American slasher films
American supernatural horror films
American teen horror films
Films about archaeology
Films about Native American cemeteries
Films directed by Fred Olen Ray
Redsploitation
Supernatural slasher films
Films about spirit possession