''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 A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

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 Forrest James Ackerman (November 24, 1916 – December 4, 2008) was an American magazine editor; science fiction authors, science fiction writer and literary agent; a founder of science fiction fandom; a leading expert on science fiction, horror ...

as Professor Trentwood

Production

Ray says the idea for the film was suggested to him by a friend, Donald G Jackson. "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 ...

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 ''Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers'' (also known as simply ''Hollywood Hookers'' in the United Kingdom) is a 1988 American black comedy slasher film directed by Fred Olen Ray, and starring Gunnar Hansen, Linnea Quigley, Jay Richardson and Michelle Bau ...

''. "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.

References

External links

*
Review of film
at Hysteria Lives Films directed by Fred Olen Ray 1983 horror films 1983 films 1980s horror thriller films 1983 independent films 1980s mystery films 1980s teen horror films American teen horror films 1980s English-language films American supernatural horror films American slasher films 1980s slasher films American films about revenge 1980s ghost films Native American cemeteries in popular culture Supernatural slasher films Redsploitation American ghost films American splatter films 21st Century Film Corporation films American exploitation films 1980s American films {{1980s-horror-film-stub