Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

udar55 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.

Scarecrow-88 Director Fred Olen Ray has admitted that his movie, Scalps, concerning an evil Indian warrior spirit, Black Claw, who takes over the body of hunky Richard Hench who, in turn, begins murdering his fellow college classmates/friends in gruesome ways after excavating the ancient artifacts from a burial ground near a sacred area called the Black trees, was badly tampered with by rude investors("The guys from New York")making the entire experience an incomprehensible, incoherent mess. Ray, through great trouble, has tried to assemble a film in it's entirety using what materials were present, but Scalps(..sent to numerous foreign distributors who themselves edited footage out and into Scalps), he admits, is still an improper version of what he set out to accomplish. I thought the film itself was rather dismal, but his audio commentary was both fascinating and enlightening as he thoroughly explained the painstaking process he went through attempting to bring this film back to it's complete form. The photography(..Ray proclaims that he at least worked with 7 or 8 DP's)is often really ugly and the cast doesn't help the director out. From start to finish, the film is a trial to sit through. The pacing drags at a snail's pace, and the dialogue can make your ears bleed, but perhaps the writing is hampered by those who say the words. The Black Claw spirit carries the facial features of a grotesque witch you might find in a Grimm Fairy Tale storybook. The gore often delivers the goods, specifically the scalping scene and slit throat which gushes blood. There's also an impressive oozing bullet wound to the forehead as well. There's an unpleasant rape scene where Richard Hench's possessed Randy throws his girlfriend down, ripping her shirt and bra, while forcing penetration as she cries out in horror. Ray mentions in the audio commentary that he didn't want to create such a scene but wanted to distribute this film into theaters and that "the guys in New York" demanded nudity during the rape. I thought Forrest J Ackerman's cameo, plugging his MOnsters mag, was shameless and inappropriate(..and it was clear that Olen Ray doesn't exactly condone it in retrospect). Carroll Borland(..the *vampire* protégé of Lugosi's Count in Browning's MARK OF THE VAMPIRE)has a minor scene as a college dean furious with anthropology professor(..played by former Superman Kirk Alyn)for breaking certain rules regarding artifacts he possibly confiscated illegally. My favorite scenes in the film feature skeletal remains left burning in the sun as either a rat or desert tarantula crawl about over it. The history behind this film is far better than the product presented, but Scalps is a definite example of what can happen when a directors work is butchered by others. The beheading is rather limply presented. The music alternately works and/or is tiresome.

Steve Van Kooten Contains a bit of skin, a lil' gore. A group of spunky college kids go out into the middle of the desert to do research (or somethin')and end up stomping into some forbidden ground that a Native American spirit calls home. Much killing and long scenes of looking scared ensue. - - - Fred Olen Ray's attempt at a slasher is essentially a reworking of "Death Curse of Tartu" and has a trouble history in its releases over the years. There are some wacky scenes that make up for the various dreary moments, especially the crazy lion man, some goofy gore, and the most slipshod superimposing I've witnessed in all my years. There are also a couple of amusing death scenes, but the mood is increasingly soured throughout- especially once the rape scene shows up. There's little value in terms of entertainment(unless you like it bad), but Retromedia's disk comes with a commentary that can clue you into the disheartening story behind the movie. Review is based on Ray's director's cut.*1/2 out of 4

TrickTaylor In this golden age of DVD where anything and everything is seeing a release, movies like SCALPS are hoping to find new audiences. To achieve this, these oldies are getting slick packages complete with crap like 'The most shocking horror film of its time", or "Banned in 30 countries". As a consumer of classic exploitation and horror I know that there are plenty of gems for me to discover from the olden days. SCALPS is not one of those gems.A flimsy plot line gives us the usual brood of pretty and hunky (for their time) coeds who find themselves digging for artifacts in the desert. Evidentially they are not supposed to be disturbing the sacred place, which looks like foothills about a mile from the freeway. Some strange force turns one of the hunks into a zombie Indian scalper and the hunt is on.A real horror director with a budget could have taken advantage of the built-in suspense such a scenario provides. Not in the case. The tone is low budget and campy. Despite some decent effects on one scalping, the kills are unimaginative. Exploitation value is low with little nudity. The watcher is given no reason to care if the coeds live or die. Frankly I chose die, because I wanted the whole thing to end.If this is an example of what the "classic" days of slasher horror had to offer, then I need to look elsewhere to be interested. Beware of slickly packaged DVDs touting scenes of uncompromising horror and depravity. Most of them are filled with garbage like this.