IMDb RATING
3.9/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
A group of archeological students venture on Indian land for a dig. Unfortunately, they release an evil spirit who possesses one of them and starts killing the others.A group of archeological students venture on Indian land for a dig. Unfortunately, they release an evil spirit who possesses one of them and starts killing the others.A group of archeological students venture on Indian land for a dig. Unfortunately, they release an evil spirit who possesses one of them and starts killing the others.
Jo-Ann Robinson
- D.J.
- (as Jo Ann Robinson)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to director Fred Olen Ray, this film was severely re-edited without his consent by the distributor at the time of its release. Scenes were added out of context which threw off continuity and gave away major spoilers, such as the fates of most of the characters, as well as the shots of chanting Indian ghost's head, which was haphazardly overlayed over such scenes as the old man cutting his own throat. Also, all but one of the scenes showing the ghost with the lion's head were shot as test footage and were never intended to be included in the released film.
- GoofsBefore one man's decapitation, his head comes off before it's supposed to.
- Crazy creditsNext summer watch for SCALPS II: THE RETURN OF D.J.
- Alternate versionsAccording to the director, the "20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition" DVD is the most uncut version presently available, and is a combination of footage taken from a heavily censored German master, a Canadian master and the American VHS release which was the only source he could find for the imfamous scalping scene, this accounts for the wildly varying video quality of the DVD.
- ConnectionsEdited into Scalps II: The Return of DJ (2007)
Featured review
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.
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.
- How long is Scalps?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Der Fluch des blutigen Schatzes
- Filming locations
- Agua Dulce, California, USA(Afrey estates)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $15,000 (estimated)
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content