milosprole9 So, it's about six people where they go to the Californian wasteland to dig up around in an Indian burial ground for artifacts, and then they unleash the evil spirit. The spirit possesses one of the group and begins slaughtering them one by one. The plot sounds similar to The Evil Dead, right? It also reminded me on The Hills Have Eyes because of the location. Since The Evil Dead is successful low-budget horror film and well done, but is Scalps also good? No, it's not at all! It has a bad editing, ugly cinematography, terrible makeup, bad acting and ridiculously bad dialogues and lines. I didn't care for any character, they weren't memorable. I liked the ending though, it was a bit creepy. The plot is interesting, but this movie could have been MUCH better.I'm fine with it that it's really a bad movie, but it's somehow enjoyable and I could give it a 5/10, but it's way slow for filming while driving etc., so I gave it a 4/10.

lonegurge this was a rather spooky and chilling movie that had several effective jump at you moments.I know what other people say about the films lack of credible elements but let me tell you one thing.When I was watching this real late at night on my portable DVD player with headphones on this movie had such an otherworldly feel to it it actually made my heart jump and beat quick at times.With the headphones on volume cranked up to blasting level,the superbly atmospheric music and super atmospheric locations went straight through my ears and I could'nt always pay attention to what was going on since there was some scenes that dragged on with nothing happening but i'll never forget how that music actually gave my heart a cold feeling.Something I don't get from a lot of well known horror movies I've seen over the years.As people will gripe ab out the inconsistent editing job I think it gives a movie an unpredictability that you can' t always tell whats gonna happen in the next scene or cut.Tfis is far from academy award-winning material but serves it's purpose well for a low-budget atmospheric horror premise.And it was'nt all about another cardboard masked serial killer going around and axing up the prom party teens as this one offered creepy otherworldly feeling locations and the killer is not human and comes from a stone that possesses them them turns them into actual mystical creatures and it actually shows one of the teens transforming into it as it passes around each person.Even if it is all undoubtedly fake I will give it a high rating in part due to the type of slasher premise and gruesome,effective shots but most of all what hooked me in the film was the music and locations mixing together.

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.