Scalps
Fred Olen Ray's film debut depicts several archeology students on an expedition in the desert. When they arrive, without a teacher along, they decide to try to find the Black Trees Indian Burial Ground, a place an old man told them not to go wandering around in. But, being the naive and stupid teenagers they are, they go meddling around in there. The old man told them about the story of many indians who were murdered a hundred years ago there. The indians were believed to have become a part of the land. When they arrive to the forbidden land, they discover many strange and frightening occurences, such as an underground tribal chanting, which they think is coming from Hell. The spirit of renegade Black Claw then possesses each one of the students, turning them into bloodthirsty demons who scalp and shoot arrows into their victims. Will anyone survive this terrible night?
I didn't exactly think this was very good at all. Fred Olen Ray had a long way to go until he started making much better films, such as Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers and Evil Toons. I thought the beginning was very odd and creepy. The acting isn't that bad, but it sometimes caused me to laugh a bit! This features some cameo appearances by a few veteran actors, such as Kirk Alyn (former serial Superman), Forrest J. Ackerman, and Carroll Borland. At the end of the film, the credits presented a title card which said:
Next Summer Watch For
SCALPS II
THE RETURN OF D.J.
There never was a sequel, so I guess Fred Olen Ray realized it wasn't good enough to have a sequel or either he made it up for comical effect like he did in his later films. This isn't unbearable, and there are a lot of other horror movies worse than this (i.e. The Manipulator or Mardi Gras Massacre). Recommended if you are a huge Fred Olen Ray fan, but there isn't anything you're missing, except for a few creepy scenes. This is on a tape from Continental video, along with The Slayer, which is much better.
