Slayer, The & Scalps

Continental Video Double Feature: 1985

 

The Slayer

Kay (Sarah Kendall) is a painter who has been experiencing terrifying nightmares of being chased by a mysterious, bloodthirsty creature. The imagery is starting to invade her work and affect her nerves, so a getaway is planned for her to get some relaxation in before a big gallery show. She flies to a dark and stormy island with her husband, David (Alan McRae); her brother, Eric (Frederick Flynn); and his wife, Brooke (Carol Kottenbrook). Though she has never visited it before, Kay recognizes their rented beach house from one of her nightmares and expresses her unease, but everyone dismisses this as the result of her art getting too surreal. After Kay dreams of finding David's disembodied head in bed with her, he disappears and is later found mangled and hanging from the roof of an old barn. Kay refuses to sleep, sure that to do so will mean more deaths, but Eric sedates her secretly, worried about her sanity. He is certain that the culprit is Marsh (Michael Holmes), the pilot who flew them to the island, though Brooke is inclined to believe Kay's supernatural explanation. More mayhem ensues while Kay slumbers, and when she awakes alone, she is intent to stay conscious and avoid facing the slayer herself. Dr. Howard Machen (Kirk Alyn) and his students have been raiding California's Indian graveyards for archeological artifacts, a criminal practice that the university wants him to stop. After being ordered to make a complete inventory of his illegal finds, Machen regretfully withdraws from the latest field trip, but sends a group of students to dig without him. The young people stop at a remote gas station and receive a warning from an old Indian man (George Randall). He tells them to steer clear of Black Tree, where a great battle took place a century ago that returned many braves to the earth. The students find the location and an excavation yields plenty of ancient items, but strange things start happening and soon flaky D.J. (Jo Ann Robinson) is claiming that she senses evil about them. Her suspicions are confirmed when Randy (Richard Hench) is possessed by the spirit of Black Claw, a brutal Indian warrior who was known for dabbling in black magic. One by one the expedition is dispatched with arrows, clubs, and tomahawks and their skulls are peeled clean. Horror cult figures Forrest J. Ackerman and Carroll Borland make cameo appearances as faculty members in Scalps, which was an early film from prolific exploitation director Fred Olen Ray.