SCALPER (2023)

New in On Demand and digital download from Breaking Glass Pictures!
Director/Written by Chad Ferrin.
Starring Susan Priver, Jake Busey, Bai Ling, Kate Patel, Elina Madison, Robert Miano, Robert Rhine, Timothy Muskatell, James MacPherson, Kurt Bonzell, Jon Budinoff, Dylan Wells, Joe Castro, Marie Bergenholtz, Paul Blyumkin, Michael Cambridge, Jennifer Drake, Suzanne Sumner Ferry, Kelli Maroney, Christopher Louis Parker, Silvia Spross, Scott Vogel, Roger Garcia, Cyril O’Reilly, Jeff Olan, Brandon Kirk, Jerry Irons
Check out the trailer here!!

After being stalked and aiding in the capture of the serial killer known as the Scalper, psychic Clementine Carter (Susan Priver) finds herself seeing visions and being stalked anew by a copycat killer. But this time, Detective Hayden (Jake Busey) and his partner Detective Lupino (Kate Patel) are on the case, tracking this murderer as it gorily scalps and stabs new victims in the LA area. From the first NIGHT CALLER film, Clementine’s dad Charles (Robert Miano) recovers from his scalping in the hospital and Bai Ling returns to crazy up the place.

SCALPER is a sequel to NIGHT CALLER, a nice throwback to the 90’s LA neo-noir era of sexy detective films (all accompanied by the sultry sounds of a shiny saxophone). SCALPER loses most of its nuance and tries to be more of a straight forward detective flick. There is the usual back and forthings between detectives Hayden and Lupino who seem to barely get along yet have to work together to crack the case. This is interspersed with scenes of Clementine trying to get over her encounter with the killer in the last film and a new killer adopting the Scalper motif and going on a new killing spree. Director Chad Ferrin does a decent job juggling these three plotlines, though I do feel the Clementine subplot takes the backseat until the very end, making her heavy involvement in the finale feel off. Still, while the film sort of narratively clicks, SCALPER lacks that stylistic flavor that appealed to me in the first one. Gone are the neon lit streets and nods to the noirish aspects of detective films of old. Gone is that appreciation for old horror films. Much of SCALPER is filmed during the day or in brightly lit rooms which kill that ominous dark mood captured so well in the first film.

While the film fails to meet the tone of the original, it makes up for it in gore. Taking a page from Leatherface’s playbook, the killer wears the face of one of its victims. The scalpings are quite gory and there is a fascination with shoving a hunting knife where the sun don’t shine that really pushes the limits. So for gorehounds, this one delivers quite copiously.

Expect a lot of melodrama from actress Susan Priver who pines over her PTSD from catching the first killer and dotes on her father in the hospital. Jake Busey does an ok job of playing a down and out cop, even though his partner Kate Patel looks more like a stripper than a cop. And Bai Ling…well, Bai Ling continues to be a human whirlwind. I can only imagine filmmaker Chad Farrin casts her only to capture what she will say and do in front of the camera.

I can’t rightly recommend SCALPER. NIGHT CALLER wasn’t a great movie, but it did have a nice look and feel. Aside from some truly disturbing gore and trainwreck fascinating casting, SCALPER just doesn’t cut it.