VOD of the Dead - SCALPER (2023)
The fine line between thrillers and slashers is constantly in question. Since the creation of the slasher genre in the late 70s, there has always been this see-saw effect between what is a slasher and what is considered a thriller. More often than not, the former involves a killer that is supernatural in some way and pursuing usually anonymous or unmemorable characters. In slashers, you’re usually rooting more for the killer than the victims, but thrillers have it the other way around. In thrillers, more time is spent developing the characters of the victims, and less time on the killer themself since there is usually a greater air of mystery around their identity and motive(s). In thrillers, we spend more time on finding the killer than the killer chasing the victims. While these definitions are not scientific, they do speak to two different kinds of storytelling experience with some overlap in their approach. Combining the two together can yield mixed results since they are in some ways at odds with how they approach their narrative. In Scalper, Chad Ferrin’s sequel to his 2021 film Night Caller we are once again given the thriller/slasher hybrid formula. Is this a match made in heaven or a pair from hell?
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Everyone around psychic Clementine Carter is being brutally murdered by a masked killer dubbed 'The Scalper.' Is it dead psycho Andrew Lubitz back from the grave, a copycat killer, or a horror beyond imagination? Clementine must use her second sight to stay one step ahead of the maniac's blade to solve the mystery.
HOW IS IT?
Scalper is a sequel to 2021’s Night Caller (read our review), although you wouldn’t know it if no one had told you and you won’t be worse for the wear if you haven’t seen it before this. Like many of Chad Ferrin’s films, there are familiar faces, questionable logic, and some gnarly scenes of violence all wrapped up in a serviceable bow. Scalper is much like its predecessor in its uneven plot, stereotypical characters, and of course, the giallo-meet-slasher tropes. Where it differs is mostly marginal changes to the story and introduction of two new detectives on this case, and one enjoyment rests on how much they liked all of those elements the first time around.
One thing Chad Ferrin's films do quite well is wasting time getting going. Almost immediately we a thrust into the world of Scalper as we watch our titular antagonist do the same deeds for which they have received their namesake, and even a little more. If a man being sodomized and then scalped with that same knife covered in shit isn’t your bad, you’re not going to get far before wanting to turn it off. As sick as it is silly, Scalper’s best trait is that it doesn’t hold back on the violence. Much like Night Caller, Ferrin knows that what makes grindhouse films memorable isn’t a coherent plot or fully realized characters, it is violence and mayhem doused in blood and bodily fluids. It is impressive that Ferrin and team are churning out these shockers so consistently and with such great attention to detail in the makeup effects. Without which Scalper might be a hard film to recommend to most given what it lacks in other places. Another saving grace of Scalper comes through the performances, all of which are better than your average VOD slasher with Jake Busey leading as one of the detectives on the case alongside Kate Patel as Detective Lupino who may have a connection to one of the victims from Night Caller. A detail you’d be hard-pressed to remember without the movie telling you so.
Where Scalper struggles is down to the pacing. Even at just under 80 minutes, there are noticeable lags in the script that are largely on account of how the action plays out. The first 15 minutes of the film start with a bang, but then putter out for a bit to make way for background and exposition. Even though having seen Night Caller isn’t essential viewing before Scalper, there are enough callbacks here that feel like they were included just to fill time leaving viewers slowly to connect pieces they probably weren’t aware of before watching. Par for the course is a series of conveniences and logic gaps throughout the script that often feel less inspired than some of the violence, and ultimately question the necessity of all the background and backstory. Perhaps a film like this is better served as more of a slasher rather than a procedural thriller, and with less emphasis on there being a whodunnit mystery. Still, for what it is Scalper is more competent than most films and has parts you’re likely not to forget, as long as you can bear through some less interesting bits to get there.
LAST RITES
Scalper is a nasty and gory thriller that unfortunately focuses too much on the wrong parts of what makes it interesting. Nevertheless, for fans of over-the-top gore moments and procedural thrillers with scalping this may be the film of the year.
THE GORY DETAILS
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Where can you watch it?
SCALPER is available NOW on all VOD and Digital Streaming Platforms!
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