Mapi Galan is Yari, daughter of a chief, lone survivor of an attack launched on her Indian village by renegade Confederate soldiers.

Their commander, the demented Col. Connor (Albert Farley) envisions the south rising again. In the meantime, he’s determined to have pretty Yari for his personal plaything.

But after escaping from the soldiers, Yari winds up at the ranch of one of Connor’s ex-officers (Vassili Karis as Matt).

He nurses her back to health, then helps her flee into the hills when Connors’ men come searching for her.

Matt doesn’t believe in vengeance. Yari has no such qualms, scalping every Confederate renegade she can get her hands on.

Now Connor’s men have two people to track down. What happens when they catch their prey changes Matt’s mind about revenge.

Mapi Galan as Yari in a mood for vengeance in Scalps (1987)

Vassili Karis as Matt Brown in Scalps (1987)

Review:

Take a touch of “Soldier Blue,” a touch of “The Animals” and the ending of “Fistful of Dollars” with a bizarre twist, and you’ve pretty much summed up this film.

Still, coming so long after the peak of the Spaghetti Western craze, it’s just over-the-top enough to come across as surprisingly entertaining. Especially that ending.

It’s also so much better than exploitation director Mattei’s companion piece — “White Apache,” released the same year — that it’s hard to believe the films were made by the same team and much of the same cast.

Having Karis in the lead rather than Sebastian Harrison certainly helps. But even the action sequences are far superior here.

Luigi Ceccarelli gets credit for the music, but you’ll recognize lots of recycled Spaghetti themes, including one from “Run Man Run” for the memorable final showdown.

Alberto Farnese (Albert Farley) as Col. Connor in Scalps (1987)

Charly Bravo as Sgt. Gordon, Connor’s second in command, in Scalps (1987)

Directed by
Claudio Fragasso, Bruno Mattei

Cast:
Vassili Karis … Matt
Mapi Galan … Yari
as Mary Galan or Karen Wood
Charly Bravo … Sgt. Gordon
Alberto Farnese … Col. Connor
as Abert Farley
Emilio Linder … Frank
Beni Cardoso … Mary Connor
Jose Canalejas … Chief Black Eagle

Other credited cast members: Lola Forner, Francisco Gomez, Ignacio Carreno

aka:
Scalps! Vengaza india
Sie kampft wie ein Mann

Score: Luigi Ceccarelli

Runtime: 102 min.

Emilio Linder as Frank, the soldier from whom Yari escapes, in Scalps (1987)

Jose Canalejas as Chief Black Eagle in Scalps (1987)

Memorable lines:

Gordon: “And what’s your decision about that girl? Chief Black Eagle’s daugther?”
Col. Connor: “I want her. That girl’s a beauty. So lovely and wild. Just the way I like them.”

Confederate soldier to Yari: “Welcome to our tribe, little Indian slut.”

Yari: “Who’s grave is that?”
Matt: “My wife’s. She was raped. Killed by Indians.”
Yari: “I am an Indian. Why you not kill?”
Matt: “What for? Revenge. Revenge means only more killing. More raping. More scalps. Revenge, it won’t bring back my Evelyn.”

Matt, as Yari snuggles up to him: “What are you doing?”
Yari: “Yari cold. You warm. Yari takes warmth from your body.”
Matt: “But we mustn’t stay like this.”
Yari: “Why?”
Matt: “Because women and men who aren’t married shouldn’t sleep together.”
Yari: “Ah, I don’t understand. You can explain it tomorrow.”

Other tidbits:

This was hardly the first Spaghetti for Vassili Karis. In fact, in the early 1970s he starred in three films in the “Holy Ghost” series, all directed by Roberto Mauri.

This was one of two Spaghetti Western exploitation director Bruno Mattei released in 1987, the other being “Apache Kid.” His other movies include “Women’s Camp 119,” “SS Girls” and “Mondo Erotica.”