Netflix’s Western miniseries American Primeval doesn’t shy away from gritty realism, but its scalping scene in the premiere episode stands out as one of the show’s most gruesome moments. Directed by Peter Berg,American Primeval is set in 1857, chronicling the violent struggles between settlers, Indigenous tribes, and the federal government over highly-disputed lands on the southern frontier of Utah. Dane DeHaan stars as Jacob Pratt, a devout Mormon settler who becomes a victim of a wagon train massacre and suffers a brutal scalping.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, makeup department head Howard Berger explained the practical effects behind DeHaan’s scalping scene, which utilized a two-piece prostheticandan old-school blood pump for maximum realism. The Oscar-winning VFX artist (Chronicles of Narnia, The Walking Dead) brought the Utah War’s brutal realities to life alongside longtime collaborator Berg, whom he previously worked with on Lone Survivor (2013). Here's what he had to say:
We had a piece underneath that had the blood bladder and looked like the top of his skull, and a piece with a full wig that glued down onto Dane that we could cut and pull up. If you’re slicing the top of somebody’s head off, it’s going to gush. There’s a lot of capillaries up there. And you do things that are cinematic, but I’ve done so much the last 41 years, I have a good sense of how much it would be.
The trick is knowing when to hit the blood. The second the knife went near Dane’s forehead, I started pumping, so when he pulled back, the blood had already exploded out of the top of his head.
American Primeval star DeHaan described his own experience with the prosthetic piece:
I’m wearing makeup that looks like my normal makeup, and then they had a tube that went down my back that they just pumped blood out of. The guy that scalped me came behind me, pretended to cut me as he was peeling it up, and there was someone offset basically with a dynamite plunger of blood.
What The Brutality Of Jacob's Scalping In American Primeval Means
Violence That Defines The Frontier
Set during one of American history's darkest periods, American Primeval offers an unflinching portrayal of frontier life, beginning with a dramatic retelling of the Mountain Meadows Massacre—a real-life atrocity in which a wagon train of Arkansas settlers was ambushed while traveling through southern Utah. The attack leaves Dane DeHaan’s fictional character, Jacob, partially scalped and left for dead. Yet, the injury becomes a pivotal element of Jacob Pratt’s journey to find his wife. As his head wound deteriorates throughout the series, his mental state unravels, and he soon falls victim to the moral decay surrounding him.
Several other movies and shows capture similar Western and violent horror elements of Netflix's epic period Western series American Primeval.
Howard Berger’s dedication to using practical techniques, combined with Dane DeHaan’s dramatic performance, brings a raw, almost unbearable realism to the moment. As ScreenRant's Nick Bythrow wrote in his review of the Western series, "there was a point where the gritty realism became so overwhelming that I started to grow numb to its violence and gore." Yet, it is that desensitization which underscores the inescapable violence that defined the Westward Expansion, embedding viewers in an unforgiving environment where brutality was not just common—it was necessary.
Our Take On American Primeval's Scalping Scene
A Raw Combination Of Realism & Blood Bags
Image via Netflix
Among recent Western shows, American Primeval pulls ahead with its unrelenting violence. By leaning into practical effects, Berger and his team deliver a visceral experience that is shocking, gritty, and real. With the help of Berger's artistry, DeHaan’s raw performance becomes more than just a shocking spectacle; it’s a harrowing reminder of the human cost of expansion and the history behind the lands we inhabit today. American Primeval thus invites audiences to confront the uncomfortable truths of America’s past, proving that sometimes, the most powerful stories are the ones that refuse to look away.
American Primeval is a Netflix limited series that follows the lives of several men and women in the middle of the expansion of the American West. Social dynamics clash as men and women battle for a piece of the new world against rivals and each other.
Release Date
January 9, 2025
Network
Netflix
Cast
Taylor Kitsch
, Jai Courtney
, Dane DeHaan
, Betty Gilpin
, Nick Hargrove
, Kyle Bradley Davis
, Derek Hinkey
, Saura Lightfoot Leon
, Preston Mota
, Shawnee Pourier
, Joe Tippett
Character(s)
Isaac
, Sara Rowell
, Gant
, Buffalo Run
, Jacob Pratt
, Abish Pratt
, Red Feather
, James Wolsey
, Virgil Cutter
, Two Moons
, Jim Bridger
Creator(s)
Peter Berg
, Eric Newman
, Mark L. Smith
English (US) ·