Pelts Year: 2006 Director: Dario Argento Written by: Matt Venne Threat: Spirits Weapon of Choice: Trap Based upon: short story - F. Paul Wilson Color/B&W/3D: Colour Language: English Country of Origin: USA IMDb page:

Other movies in this series:
Please see the Masters of Horror series page.

The tyranist's thoughts
Here we are in early 2007. There is a glut of horror film in the theatres and the second season of Masters of Horror is starting to come out on DVD. One of these years I'm going to have to spring for Showtime and watch these things when they air.
An insane redneck and his son trap a bunch of racoons and discover that the pelts of the racoons are apparently so beautiful that they defy description. After the son flips out and kills himself and his father, a shady furrier comes into the picture, and, well, some stuff happens.
I got the feeling that Rish really liked this one. I found it baffling. I just couldn't buy the basic premise and without that, the movie has literally nothing to stand on. Well, there was one stunningly beautiful shot of snail crawling along a branch. That was amazing.
Meat Loaf stars in this one. I found myself trying to cast him in other roles while I watched, but I could only make him into the old, grizzled cop who is almost ready to retire and thinks the good cop is an idiot for not taking the bribe. Too bad he was the shady furrier in this one.
I should probably just stop. Rish will have things to say about this that you might find useful. I'll just leave it with this: if you can't buy the premise that a fur is so suprassingly beautiful that you will do some silly insane shit just to be near it, you probably won't enjoy this one much. Even the gore doesn't seem too entertaining.
Posted: March 12, 2007

Rish's Reviews
Tyranist, you mean I didn't review this when we first saw it? Are you sure?
Oh no.
Okay, overcooked brain, let's get started. What do you remember about Pelts, the first film in the second series of "Masters of Horror" we checked out?
Well, I remember that I liked the setting, and that the film was a lot better than it should have been, with the premise it had. The idea of racoons as a threat . . . well, that just shouldn't work. Pelts had some really unique ideas, that's for sure. I like Meatloaf (the singer and now actor, not the food), I just don't know what's wrong with me. I also quite like Mister Argento. I didn't think this was his best work, but it was better than all the other second season "Masters of Horror"s we've watched.
And that's it.
Darn. My brain let me down once again. Stupid brain.
Posted: August 29, 2007

Total Skulls: 22

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears		Meat Loaf
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?