Dario Argento is considered my most people to be one of the best horror directors ever; and I tend to agree that he is. Pelts however seemed to be a film where he took a turn away from his original style of filmmaking and made a film with, dare I say more of an American touch. Now don’t get me wrong you do see shades of Argento in this picture, however I felt that his other works are far superior to this little episode. You get plenty of the original kills you always get in an Argento picture, he always seems to come up with some innovative and ideas on how to make a kill in any of the films he does come off the script paper and be filmed in an entirely eerie light.
Pelts is what I’d like to call a film that any member of PETA or some vegan origination would probably rejoice over; but be angered and repulsed by the how the pelts are harvested in the beginning of this film. The move centers around a fur dealer Jake (Meatloaf) whom runs kind of a sweetshop in the inner city. Jake is kind of an asshole, the kind of guy who does care for his employees, like to spend his money of fast women and booze, and plainly put is just one greedy, money hungry bastard. With business doing lousy, because of the crappy quality of pelts he’s been buying, Jake is contacted by a has been fur hunter played by John Saxon. Jake agrees to meet up with him to check out his new Raccoon furs for sale. However when Jake shows up to his house, he finds that no one is home ( I won’t spoil this scene.) And gets his hands on the best looking furs he’s ever seen. Well from there he find out that there are something magical about these furs, as people around him (and the pelts) begin to die.
The script for this film seemed to be packed with a lot of information that was hard to grasp for the short running time that Showtime cut this film too. I think there needed to be more of an explanation behind the mystery of the pelts. It did have good character development around the story’s central character, but it lacked in terms of storytelling. I was confused at times with what was really the purpose behind the mystery of the pelts, and I also felt the ending left the story open, and came to no real conclusion.
The acting in the film was pretty good. I admire Meat Loaf, he’s one of those guys who puts all his effort into any of the projects he works on. I recently saw a documentary on VH1 about his rise to fame, and it really made gain a lot of respect for him not only as a singer/actor but as a person as well. John Saxon was very good, although his role was short, he did have a tough role to work with here, and pulled it off well. The supporting cast was kind of pick and chose. Some of them did well, while others were just alright.
In terms of special effects, I’ve heard a lot of people complaining about all the CGI used in a lot of the previous Master of Horror films released for Season 2. However in Pelts we get more of a make-up, gory blood bath, and less CGI. However I will point out that there is one scene that involves some great CGI where a women is sewing here eyes, nose and mouth shut.
Pelts was a film with many plot holes and if it had a longer running time, I’m sure we would be able to understand the story much better. I’m not saying that it’s hard to follow, because your basic horror fan will be able to comprehend the concept of the film, but there is a lot left open and unexplained. It’s a decent flick with some good effects and decent acting, but I would of liked to have seen more of a back story develop the origin of the pelts.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
