Released: December 1, 2006
Director: Dario Argento
*****
For his second entry in the
Masters of Horror series,
Pelts, Dario Argento turns to a a film whose ending is never in doubt, even before the first frame rolls. With Meatloaf (ya know, the singer) as unscrupulous fur trader Jake Feldman and
Nightmare on Elm Street's John Saxon as a drunk 'coon trapper, there are one or two legitimate scares packed into 58 minutes. Unfortunately, by the end of the film, the audience has more questions than answers.
When Jeb Jameson (Saxon) tells Jake he's caught a load of the most beautiful 'coons he's ever seen, Jake flies into a frenzy. He can create the best fur coat ever, win the heart of a stripper and make a name for himself and his hole in the wall shop. However, when people start loosing their minds after touching the fur, there is no stopping the curse.
Yes, a curse, evidently meant to protect the raccoon's from trappers. First, one character swings wildly at another; then another literally looses his face; another suffocates in a room full of air; and, finally, one looses his skin-literally. Its all well and good Mother Mayter is protecting the animals, but why? Why does she do this? Why does the curse only hit certain people and not others? Jake has touched the pelts more than anyone else; why is he the last affected? Why doesn't his business partner Lou succumb? Or Jeb? There's no rhyme or reason to it, as if pieces of the film were cut out to fit into the hour running time.
There are moments which turn head scratchingly fascinating: watching a mouth, eyes and a nose get sewn up or torso skin being ripped from innards. But those moments can't save an otherwise unfullfilling story. A subplot with a stripper and Jake's fascination with the idea of having anal sex detracts from the story and feels as though it was inserted (no pun intended) only because Argento could get away with it on Showtime. Horror movies are supposed to scare us by putting the viewer in a situation they may be in at some point and twisting a knife. How many people are pelters, fur traders or strippers? I guess any object from an animal could be cursed, making the story have resonance. It's just too much of a stretch for the audience to buy into what's happening.
(spout.com)
Originally posted on:TheMovieRambler’s blog