everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I have not seen any other "Masters of Horror" episodes so far, so I can not compare "Pelts" to them. But I have seen some Dario Argento films, and this is the worst thing he has directed that I have seen. There is no trace of Argento the stylist; any hired hack could have made this. The story, the production values, the dialogue ("It's too big"....nuff said), the casting (John Saxon is offed after 5 minutes of screen time)....everything screams grade-Z, direct-to-DVD exploitation. It's also one of the goriest horror shows ever (it goes beyond "Hellraiser" levels of gore). The KNB-supervised special effects are indeed well-done, but "Pelts" has nothing to offer besides its three or four disgusting set pieces (better see this one on an empty stomach....or preferably not at all). * out of 4.

I love these MOH episodes, except for one thing - why why why why why are they so terribly acted? These are some of our most prolific and talented horror auteurs at the helm here, and I have yet to watch one episode that doesn't feel like an old "Freddy's Nightmare's" or worse.Argento's "Pelts" is at least horrifically gory. I mean really really gory. Like, over-the-top brilliantly gory.Are these horror director idiot-savants? Are they just exceptionally talented when it comes to inventing new ways to kill someone, but completely incapable of directing an actor to be natural? Argento should stick with these hour-long creepies and stay away from the feature circuit for a while. His last few movies were deplorable, but his MOH shorts are some of the series' highlights.

Pelts (2006) *** (out of 4) Dario Argento's second film in the Masters of Horror series is about a fur trader (Meat Loaf) to finds the perfect pelts but these pelts also lead to murder and suicide. I preferred Argento's other film in the series but this here is certainly miles better than the past few features from the Italian director. Meat Loaf does a good job in the role, although he doesn't go too deep into the character. The real highlight here is the appearance of John Saxon who steals the show. It was really great seeing him in another film. The special effects are quite gruesome and that includes the seriously over the top ending.

Dario Argento is my all-time favourite director. PHENOMENA, TENEBRE, INFERNO and SUSPIRIA all rank on my top 20 horror films of all-time, and I own all of his films available in Australia. So when I viewed his very disappointing Masters of Horror entry JENIFER, I decided not to expect much from PELTS. Thankfully, my low expectations were more than met with this frantic and exciting Masters of Horror episode, restoring my faith in the series after JENIFER, HAECKEL'S TALE, DANCE OF THE DEAD and the abysmal CHOCOLATE bombed out and ruined the credibility IMPRINT, CIGARETTE BURNS and SICK GIRL had built.PELTS follows a slimy, bitter fur trader (Meat Loaf) who is hopelessly in love with a lesbian stripper (Ellen Ewusie). When a sadistic poacher (John Saxon, one of the main reasons I saw this) sells him some mesmerising raccoon pelts, his obsession turns to them and he decides the only way to win the object of his affection is to make her the ultimate coat. But obsession can turn to insanity...PELTS is moral-heavy, but if you ignore those themes it is a simple supernatural revenge film, with a twist. PELTS is gory, fast paced, creepy, unnerving and occasionally hilarious, and the film has an Argento vibe all over it. The acting is fair, but I do think the masters of Horror episodes are too focused on people obsessing.Overall a solid entry to the series and to the horror genre on a whole. 7/10.