Meat Loaf plays Jake, a fur trader who stumbles upon some very special raccoon pelts. But these pelts are cursed! So what happens when the curse begins to affect everyone involved with the pelts: the trappers, the traders, the seamstresses and the model? You'll just have to watch and see.
Like Argento's "Jenifer", we find that he really shines in the one hour format provided by "Masters of Horror". This is by far the most gory of the second season and probably the most sexually depraved (much as "Jenifer" was probably the most depraved in season one). If you like abnormal sex and intense gore in your horror films, this one will catch your eye.
Meat Loaf is a quality actor, and since his days in "Rocky Horror Picture Show" we should have realized he has no problem taking on unusual acts. This one is no exception, with his character frequenting a strip club and looking for unnatural sexual relations (his preferred method is constantly hinted at throughout the episode). And he just shines! How a man this ugly has made it so well in the film and music industry is a mystery, but more power to him.
The supporting cast is also wonderful, so I should not exclude them. John Saxon, veteran horror icon, notably appears. Though this really was, by all accounts, Meat Loaf's show.
Matthew Venne's audio commentary is worth a listen. As a fresh writer, he tells the story of getting work to the big screen, which other aspiring writers might find helpful. He never stops talking, which is a plus for a commentary, and is quite familiar with Argento's work and the source material. I do not think a better commentary could have been provided. For anyone curious on how to translate a short story into a film, Venne gives us the inside scoop.
The gore was extreme. And while some of the gory moments were not very realistic (particularly the climax), they were all nasty and even when fake-looking, still difficult to watch at times. The needles scene was well done, although too obviously computerized, and the bear trap death was very clever and well executed. The rest of them I will leave for you to find... no disappointments, I promise.
While there is one complaint I have regarding the end (which I will not discuss) that kept this from getting a perfect score, over all I couldn't stop watching. No bathroom breaks or such were necessary or would have been taken. Just straight up horror. What more do you want me to say?
