Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Good concept, poorly executed.

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

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

The film opens with three rude, crude tank top cuties calling a bikers names. Some young men join them as they hurry off to a private trail to hike on for some reason or another. Then the title of the film plays a spoiler as they meet a non-introduced character who collects human pelts.I liked the girls who I thought were going to lose their tops at any moment. The language was crude and rude but fitting for the film and was perhaps the high spot. The killings were not graphic. It looks like someone broke a realistic looking blow up doll and decided to call it a pelt, make a movie about it so they could get another one.The pajamas was a nice touch.Parental guide: F-bomb. Brief sex. Fake corpse nudity.

2010's "Pelt" has a group of friends fighting for their lives against a couple of local yokels with a taste for blood and torture. Unfortunately for this crew they chose to spend a weekend in the woods on private property. The choice is a fatal error for the friends. A typical scenario found in modern horror but it all works. The story is a fun, modern nightmare that puts fuel into the "camping/in the woods" horror film. I really didn't expect a lot from "Pelt" but was pleasantly surprised. Swindell creates a very suspenseful chiller that plays with elements of slasher, grindhouse and splatter horror. The cast commit to their characters and pull off some pretty authentic personalities that I connected with. "Pelt" does find itself battling through some pretty standard clichés, but never gets marred down completely by the stereotypes. Even with a few of the characters coming off a bit abrasive, (douche-bag daddy-o's) , the actors give convincing performances that does take the characters into caricature territory.The special effects are strong, realistic grue that explores elements of exploitation, and splatter without pushing the kill scenes into sensationalized depravity. There is a nice balance between the horror elements and the psychological suspense that makes "Pelt" a very strong horror film. The soundtrack and sound effects create a tense, thrilling atmosphere that carries the story arch from the first scene until the credits roll. Honestly I went into this film expecting to be disappointed or bored, but instead I was captivated and chilled. "Pelt" is a film that I will be watching over and over.There is some downer moments to "Pelt". The dialog is weak in some scenes, with characters feeling forced into conversation with one another, instead of seeming natural. It does ad a bit of a hokey vibe that disrupts the intensity and drama of the story. Honestly that is really the only hiccups I had while watching "Pelt". The kills are bloody, there is screaming and crying, running through the woods. Brutality is the theme de jour for "Pelt" with some truly nightmarish moments. I will be referencing this film the next time I decide to explore the hills and back roads in my neck of the woods-believe that!

Pelt was a throwaway for me, a way to kill a few hours while doing something else, and I almost turned it off after the first five minutes, but I'm glad I stayed with it. Ultimately I put aside what I was doing and gave it my full attention.Those who tuned out after the first five minutes can hardly be blamed. The movie tries very aggressively to make you dislike the characters in the opening sequences, which is inexplicable as the most effective and memorable horror movies set up the victims as real people so that you actually care about them (think "Audition"). Very bad move making the girls obnoxious cock teases and the boys frat-boy jerks -- I guess this was done to make you want to see them killed? To lighten up the savaging to come? Definitely a misstep, as the movie has lots of work to do to overcome that initial distaste -- it really opens like a revenge of the nerds type scenario, except without the nerds, only with the arrogant popular and beautiful snots.But I hung with it and it quickly evolved into a tight little stalker flick, the characters shedding their one dimensional arrogance and actually assuming fairly human traits -- surprisingly human in fact. Of course the conceit of the plot is nothing new -- the stalkers are your typical back woods stalkers, and they are even doing what hick serial killers seem to most aspire to, but that doesn't really matter.What matters most in a movie like this is watching a person or a small group be hunted and trying to deal with that situation, trying to survive. This movie does that remarkably well, and once the action begins will keep you engaged and interested, with more than the normal share of jolts.I wouldn't be reluctant to suggest that you just skip the first 15 minutes of the movie altogether, as it's aggressively loathsome, and I suspect that's the reason that the movie has such a terrible rating. It might be a 3 for the first 15 minutes but it quickly becomes an 8 once the action starts.

Me and some buddies got together and rented some DVDs for a cheesy horror film weekend. Out of all of them this one was the only one that was better than we expected. We picked this movie based solely on the cover and we did not expect it to have comedy. It's not the scariest horror film but, the subtle humor made it a lot of fun and we all laughed out loud several time.It's not the most original story but when you add the humor its one of the better of the "kids go missing in the woods" genre. Although the situations were kinda extreme, the actors made it all believable.My girlfriend, who doesn't normally like horror movies, watched it and like it. I ended up showing it to another friend of mine and watching it again before I returned it. I would recommend it to anyone who like a little comedy with their horror.