Directed by Dario Argento and based on a short story by F. Paul Wilson. Sleazy small time fur trader Jake Feldman (Meat Loaf) gets his hands on some priceless raccoon pelts that might be his ticket to win a fortune and with it the attention of sexy stripper Shanna (Ellen Ewusie). Too bad the furs are not just priceless, but also cursed.
Tropes:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Feldman to Shanna. She opens up to him after being gifted the fur coat, but it comes back in force when Feldman, under the spell of the furs, skins his own body and wants to give the skin to Shanna too.
- Alone with the Psycho: Feldman goes crazy while being alone with Shanna.
- Artifact of Death: Every person that comes in contact with the pelts while in the process of turning them into a coat has a gruesome death, in a way related in some way to their role in the coat's elaboration.
- Attempted Rape: Feldman tries to rape Shanna in their first scene together.
- Batter Up!: Jeb teaches Larry how to kill raccoons with a bat. Then Larry kills Jeb in the same manner while under the spell of the furs.
- Bear Trap: Used by Larry to commit suicide. Head first..
- Bigger Is Better in Bed: Averted. Shanna claims to have been hurt by Feldman's size when they finally get together.
- Black Bra and Panties: What Shanna wears while dancing for Feldman at the club.
- Blood Is the New Black:
- Larry Jameson isn't disturbed about getting the blood of his father all over his face and arms.
- Feldman, the twist being that it is all his own blood. He skins himself while under the curse.
- Disproportionate Retribution: What befalls to the cursed is either this or Karmic Death depending on whether you belong to the "Fur is Murder" crowd or not. At the very least, it is hard to argue for the latter in the case of the seamstress, who simply recut and sewed the furs together and had probably the most agonizing death, suffocating after sewing her own nose and mouth.
- Ethnic Menial Labor: Feldman's workshop is staffed by exactly one Hispanic employee and a lot of Chinese women.
- Fingore: Shanna's hand gets crushed by an elevator.
- Freudian Slip: Feldman has one when the curse takes over him.Feldman: I've gotta find something sharp.Shanna: What?Feldman: I've gotta freshen up.
- Fur and Loathing: The ur-example. The entire plot is about watching people being 'punished' for taking part in the elaboration of a fur coat.
- Gaia's Vengeance: Whoever harms the raccoons or use their furs to their befit meets a gruesome end. And that's pretty much the plot.
- Ghost Town: The ancient city where the raccoons are trapped is either a very ruined version of this or an Indian Burial Ground.
- Gold Digger: Shanna is clearly not in love with Feldman, but will give him a pass with some expensive gifts.
- Gorn: The inevitable result of the raccoon fur's effect on people.
- How We Got Here: The episode opens with the police looking at Feldman's and Shanna's dead bodies.
- Hunter Trapper: John Saxon's character, Jeb Jameson is one, and he's teaching the job to his son Larry.
- Meaningful Name: Jake Feldman, a man dealing on animal skins, is just one letter away from "felt-man".
- Mouth Stitched Shut: A seamstress that worked on the fur coat sews her mouth, nose, and eyes shut until she suffocates.
- Ms. Fanservice: Shanna is a stripper and spends most of her screentime wearing only her panties and maybe something more as cover, like a bathrobe or the fur coat.
- Persecution Flip: With the notable exclusion of the seamstress, the deaths caused by the cursed furs are more or less repeats of what befell to the raccoons that originally owned them.
- Pretty in Mink: Shanna opens to Feldman after being given the chance to wear the coat made out of the raccoons fur.
- Shout-Out: The DVD cover
is reminiscent of PETA ads starring Naomi Campbell. - Soundtrack Dissonance: A woman's serene song is played when people commit suicide under the spell of the furs.
- 13 Is Unlucky: Thirteen raccoons get caught in the traps and are used to make the cursed coat.
