I’ve just met the delicious Ellen Ewusie while watching Dario Argento’s second Masters of Horrors contribution, Pelts. I was pleasantly disgusted by the episode, but this is nowhere near Argento’s best work. In fact, I would’ve never even guessed the Maestro’s involvement if I had not seen his name beforehand. Pelts tells the tale of a fur trader played by Meat Loaf who’s obsessed by a beautiful stripper. He soon gets his hands on a precious load of raccoon furs and… well, let’s just say that after an Asian movie dealing with an haunted wig, why not a fur coat becoming haunting material itself?

The episode is actually quite amusing with this unlikely premise but once again with Masters of Horror, the ending falls completely flat and is just an excuse for over-the-top gory effects, without any deep emotional vibes. I expected a more dramatic final contribution from that mystical raccoon tribe, whose presence would’ve have been beneficial for an even eerier atmosphere. A waste of effective material, but extremely well-acted, with a short and appreciated contribution by veteran John Saxon as a crusty hunter.

The highlight of the show remains Ellen Ewusie’s part of manipulative stripper Shana. Not only is she extremely good-looking, but is a very credible actress, playing a cliché role but making it her own nevertheless. I remember seeing her as a devilish temptress (in every sense of the word) in Bones, a couple of years back, only leaving me disappointed that this part was too short. She had a couple of small cameos in 2005 for Devour and Fantastic Four, but Pelts is without a doubt her strongest work to date. Sadly, not much is known about her for now; I deduced that she’s Canadian, based in Vancouver, that she talks Russian (part of her mixed heritage?) and was trained as a dancer. So she was seen in some music videos, commercials (mostly for beer, yes she’s Canadian) and some TV series parts (remember that Masters of Horror is filmed in British-Colombia). I’d like to know more and see more of Ellen Ewusie, don’t you agree?