ED GEIN
PLOT-A man goes nutty after his mother dies and starts grave-robbing and killing women.
VIOLENCE-A couple people are shot with bloody results, a few dead bodies are shown in various stages of decay, human skin is used as household decoration, and a heart is cooked on the stove.
SEX/NUDITY-In a brief scene, Ed hallucinates a naked woman wearing a Nazi hat & boots sitting in a chair in his living room.
WHY I LIKED IT-Let's face it, we're all curious about real-life murderers. As many people know, Ed Gein's exploits were the basis for many horror movies (PSYCHO, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS) over the years. However, the specifics of his particular case, in my opinion, are far more disturbing and shocking than anything that happens in those films. The people that made the movie "Ed Gein" were interested in telling the real story, and they did a good job. It's interesting to watch, and it shows enough carnage without going into exploitative detail. For instance, they don't show that Ed kept his mother's corpse in a bedroom & had sex with it, or his belt made of human nipples. But hey, that's not the point of the film. I was glad that they showed Ed was truly crazy, and didn't try to elicit sympathy from the audience or offer excuses as to why he became a nut case. Instead, they just let the facts speak for themselves. Steve Railsback, the guy who plays Ed, does a really great job creating a memorable screen character who might just remind you of someone you know (just like the real Gein). Carrie Snodgress, who plays Ed's insanely religious mother, almost goes over the top in her portrayal. But she is at the very least an effective force in the movie. Overall, this film plays like a made-for-tv movie that has very graphic content, and I enjoyed it. It holds a valuable lesson about the dangers of religious fanaticism, and of trusting rednecks who live alone in old houses.
DOWNSIDE-In a scene where a man is set on fire, a really bad-looking computer effect is used. It made me laugh. Also, the filmmakers' attempt to show what was going on in Ed's deranged mind were sometimes extremely cheeseball. At one point, he sees his mother's face yelling at him from a burning plant. It was pretty damn funny, but I'm sure wasn't meant to be.
MEMORABLE SCENES-Ed creates some pretty interesting "artwork" out of the dead bodies he has in his house, but I was a bit shocked when they actually showed him making a bizarre Christmas tree ornament out of a woman's vagina. As the real-life Gein said in his confession, "every man's got to have a hobby". They didn't have baseball cards in the 1950's?
NOTES-The DVD of this movie contains a trailer and that's it. The movie is not letterboxed either. To learn more about Gein, you should read the book "Deranged". I had to put it down at one point, it's just too much.