Ed Gein (2000)

Best movie of this year hands down!

A Major Disappointment

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

How well I remember the radio broadcast on the day Gein's house of horrors was found. Because of public sensibilities, the grisly depredations could only be hinted at, which of course left the rest to over-ripe imaginations like mine. It was like the shell of Ozzie & Harriet America had suddenly been ripped, exposing something maybe beyond imagination. In terms of serial killers, Gein is far from the worst, only two confirmed murders though there could have been more. In terms of sheer dementia, however, it would be hard to surpass the fiendish Wisconsin farmer and grave robber. No wonder writer Bloch took an immediate interest, soon followed by moviemaker Hitchcock and his dark masterpiece.The movie, I think, captures much of the banality of Gein's evil. On the outside he's a rather dull, disheveled sort, blending into the seedy rural background of run-down shops, clapboard houses, and shiny deer rifles. Actor Railsback low-keys it the whole way, only a smirk suggesting something happening on the inside. Clearly, the inner Gein only comes to life when wearing a woman's skin, literally. The problem, of course, is mother. The movie blends in her visual presence (Snodgress) at those times when the demented Gein gets an angry lecture. Seems Mom is some kind of religious nut in which loose women, the road to hell, and backward son combine into one venemous package. For Ed, there's no escape. She haunts him, and us, at every turn. The effect is both unsettling and revealing, showing that Gein's really only half-present at any one time, except maybe when he's frolicking as a woman.Thankfully, the movie refuses to prettify anything. It also looks like actual b&w footage from Nov., 1957, appears now and again, lending some authenticity to the weirdness. Anyway, I suspect this film comes about as close to Gein's actual pathology as any of the many others. And what the narrative may lack in melodrama, it makes up for in morbid fascination.

This was clearly made for the small screen, although I do remember it passing through western New York theaters briefly. I didn't see it on original release, because I happen to be somewhat fascinated by the Ed Gein story and have read up on it, and I was afraid the film would be a B-movie exploitation of one of the most bizarre episodes in the history of American crime. Gee, I wish it were.This film is really a pretty mediocre docu-drama that attempts to explain away the more disturbing aspects of the Gein story with cheap and easy Freudian references, down to having Gein see and listen to his dead mother urge him on to do "God's work" by "punishing" wicked women for their sexuality.Unfortunately, this explanation doesn't tell us anything at all about Gein's cannibalism, nor about his almost childish fascination for body parts. In one scene in a bar, Gein suddenly asks the other customers whether any of them know about sex-change operations. I take it this was cut into the movie to explain Gein's efforts to wear the skin of some of his victims, and certainly the real Gein was interested in the issue. What gets lost here is all the rich sense of transformation that might go into a sick fascination for donning the skin of another human being. This isn't simply changing one's sex - this is becoming something other than human.One other point - as a Freudian explanation, the film has Gein denying responsibility for his murders - either he can't remember them, or it was "mom's fault". Wait a minute - could Gein have just ignored all those body parts cluttering up his house? Obviously not; in fact the real Gein was aware of what he was doing - he just didn't think there was anything wrong with it. The only reason we know parts of his story is because he was able to give detailed descriptions of what he did. He approached murder, dismemberment, and cannibalism with a clinical disinterest in any of the moral implications of these acts. It was simply Gein's way of living in the world.Now that is truly frightening. The terrible thing about Gein was that he was utterly bland - he was the guy next door, the quiet neighbor, not very interesting, not much to say.Few films have managed to capture this quality about any serial killer. This film certainly hasn't. A real missed opportunity.

This is probably the best film concerning Edward Gein, a Wisconsin farmer that would become known as The Butcher of Plainfield. Steve Railsback plays Gein, who would rob graves of women who resembled his mother Augusta(Carrie Snodgress)to take home and have sex with them. He would also use certain portions of skin for a "woman suit". He also decorated his home with furniture and clothing made from the skin and bones of corpses. He would be arrested and convicted of only two murders, but suspect for six to a dozen other slayings between 1947 and 1957. The necrophiliac butcher would die some 27 years later in an Institute for the Criminally Insane. Also in the cast: Steve Blackwood, Craig Zimmerman, Carol Mansell and Sally Champlin. Some very disturbing scenes; but highly recommended if you like true life crime movies with minimum exaggeration.

There have been many films made that are either based on the case or simply the character of the real-life "Plainfield Ghoul" Ed Gein but this is the one that sticks the closest to the facts. Once again, Steve Railsback assumes the role of a notorious American criminal as he did once before as Charles Manson in "Helter Skelter" and he plays the role wonderfully. Mr. Railsback also served as producer of this film and apparently insisted that Carrie Snodgrass play the role of Mrs. Gein, Ed's mother which she did with gusto (as she does in any film that she is in Miss Snodgrass put on a great performance!). This is not an easy film to watch as the facts that surround this case are gruesome and grotesque and this film certainly does not shy away from that fact but for anyone who has seen "Silence of the Lambs", "Psycho", or "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and has ever wondered what the real story was all about this is the most accurate portrayal of the facts out there. Part of a series of films about serial killers such as "Bundy" "Gacy" and "Speck" this film is by far the very best of the bunch.