my very brief thoughts on.... 'Deranged'

Ed Gein has been written about, puzzled over, studied, and portrayed on film in many different ways.... not always as himself, but aspects of his life and crimes have been mixed in with other characters.... he's generally considered the first serial killer, however he was more of a grave robber than a killer.... he was only ever convicted of killing 2 people.... but the police think it may have been as many as 15.... therefore, he never qualified as a serial killer.... but regardless, that's the way he's remembered is as a murderer either way.... in 1974, they made probably the most accurate movie about the life of Ed Gein.... it's pretty melodramtic and dated, but if you've read the history of Ed Gein you'll see how closely they match up with the reality.... i've actually seen this movie twice.... not intentionally, it just kind of happened.... and the second time i wasn't sure until the very end that i'd already seen it.... i don't know if i liked it any better or worse the second time around, but i did get a little more out of it....

Ed Gein was a mama's boy.... he loved his mother more than anything else.... and when she died, he had an extremely difficult time coping with her death.... instead of moving on, he went and dug up her corpse and kept it in his home.... this wasn't the end of his graverobbing.... eventually he made it a regular thing.... and his home slowly turned into a museum of the macbre.... full of skulls, bones, severed body parts, lamps made of skin, a full skin body suit, and more.... things just get worse and worse with his obsession until he takes it to the next level and kills.... this proves to be a shocking revelation for the people of his small town.... the fact that a mama's boy like Eddie Gein could commit such horrific crimes....
there have been many better movies based on parts of Ed Gein's life and there may be more made at a later date.... i wouldn't be surprised.... but until that happens, this is the best one to date.... (stay away from the Kane Hodder movie 'Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield'.... it's pure and utter shit.).... i gave this movie a 2 out of 5 star rating.... it's not a good movie overall.... it is what it is....Roberts Blossom does an amazing job of bringing Eddie to life.... he creates a living and breathing man out of a subpar script.... his commitment to the role is intense.... sometimes it's so over the top that you want to laugh, but he's such a presence that you can't stop watching and don't end up laughing.... currently it's not available to rent, but you can watch it OnDemand from Netflix.... that's how i saw it.... before you delve into his depraved world, please do some research on him first.... learn all the details and view the crime scene photos.... it brings the whole story to life and you can see how much time and effort was put into this recreation of his life.... no matter how dark and twisted it was.

if you watch this, then also check out these loosely based Ed Gein movies: 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (1974), 'The Silence of the Lambs', and 'Psycho' (1960)