"Deranged," which follows a middle-aged farmer in the Midwest who goes on a psychotic killing spree after the death of his mother, had the misfortune of being released the same year as "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," another film more loosely inspired by the same real-life subject: serial killer Ed Gein. I don't mean to suggest that "Deranged" is on-par with "Chainsaw" because it isn't (and few films are), but for what it is, it is a remarkably demented and strange take on the subject matter.Roberts Blossom, a character actor who many may recognize as the creepy neighbor in "Home Alone," plays the lead role of Ezra Cobb, and is really the primary reason the film is so effective. Blossom is by turns sympathetic and utterly morally deranged; as an audience member, you want to like him, but then you are forced to watch him clinically commit horrific acts of violence.Perhaps the most unique element of "Deranged" is its clinical storytelling method which includes narration from a reporter, often within the diegesis of scenes. It's one step further than "The Town That Dreaded Sundown" (another true-story film that featured voiceover narration as well as a clinical, detached presentation), and while the presence of the on-screen narrator might distract some, there is something strangely enjoyable about it. It perhaps dampens the gravity of the subject matter a bit, but that was probably the intention.The film ends on a bit of an abrupt edge, but it stays true to the Gein story and features a horrific chase sequence through the woods of a teenage girl. All in all, "Deranged" is an effective and thoroughly oddball true-crime film greatly enhanced by the snowy locations, cold and clinical storytelling, and Blossom's equally endearing and disturbed performance. 8/10.

What a creep-out. I'll bet even Gein himself would cringe at this. I don't know who Roberts Blossom is, but his slobbering mouth merits some kind of acting award. In my many years of viewing, I've never seen a weirder guy given so much screen time. But then his cadaverous frame and skeletal face are perfect for the role. Based loosely on the demented obsessions of 1950's Ed Gein, the movie really delivers the goods. (So why the disclaimer about no intended relation to persons living or dead, when everything indicates Gein. For legal purposes, I guess.) The girls may be prettied up, but nothing else is. Those desolate rural settings underline the desolation of Ezra's's state of mind. No wonder he goes nutzoid. Though not played up, the real Gein apparently decorated his house interiors with human skin stolen from graveyards. But then the movie has enough to do with outfitting rotten corpses at the dinner table. And that's the horror-fest's weakest point. The death masks and skin effects are cheaply and poorly done. Then too, I've got mixed feelings about that sadistic chase scene at the end, but I guess they figured a bang-up climax was needed. And they got it, but in a stomach churning way. Surprisingly, this cheapo is very competently made, from the performances to the direction to the photography. All in all, I can see why it's apparently become a cult classic. And, oh yes, I won't be traveling in the woods anytime soon, thank goodness. Nor, for that matter, do I expect to see Blossom in a Hollywood picture book, though he certainly merits it.

Just recently I watched this one for the first time and while I didn't find the film to be that scary, I did see it as an intriguing adaptation of the serial killer that inspired the creation of some of the best work in horror.The film is light on gore (and the little we get is that bright red "paint" looking blood that was notorious in the 70s) and the film relies on psychological terror rather than jump scares, so the younger generations might not enjoy this film but I found it pretty disturbing. Sure, some of the acting is bad but Roberts Blossom in the lead role isn't and is providing a very spine-chilling performance. Overall, the film is interesting and intriguing, even though it is not as memorable as the films that were inspired by the serial killer this film is adapting.

Bob Clark will probably always be remembered for directing and producing "A Christmas Story," (or in some circles for the "Porky's" movies), but for me he is the director of "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things" and the producer of this odd little gem. In spite of the lurid subtitle, there is no on screen depiction of anything like necrophilia, just a very matter-of-fact retelling of the story of Ed Gein, backed by a sparse organ score. There are elements of black humor, as when the ghoul tells the corpse of his mother that he thinks that maybe a woman he recent met "isn't quite all there" because she talks to her dead husband in séances. Mostly though, the very convincing portrayal by Roberts Blossom makes this an effective and interesting movie, better - in my humble opinion - than the better-known "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" which came out the same year and claimed to tell the same story (it didn't).