First the good points.This movie has a strong and effective atmosphere about it and does have an intensity about it. Thats about it. Ed Gein has a horrific and appalling history that is ultimately tragic, BUT, if you are into the history and cases of serial killers this movie is not for you. It is so far off the facts and story that it reminds me of a certain huge cartoon corporation that rewrites great literature to make it nice for the kiddies EXCEPT that in this movie the substitutions of facts for more horrific effect fails epically as they are rather less gruesome than the facts. Add to that the appalling acting and you have wasted 90 minutes that you could have been having fun in. I recommend reading the book instead.

It's important to keep in mind that this film is "inspired" on what happened, not "based on" the true story. But so is "The Texas chainsaw massacre", "Psycho" and "Silence of the lambs". It's not that the movie sucks big time, but think of the fact that it purports to be the true story ... No, I just don't buy it.The acting is a bit so-so. They definitely got the wrong actor who plays Ed.I don't know really ... take it for what it is, a half-good B-movie. I agree on what others say: "Why make up a story when the truth is way more gruesome" ...

In Ed Gein : The Butcher of Plainfield the horror icon Kane Hodder takes the role of one of the most infamous serial killers in American history. A man who is the basis for such legendary cinema madmen as Norman Bates, Buffalo Bill, and let's not forget Leatherface. Gein a real life serial killer who went on a brutal wave of violence in the 1950's when police officers searched his home and found the following items. Human skulls mounted on his bed posts, various things made out of human skin such as lampshades, clothing, and a chair, also in the home police were shocked to find a box of preserved vulvas that Ed admitted to wearing.I was scrolling through netflix instaview and noticed this little gem, being a huge TCM fan I try to watch every Ed Gein related media I can get my hands on. And as a bonus this one just happens to star the great Kane Hodder of Jason Vorhees and other horror fame. I've heard a lot of complaints about this film not following the facts. And for you who feel this way and think that is reason enough to dub this a bad movie I'd love an example of a based on a true story movie that follows the real life account fact to fact not changing one detail for the sake of making it cinema friendly.Now with that said and out of the way I enjoyed this film from start to end it reminded me of my childhood and how much fun the 80's slasher genre was. If this film would of been released in that era instead of 2007 it would of seen a theatre release it would also of been a great drive in movie experience. While it does nothing new for the genre it does do a good job at sticking to the old' classic slasher formula of extreme violence and over the top blood and gore delivered in a fashion that can only be described as brutal and unforgiving. The makeup effects in this movie are beautiful a true symphony of screams and blood soaked bodies.The story may not be 100% accurate but that's no reason to over look this movie. If this film would of had a title that had nothing to do with Ed Gein a lot of the people belittling it due to this fact would probably watched it and came away loving it especially fans of the Friday the 13th series and children of the 80's splatter generation. If you can find a copy of this I recommend you give it a shot and once again for all you Netflix subscribers out there you've nothing to lose as it is currently available for instaviewing I have a feeling it will feel familiar and comfortable for all you long time horror fiends.7/10

The title tells it all -- Ed Gein, the butcher of Plainfield.It's not a zappy action-filled slasher movie made for teens high on energy drinks. That would fit it into a well-established genre, the kind that some people find entertaining, something along the lines of "Halloween" or "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre".This is dark, slow, filled with chopped-up corpses, and quietly evil. There are few shock cuts, no monster's point-of-view shots, no loud electronic score. I don't know who it's aimed at -- ghouls, maybe.Beneath the credits we already see still photos of skulls, carcasses hung up, skins draped across the backs of chairs, that sort of thing. And they're sufficiently revolting that I couldn't help thinking this movie had better be pretty good to make up for this Grand Guignol opening.Alas, it's not. The acting is uniformly terrible, as in a high school play. The script does its best to sink below vulgarity. Ed Gein, who killed only two middle-aged women and maybe his brother, chases a screaming, bloody young woman through the Woodland of Weir, and she's wearing only a modern bra and bikini, rather than period underwear. Gein also decapitates a night watchman, which he never did in any historical sense.The direction? You could do a better job. In the first few minutes, law officers discover an abandoned car with blood spattered all over the windshield. There is no body. The handsome young deputy sheriff turns to his boss and suggests they search for the victim, who may still be in the vicinity and living. The sheriff, lacking any motivation, shouts at him, "Now you just FORGET that! I don't want you going off HALF COCKED on anything!" It should be no more than a business-like exchange of views. Why does the director have the sheriff so angry? Characters of diverse sorts listen to radio programs or records that play old jazzy pop songs -- Louis Armstrong's "Ain't Misbehaving," for instance. This is -- what -- rural WISCONSIN in the 1950s? And the characters insist on music that would appeal to customers of the Cotton Club in Harlem in the 30s, or New York intellectuals like Woody Allen. Nope. The radio would be playing Kitty Kallen's "Wheel of Fortune" or Theresa Brewer or, equally likely, Lefty Frizell. Not that the dysfunction between the music and the events adds anything to our understanding of what's going on beneath the images. Someone involved in the production just liked old jazzy pop songs, that's all.Of course there's only so much you can do with a low budget, but it can be light years ahead of this butchery. See "Ed Gein," with Steven Railsback for an example of a much more sophisticated way of dealing with this lunatic and his penchant for dead bodies, and on a budget that couldn't have exceeded this one by much.These comments are all based on the first twenty minutes of the movie. That's about as far as I could get. If anyone finds this tale to be well-executed and fascinating in any way, he should try to find some insight into his tastes. It's beneath mine -- and I consider myself pretty warped.