Ed Gein (2000) * (out of 4) Steve Railsback plays the infamous Ed Gein, the man who killed woman so that he could wear their skin, eat them and so on. I've seen a lot of movies based on Gein's life (Deranged) and a lot of films influenced by his story (Psycho, Texas Chainsaw) but this here is without a doubt the worst of the worst. I'm really not sure where to start but I guess I'll go with the screenplay, which seems to think it's a good idea for a horror film to go the first forty-minutes without a drop of gore or violence. When Gein finally gets on his murdering spree nothing is shown but instead we get countless dialogue scenes that are as boring as I'm sure Gein was in real life. Railsback gives a so-so performance, which means he tries hard to get Gein down right but he's just not good enough of an actor to pull it off. Go rent Deranged instead.

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.

Notorious Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein served as the inspiration for many horror movies already; either films that are loosely based on his vile acts ("the Texas Chainsaw Massacre") or more factual re-tellings of his case ("Deranged: Confessions of a Serial Necrophile"). Chuck Parello now takes the credit of creating the most accurate and faithful portrait of this historical psychopath (not even changing the name of killer & victims like it was the case in "Deranged"), but he wasn't capable of delivering a disturbing and/or compelling horror movie with the subject matter he gathered. "Ed Gein" is a sober (...better make that VERY sober) and monotonous drama about an emotionally unstable bachelor, still under the influence of his dominating mother who's been dead since 9 years already. Despite everyone in the little village being friendly and patient with Ed, he's very introvert and suffering from delusions in which his dead mother orders him to kill "sinful" people in his surrounding. This film is not scary at all, since Parello wastes too much time on pointless flashbacks and amateurish psychology. The film merely just hints at Gein's bizarre and perverted sexual preferences and shows very little, apart from a totally out-of-place sequence in which he dances around (in the light of the moon) wearing the skinned face of one of his victims. The acts of violence Gein eventually does commit are rather tame and not nearly as unsettling as the real thing. The obvious lack in budget can hardly be used as an excuse, since the 1974 film "Deranged: Confessions of a Serial Necrophile" was a poverty row production as well and that film DID deliver genuine shocks and gruesome images. I strongly advice to watch that one instead, even though it's a lot more difficult to track down.