Dramatically quite good; factually inaccurate
Added 10/11/2009
As a resident of Wisconsin, I finally decided to rent Chuck Parello's depiction of the Ed Gein story, written by Stephen Johnson. It's a well-made film about a grisly subject, and Messrs. Parello & Johnson chose to stay away from gory scenes that would seem to accompany such a narrative. That was a relief. It's a good suspense film, with some fine acting, especially Steve Railsback as the doomed Ed, and a great performance from Sally Champlin as the good-time girl bartender. Fine support from all, and I particularly liked Craig Zimmerman as Pete, Ed's drinkin' pal. As a low-budget effort, first released in Germany as "In the Light of the Moon", I was quite riveted by the level of intensity that was created. I was 8 years old when I first heard about Ed Gein, and a young mind can absorb a lot. There are terrific inaccuracies regarding the details, but I'm sure the families of those affected had something to do with that. It was the death of hardware store owner Mrs. Worden that finally alerted the police to Gein's capture. Gein was found legally insane and confined to Mendota State Hospital, where he would bay at the moon; I was a student at UW~Madison during that time. References to Gein were commonplace. As I said, I was aware of Mr. Gein's story, and the film has changed a lot of the facts. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Carrie Snodgrass (as Gein's crazy, abusive Bible-thumping mother). She'd drive anyone over the edge. It's a triumph of control and precision. I've always liked her. It's a good film. Kids probably won't get all the fantasy weirdness, which the director and writer tried to get across. No blood and gore; rather a straight-forward narrative that really should be told. No DVD extras at all, except for a trailer. Comments from the cast & crew would've been appreciated.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
ED GEIN: NO NEED TO EXAGGERATE---THE TRUTH IS ENOUGH!
Added 9/17/2009
Ed Gein is an interesting, well-made film based on an incredibly disturbed man whose story has literally changed the way Hollywood filmmakers portray killers. Steve Railsback does a fantastic job of portraying the psychotic Ed Gein as does Carrie Snodgrass as Gein's fanatical mother, Augusta. This is the definitive film on Ed Gein. It presents the truth and it provides the horrific facts of his crimes without excessive gore or explicit scenes. If you are looking for a cheap thrill or enjoy seeing 200 gallons of blood spilled over the course of a movie, this is not the film for you. Choose one of the many films with characters based on Ed Gein, such as Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs and Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Disturbing and unpleasant
Added 7/31/2009
The Bottom Line:
Ed Gein deserves points for making a concerted effort not to sensationalize or exploit the vile deeds of its titular character, but between the gross-out material and the ham-handed Freudian psychology (though admittedly in real life Eddy Gein had some mother issues) the movie just isn't very good and certainly isn't entertaining; there are few movies I regret watching, but this one came close.
2/4
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Disturbing
Added 2/21/2009
This movie was disturbing and hard to watch. The director gave us a look into the troubled mind of a serial killer, instead of trying to shock us with gore.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
The 1st thing you have to ask yourself is: are you interested about real psycho killers? do you like psychology? If your answer is Yes to both questions then you will like this movie. Special effects are bad, it looks like one of those cheap movies with inexperienced actors. these are the bad things. Now, the good things: it's the history about one of the most important psychopath in the world. it's almost funny, because this man is considered a psychopath but he only killed a few people comparing him with the others. This is the Ed Gein's mental file on video. I love it so much because I had to study his personality when I was in high school, so I got so excited when I saw this release.
Talking about technical DVD details. it has good quality video and sound. the DVD content is: Trailer, spanish subtitles and, of course, the chapter breaks. Nothing special but actors/actress did a good work on this one. Remember your answer to the questions at the beginning of this review if you want to buy it.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Dramatically quite good; factually inaccurate
Added 10/11/2009
As a resident of Wisconsin, I finally decided to rent Chuck Parello's depiction of the Ed Gein story, written by Stephen Johnson. It's a well-made film about a grisly subject, and Messrs. Parello & Johnson chose to stay away from gory scenes that would seem to accompany such a narrative. That was a relief. It's a good suspense film, with some fine acting, especially Steve Railsback as the doomed Ed, and a great performance from Sally Champlin as the good-time girl bartender. Fine support from all, and I particularly liked Craig Zimmerman as Pete, Ed's drinkin' pal. As a low-budget effort, first released in Germany as "In the Light of the Moon", I was quite riveted by the level of intensity that was created. I was 8 years old when I first heard about Ed Gein, and a young mind can absorb a lot. There are terrific inaccuracies regarding the details, but I'm sure the families of those affected had something to do with that. It was the death of hardware store owner Mrs. Worden that finally alerted the police to Gein's capture. Gein was found legally insane and confined to Mendota State Hospital, where he would bay at the moon; I was a student at UW~Madison during that time. References to Gein were commonplace. As I said, I was aware of Mr. Gein's story, and the film has changed a lot of the facts. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Carrie Snodgrass (as Gein's crazy, abusive Bible-thumping mother). She'd drive anyone over the edge. It's a triumph of control and precision. I've always liked her. It's a good film. Kids probably won't get all the fantasy weirdness, which the director and writer tried to get across. No blood and gore; rather a straight-forward narrative that really should be told. No DVD extras at all, except for a trailer. Comments from the cast & crew would've been appreciated.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
ED GEIN: NO NEED TO EXAGGERATE---THE TRUTH IS ENOUGH!
Added 9/17/2009
Ed Gein is an interesting, well-made film based on an incredibly disturbed man whose story has literally changed the way Hollywood filmmakers portray killers. Steve Railsback does a fantastic job of portraying the psychotic Ed Gein as does Carrie Snodgrass as Gein's fanatical mother, Augusta. This is the definitive film on Ed Gein. It presents the truth and it provides the horrific facts of his crimes without excessive gore or explicit scenes. If you are looking for a cheap thrill or enjoy seeing 200 gallons of blood spilled over the course of a movie, this is not the film for you. Choose one of the many films with characters based on Ed Gein, such as Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs and Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Disturbing and unpleasant
Added 7/31/2009
The Bottom Line:
Ed Gein deserves points for making a concerted effort not to sensationalize or exploit the vile deeds of its titular character, but between the gross-out material and the ham-handed Freudian psychology (though admittedly in real life Eddy Gein had some mother issues) the movie just isn't very good and certainly isn't entertaining; there are few movies I regret watching, but this one came close.
2/4
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
