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.
