Ed Gein: The Butcher Of Plainfield

Serial killers, serial killers, serial killers. What is it about serial killers that fascinate us? Well, if I was the Psychological Examination Guy, I might have an answer, or at least a clue. But, I'm the Bad Movie Guy, so while I don't know what makes us all fascinated by serial killers, I can point out some good movies to sate that fascination. And the movie this time is actually pretty good, I think it fits the bill perfectly. It's called Ed Gein: The Butcher Of Plainfield and it combines the best of the fact and the fantasy!



Now, if you don't know the story of Ed Gein, then you really need to catch up here. Ed Gein's real story has been turned into film after film after film. Movies like Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Silence Of The Lambs owe a great deal to this mental patient, but Ed Gein: The Butcher Of Plainfield combines the best of these movies while maintaining one foot in the reality, it's a blend that actually works very well, here's the story:

Ed Gein (played here brilliantly by Kane Hodder) is a weird guy to start with, but when his mother dies, he loses his last touchstone to reality and begins doing very strange things, like digging up the graves of recently dead women to make himself a suit from their skin. When Ed begins killing women in town, instead of digging them up, he comes up on the radar of local law enforcement who eventually capture him. The difference in this movie than other movies is that, while Gein is definitely the villian, he's played with a bit of sympathy here. The movie revolves around Bobby Mason, a deputy in Plainfield who's just starting his career. He's determined to find out what's happening in town when reports come in about women disappearing and grave-robbing. Through the course of the movie, Bobby's mother is taken by Gein and, after a car accident, his girlfriend is also taken. The movie revolves more around Mason and his path toward Gein than about Gein himself. The gore quotient isn't too high, but there's some here.

The real standout performance in the movie, however, is Hodder. For an actor who has really been pigeon-holed as Jason Voorhees, Kane brings an indefinable quality to Gein, he's not just a psycho-killer, there's a look in his eye that makes you almost understand that there's something going in behind them that you'll never really understand. I have to hand it to Mr. Hodder, I doubted his ability, but after this, I'm willing to admit that I was wrong and look forward to more substantial performances from him!!! I'm giving Ed Gein: The Butcher Of Plainfield four out of four cigars,

because, if you know the story there's enough of a difference here for you to enjoy, and if you've never heard of the grim Mr. Gein, then this is a good start for your exploration. So, until next time, when we'll discuss my own mother and why I keep her locked in the basement, remember that the best movies are bad movies!