"The most grotesque murderer in U.S. history" was the archetype for the terrifying villain in horror films. This archetype is now being addressed by Netflix-i.
By: Ethan Smallman / The Telegraph
Translation: Telegrafi.com
You may not immediately recognize the name, but you certainly will recognize the crimes. Ed Gein was a serial killer and grave robber in the 1950s who set the standard for 20th-century horror films. In yet another screen adaptation of his incredibly terrifying story - this time set for release in Netflix, as part of the anthology monster [Monster] by Ryan Murphy - that's all you need to know about "The Butcher of Plainfield."
Edward Gein - pronounced to rhyme with mean - was a farmer from Painefield, Wisconsin, when he hit the headlines in 1957 after the headless body of 58-year-old Bernice Worden was found hanging by her heels in a small building on his property.
When authorities searched his property, they discovered a house of horrors that would lead to Gein being labeled “the most grotesque necrophiliac murderer in U.S. history” and later as “the Martha Stewart of serial killers” (referring to the American queen of home improvement).
A police officer searches Gein's looted kitchen, where authorities found skulls Source: Bettmann
Ten human skulls were found in his house, some hidden in boxes, others on the ends of his bed. Also found were a belt made of nipples, masks made from human faces, and a suit, corset, and tights made from women's skin (Gein admitted to wearing them before dancing on his farm in the moonlight). He had also made bowls from human skulls and used human skin to cover several chairs, as well as making a lampshade and a wastepaper basket.
Worden’s head had been preserved in a bag, and after her heart was found near the kitchen stove, the district attorney, Earl Kileen, said: “It appears to be a case of cannibalism.” The killer was described in a report at the time as “a 51-year-old bachelor with tired eyes and slumped shoulders.” It was later revealed that Gein, raised by an abusive father and a controlling mother, fell apart after his mother’s death, and he was a recluse who enjoyed reading violent magazines and digging up bodies from local cemeteries. However, he was considered so harmless by the locals that they hired him as a nanny.
What happened to him?
Gein eventually confessed to killing two women - Worden in 1957 and Mary Hogan, a tavern owner, in 1954. Police concluded that he sought victims who resembled his deceased mother, with whom he was obsessed and “felt he had the power to bring her back to life.” He was diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia and was not deemed fit to stand trial until 1968. He was found guilty only of Worden’s murder, although he was suspected of killing seven others and admitted to robbing about a dozen other graves, mostly of middle-aged women.
James Buddy Day was the director of the 2023 television documentary series, Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein [Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein], which featured newly discovered audio recordings of Gein speaking to authorities on the night he was arrested. Day said: “You can hear that he’s a simple, gentle, quiet Midwestern farmer who understands he’s a monster but doesn’t understand why or how he became one, and he almost cooperates with the authorities to make some sense of himself.”
Gein spent the rest of his life in a psychiatric hospital, where he died in 1984, at the age of 77.
The birth of the American nightmare
Gein's case would become the model for some of cinema's most memorable horrors. Los Angeles Times estimates the number of films based on his story at 40, saying: "In his own strange way, the late Wisconsin farmer Ed Gein has probably inspired more memorable Hollywood films than Joan of Arc or Billy the Kid."
At the top of the list is the movie Psycho [Psycho] by Alfred Hitchcock (1960), based on the 1959 novel of the same title by Robert Bloch. Both Gein and the protagonist Psychos, Norman Bates, were loners who mourned authoritarian mothers and, in a way, sought to become women (Bates wore his mother’s clothes). Bloch said the story centered on “the idea that the man who lives next door to you can be a monster, invisible even in the gossipy microcosm of a small town.”
British actor Charlie Hunnam portrays Gein in the upcoming Netflix series "Monster: The Ed Gein Story"Source: Netflix
Leatherface, the cannibal killer played by Gunnar Hansen in the film Texas Chainsaw Massacre [The Texas Chain Saw Massacre] from 1974 - whose poster said "What happens is real" - was also modeled after Gein. So was Buffalo Bill in the film The Silence of the Lambs [The Silence of the Lambs] in 1991 (based on the 1988 novel by Thomas Harris). This serial killer - played by Ted Levine and named after a 19th-century American hunter known for his buffalo hunting - kills young women and skins them to make a "woman's costume".
Gein himself is played by Steve Railsback in the film. In the moonlight [In the Light of the Moon, 2000]. While in the film Hitchcock [Hitchcock] in 2012, he was played by Michael Wincott (while director Hitchcock was played by Anthony Hopkins, who had brought Hannibal Lecter to the screen in The Silence of the Lambs).
Some scholars have linked “anti-trans rhetoric” to the way Gein was portrayed as a cross-dresser and to the characters who were inspired by him. An article by Washington Post-it in 2022 said: "For decades, popular culture has relied on assumptions about the trans community, implying that there is something different, even disturbing and dangerous, about them. The origin of this stereotype, most likely, is Ed Gein."
The Cult of Ed Gein
Even beyond the movies, Gein has long been a cult figure. His crimes have been the subject of songs by several heavy metal bands, including the song Dead Skin Mask from 1990 by the band Slayer. In 2001 it was reported that there were 182 websites dedicated to him.
Today, fans can visit “The Ed Gein Experience” at the Graveface Museum in Savannah, Georgia. It includes a recreation of Gein’s home as well as “previously unpublished photographs from the crime scene and the only remaining piece of evidence from the case” (a key chain made from a lock of human hair). The museum’s official website informs potential visitors: “If you feel unwell or faint during the tour, you may leave or notify the tour guide if you think you may faint.” One tourist attraction that never materialized was Gein’s own ranch. It burned down in 1958, a year after his arrest, amid rumors that it had been sold to a buyer who wanted to turn it into a “house of horrors” museum.
Some Gein fans are so dedicated that they want to own a piece of history. Hamish McAlpine, producer of In the moonlight, said: "There's even an Ed Gein fan club. You can buy things related to Ed Gein. You can buy Ed Gein busts, Ed Gein sneakers and even Ed Gein calendars."
In 1958, a dealer at the fair paid $760 for Gein's 1949 Ford. In 2006, eBay stopped an auction of the killer's land, where the seller was asking $250. The company said it violated its policy prohibiting the sale of murder-related memorabilia. A biography of Gein, subtitled America's Strangest Killer [America's Most Bizarre Murderer] and signed by him, sold for $2,500 in 2017, while posters with his arrest photo are still being sold on sites like Etsy.
Return to the screen with a British element
Now he's taking Hollywood's attention again, this time in an eight-part series on Netflix: Monster: The Story of Ed Genin [Monster: The Ed Gein StoryCo-creators Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan have dealt with the notorious American killers twice before in the series. monster, The Story of Jeffrey Dahmer [The Jeffrey Dahmer Story] and The Story of Lyle and Eric Menendez [The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story].
Actor Charlie Hunnam, who resembles GeinSource: Netflix
Newcastle-born actor Charlie Hunnam stars in the lead role. He is supported by British actors such as Tom Hollander (as the director of Psychos, Alfred Hitchcock), Olivia Williams (as Hitchcock's wife) and Lesley Manville (as Worden, Gein's last victim).
Laurie Metcalf plays his mother, while American actress Addison Rae - star of TikTok-turned-pop singer - plays the teenager who mysteriously disappears. Hunnam, who bears a resemblance to Gein, was cast after Murphy saw a paparazzi photo of him. "I said to myself, 'Oh, he looks haunted.' There was something very 'Eddie' about him," Murphy said. To which Hunnam replied, "I must have been having a bad day." /Telegraph/
