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Ed Gein: The Butcher Of Plainfield (2007)

DVD Cover (Lions Gate)
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Overall Rating 37%
Overall Rating
Ranked #7,196
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Connections: Person: Ed Gein

Inspired by the true story of one of the most gruesome killers in American history. Now, years after inspiring "Psycho's" Norman Bates, "The Silence Of The Lambs'" Buffalo Bill and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre's" Leatherface, the story of real life serial killer Ed Gein is told once again. Nicknamed "The Butcher Of Plainfield," Gein was responsible for a rash of gory murders that sent shock waves through his rural Wisconsin town, and across America, in the late 1950's. Prepare to enter the evil mind and twisted world of "The Butcher Of Plainfield." --IMDb
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Review by Chad
Added: December 3, 2007
Although I try not to make a habit of glorifying serial killers, horror lovers can't help but be just a little grateful that something snapped inside the mind of a man named Ed Gein during the fifties. You see, Gein was a man who decided to murder numerous people (there are conflicting reports over just how many he did kill), but this man was no ordinary murderer; no sir, Gein enjoyed wearing the flesh of his victims and creating trinkets out of various pieces of their bodies, and when he couldn't get enough fresh meat, he took to stealing corpses from the local graveyard to add to his macabre collection... and if that wasn't enough, he was also a necrophiliac with severe mother issues. Gein's legacy would go on to inspire numerous films (with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Psycho, and The Silence of the Lambs being but a few of them), and today, we find ourselves with a film that makes no "bones" about where it takes its inspiration from.

Obviously, Gein himself (played here by Kane Hodder) is the focal point of the film, but there's also another piece of the storyline revolving around Deputy Bobby Mason (Shawn Hoffman), his girlfriend Erica (Adrienne Frantz), and yes, even Bobby's mother Vera (Priscilla Barnes). These two sides of the coin get equal time, with Gein's side showing us how mentally screwed up he is and the brutal murders that he commits, while Mason's side shows us how attached he is to the two women in his life while also showing how he attempts to discover what is happening to the residents of the small little town of Plainfield, Wisconsin. There's actually not much more to be said about the storyline, since that's basically how the two sides play out until they conflict with one another and the credits roll. Also, Michael Berryman makes a brief cameo appearance.

This is going to be a difficult film to review, as I'm sort of torn on what I thought about it when all was said and done. You see, judging the film based purely on what I saw on my television, I enjoyed it; it was a pretty good movie, certainly far better than some of the reviews out there would lead you to believe, and of course, seeing Kane Hodder in a role like this is always a treat for horror fans. On the other hand, I was sort of disappointed with the film when I thought about what it could have been. I mean, we're dealing with a man who dug up half-decayed bodies, had sex with them, kept his mother's corpse locked up in his house and talked to her as though she were still alive, made a belt out of female nipples, and of course, created a vest from the flesh of a woman's torso (complete with decaying breasts). Really, any aspiring filmmaker who wants to shock the world could simply use the Wikipedia entry on this man's life as their script, but the people responsible for Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield decided to change things around and shift a large portion of the attention on this deputy and his love life.

Again, I did enjoy the film as a standalone presentation and I don't think that it's fair to judge it based on what it could have been rather than what it actually was, but I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in this decision. This is far from a documentary on the man's life, and those of you looking for such will most likely be extremely disappointed (but you can check out Deranged if that's the sort of thing that you're in the market for). Now, with that out of the way, let's focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the film at hand, shall we?

First, the positive: Ed Gein is a fairly entertaining horror flick with plenty of everything that one has come to expect from the genre. We've got ourselves a believable, menacing villain, we've got the sympathetic hero, the love interest who gets herself into a whole lot of trouble, and of course, plenty of grisly deaths and disgustingly great gore. We've also got a storyline that moves along at a brisk pace and keeps the viewer interested from start to finish, and let us not forget that we've got Kane Freaking Hodder in the leading role. With the fanboy part of me placed firmly in check, I can safely say that Hodder brought a lot to this film, and in fact, his presence alone made the affair much more entertaining. I could go back to my earlier point about how this wasn't intended to be a documentary and discuss how Hodder is the polar opposite of how the real Gein looked and was built, but honestly, who cares when Hodder is the man in question?

On the negative side of things, I felt that too much attention was paid to the heroes of the film. While I can certainly understand wanting to give them more time than the villain so that the final showdown is more effective (after all, we want the audience to be attached to them, not the bad guy), I simply thought that the balance was extremely off. By the time the ending rolled around, I was actually rooting for Mason and his woman to get killed off as quickly as possible since I was flat-out sick of seeing them on my screen. The fact that both of them were, shall we say, less than stellar in their roles certainly didn't help matters, and this is coming from a fan of Adrienne Frantz (yes, I watch soaps from time to time - sue me).

Overall, your enjoyment of this film will be determined by what it is that you're looking for. If you're wanting an accurate portrayal of Ed Gein's life and deeds, you're going to be extremely disappointed with this release; if, however, you're simply looking for an entertaining horror flick about a serial killer who commits unspeakable crimes, you may very well enjoy this one. It's not a particularly excellent film, but it is entertaining when taken for what it is and nothing more. 6/10.
Crispy #1: Crispy - added January 14, 2011 at 7:50pm
Agreed, judging purely as a slasher flick it was pretty good, but it got a little hokey at the end. Absolutely loved the tree kill.
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