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Title: Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield (2007) Starring: Shawn Hoffman, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Frantz, Priscilla Barnes, and Michael Berryman Director: Michael Feifer Rating: R (Restricted) Runtime: 89 minutes Avg. Score: 3 Avg Score: Submit Comment Hits: 52

Review of Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield

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Comments for Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield

• Posted on 2008-01-13
  Not an accurate portrayal of Ed Gein
  
  Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield is the second film, (That I know of), dedicated to telling Ed Gein's infamous and grisly tale. While I felt that the first film released a few years back was alright, this one was just a flat out exaggeration and stretched the truth to make him seem like even more of a grisly human being.
  
  Here's some of the facts: Ed Gein, although renowned as an oddball, was found to be likable, harmless, and was trusted by his fellow residents of Plainfield, (about 700 residents). He was small, frail, and the evidence of his murders suggested that they were very quickly done and messy. He only admitted to two murders, spaced four years apart, and claimed the rest of his "collecion" was obtained from grave robbing. He did not exhibit any reclusive behavior until the passing of his mother and the government dismissing him of responsibility to upkeep his farm. These are just a few of the MANY facts that are completely ignored in the film.
  
  Here's the story of the movie: Ed Gein is a hulking, anti-social oddball who murders all three of his real-life based victims across the course of two days. The murder scenes portray him performing very drawn out and elaborate experimentations on his female victims while they are still alive, usually sporting a pair of slacks and a bloody butcher apron. His personality around his fellow towns people is mostly one of untrusting silence and irritability. The climax of the film is also inconsistent with the way his life of crime ended as far as his arrest and his cooperation with the police.
  
  Overall, the film seems like yet another attempt to cash in on the name of America's most infamous serial killer. The Butcher of Plainfield is an almost completely inaccurate portrayal of the character Ed Gein and the events of his life as well as coming off as genuinely boring as a horror film in general. Truthfully, I'd just recommend reading the book Deviant as it is the most accurate. If you have to see one of the movies, go for the other one.
  Score: 2
• Posted on 2007-08-28
  Too much "poetic license" here
  
  Like other reviewers, I could not accept Hodder as Ed Gein. He's just too big, strong and scary. He looks like a killer. Nothing like the real Ed Gein.
  
  I also didn't expect the gore. If you like bloody body parts movies, you might like this one--it's pretty graphic and sadistic.
  
  From what I know about Gein, he was crazy, not sadistic. He was trying to recreate his mother, not terrorize and torture other women.
  
  The real story of Ed Gein is one of sadness and insanity, not of pleasure killing and meanness. I was hoping to find out more about Gein--particularly his prior life--he doesn't fit the typical serial killer profile, but is one of the most notorious serial killers. I expected this movie would help unlock some of the mystery, and it fell really short. In fact, it added more myth than anything else.
  
  
  Score: 2
• Posted on 2007-07-09
  Not true to story of Gein
  
  Warning may contain spoilers. Very vague spoilers ahead...
  When I first heard that Kane Hodder was playing Ed Gein, I became excited. I thought he would be a very scary Gein. However I was very very wrong, This movie was okay, but it was not accurate in the portrayal of Ed Gein. First off, he did not have an accomplice that helped him rob graves who he later killed because he wanted to stop. They never caught him with a live girl and the cops did not chase him through the woods and put a gun to his head, only to be talked out of shooting him by the very girl he had kidnapped. If you want a good Ed Gein movie see the one with Steve Railsback. Buy it here. Ed Gein. It ruled.
  Score: 2
• Posted on 2007-05-12
  A POWERFUL FILM
  
  Strong performances, solid directing, riveting story... If you can handle the violence, this film won't disappoint you...
  Score: 5
• Posted on 2007-04-28
  When Will They Stop These Lousy Serial Killer Films?
  
  I'll be covering ground already covered by previous reviewers, but hell, I wanna put my two cents in. This is another movie using a famous serial killer's name with the sole purpose of selling a horror film rather than telling a docudrama. Of course this doesn't stop the film makers from slapping the ol' "Based on a True Story" tag on in the beginning. "Based" being the key word here. 95% of this film is fiction, just so you know. Don't think this is how it all went down. I may be no expert on Ed Gein or anything, but I've read two books on the case, and I am able to smell the B.S., and there is alot of it in this film. Oh sure, one or two things may be accurate, but not the important stuff. This is a true crime case run through the cliched horror movie machine. Watching this strictly as a horror film is a disappointment as well considering it is so cliched, and you feel like you've seen it many times before(and you have). Everything's over dramatized for the sake of the viewers. Subplots and characters added, and of course the climax has to be so much more...climactic. There's an effective scene or two here and there, but wouldn't it be nice to actually watch a true docudrama about the Ed Gein case? You'd have to make it a suspense/drama to do it right, not do it as a horror movie. Kinda like that Ted Bundy film, The Deliberate Stranger with Mark Harmon. But exploiting a real crime to make a schlock horror film is insulting to the audience as well as those who were victims or affected by the real crime. What's the point of a movie like this if you're not gonna do it right? There are so many horror/suspense films that have taken their ideas from the Gein case anyway, so why not do something unique if you're gonna go to the source? Hell, just look at the cover! Obviously the intent(and influence) of this film was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, not the Ed Gein story. I like Kane Hodder, what healthy, God fearing American doesn't? But the casting was obviously to lure us horror fans as opposed to being realistic. Same goes for Michael Berryman, who's given the thankless role of Gein's graverobbing partner. WTF?? How's that for an inaccuracy? Though Berryman may be the second name in the credits, his role is a cameo. But I will say, I dare you not to laugh out loud when Gein hooks his corpse up to the back of his truck and drives away dragging him. Basically, this is a waste of time for both true crime fans as well as horror fans. You really want something that will make your skin crawl? Try reading an Ed Gein book or watching a documentary. Fictionalized Gein films have absolutely nothing on reality for horror.
  Score: 1