Connect with us

News

Ed Gein: How the Notorious Psychopath Inspired Some of Horror’s Greatest Villains

Published

on

Ed Gein, born August 27, 1906, is perhaps one of the most notoriously deranged maniacs in American history.

While we all recognize the household names of Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and John Wayne Gacy Jr., their legacies have a shorter reach. Gein’s crimes were so horrific that they went on to inspire some of the most recognizable villains in pop culture.

Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre)

While the film is marketed as a true story, I’m sorry to say that there was no real Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The “real events” are actually referring to Ed Gein’s farmhouse of horrors in rural Wisconsin.

Gein confessed to killing two women, but his reputation grew from his disturbing fascination with human taxidermy. When he was taken by authorities, his house was decorated with human skulls on the bedposts and carved into bowls. Lampshades, a wastebasket, and chair coverings were made from human skin, and it doesn’t end there. Leatherface’s mask was inspired by Gein’s own choice of adornments.

While Leatherface is seen as the main antagonist of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series, he does take a lot of influence and direction from his family. If we can get any indication from the trailer, we should see more of this in the upcoming 2017 film. Leatherface’s dependent relationship with his toxic family could have been inspired by Gein’s own challenges with his mother.

What challenges, you ask? Well, I’m glad you brought it up.

Norman Bates (Psycho)

Prior to his crimes, Gein had an unhealthy relationship with his domineering mother, Augusta. She raised her two sons – Ed and his older brother, Henry – mostly in isolation, punishing them when they attempted to make friends at school. The boys were often abused by their mother, who was convinced that they were destined to become failures like their alcoholic father.

Augusta vehemently preached to Ed and Henry about the innate immorality of the world – she believed that all women (herself excluded) were prostitutes and instruments of the devil. Every day Augusta would read to the boys from the Old Testament – her usual selections were graphic stories about death, murder, and divine retribution.

Naturally, these lessons had a great effect on young Ed. After all, a boy’s best friend is his mother.

Horror writer Robert Bloch drew inspiration from Gein’s maternal obsession to build the prototype for the modern-day slasher. Norman Bates “transformed” into his mother to carry out his violent acts, much in the way that Gein wanted to create a woman suit to become his mother – to “crawl into her skin”.

Which brings me to our next character.

Buffalo Bill (Silence of the Lambs)

Jame Gumb (aka Buffalo Bill) was inspired by a few different serial killers, including Ted Bundy’s modus operandi (he would pretend to be injured to seek assistance from his victims) and Edmund Kemper (who killed his grandparents as a teen, “just to see what it felt like”).

Gein obtained “trophies” from the bodies of recently deceased middle-aged women who he thought resembled his mother, probably in an attempt to remain close to her. It’s said that shortly after his mother’s death, Gein wanted a sex change, not just to become a woman, but to become his mother.

Like Gein, Gumb made a “woman suit” for himself using human skin. He, too, wanted to take the identity of a woman, but as an extremely misguided reaction to his perceived gender dysphoria, misattributed due to his intense self-hatred. In the book The Silence of the Lambs, Jack Crawford explains that Gumb is “not in fact transsexual but merely believes himself to be”. Gumb didn’t just want to change his gender, he wanted a transformative rebirth.

Although there are numerous elements that contribute to the unnerving terror of Buffalo Bill, the number one thing that stands out in everyone’s memory is the woman suit. Ed Gein pioneered that look, and it’s not a good one, but the pure horror of it effectively crawls under your skin (so to speak).

It’s a terrifying thought, but sometimes the worst things we can imagine have already been done.

 

If you’re not creeped out yet, check out these Ed Gein inspired creations

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

Published

on

Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

Movies

Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

Published

on

In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading

News

Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

Published

on

Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'

Continue Reading