a_chinn Weird low budget AIP retelling of the Ed Gein case, though Roberts Blossom's serial killer character here has been renamed Ezra Cobb (Gein was actually still alive when this film was made). If you're not families with the Gein case, it's the same case that inspired "Psycho" (Gein dug up and taxidermied his mother) and also "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (Gein used human bones for bowls and decorations and made masks from female victims' skin, among other even worse of horrors). If the word deranged describes anyone, Gein would be it. This movie version takes a docudrama approach that doesn't really work, although Blossom's performance, despite a terrible script and dialogue, manages to make Ezra Cobb a compelling character and very nearly elevates this film above B-picture drive-in camp. And although the film is for the most part amateurishly made, it does have some moments that are truly chilling, such as (SPOILER ALERT!) when a woman discovers his Era's room of corpses and him dressed in a woman's skin, or the film's finale when the authorities find Cobb eating a very bloody dinner at his dinner table. Overall, this is a poorly made film, but Blossoms, who for a majority of his career was relegated to supporting parts, gives a very strong performance that transcends the many many weak points of the film.

Bryan Kluger Real life serial killer Ed Gein has to be the one of the most notorious and sadistic serial killers to ever walk the face of the Earth. Countless stories and films have been made about him, or at least modeled after him. 'Silence of the Lambs', 'Psycho', and 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' was based off of Ed Gein's killings. Not only did Ed Gein kill his victims, but he cut their skin off and wore their skin on his body.He carved them up and took their organs and bones and decorated his house with them, and even made furniture with the body parts. Gein was into some other depraved acts as well, but we won't get into that. In 1974, 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' was released, and changed the horror genre forever. It gave us a look at a crazy family in Texas that killed and tortured a variety of people. It started with a narration by John Larroquette, telling us that what we are about to see is a true story.Even the movie looked like it could have been a hand-held documentary, and it gave the world Leatherface. That same year of 1974, a much lesser known film, known as 'Deranged: The Confessions of a Necrophile' was also released. While 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' only took a little bit from the life of Ed Gein, mostly being how he killed and tortured people, 'Deranged' pretty much followed closely the serial killer in his life before he started his killing spree, his motive to start, and him committing the heinous acts.One of the only things that was changed were the names, as we follow a farmer by the name of Ezra Cobb, played by Roberts Blossom. You wouldn't recognize Blossom here, but you'd remember him as Old Man Marly from 'Home Alone'. Ezra lives with his dying mother (Cosette Lee) on the farm, as she constantly yells at him about the evilness and sins of all women. After his mother dies and he buries her, Ezra starts to loose his mind. Several months later, he digs up his mother's corpse and decides to but her bones back together to make her a full person again, but he needs skin. That's when he starts digging up other corpses and soon starts murdering fresh people and "experimenting" with their insides to further is creations and decorate his house.This film is quite suspenseful and has a good flow to it, never slowing down to a crawl, but what makes this movie work most is the character development we see with Ezra. There is even a documentary feel to it, as a "reporter" enters the screen to narrate what's happening on screen. It's a fantastic addition to the storytelling in this film. In so many movies like this, we only get the crazy murderous people from the start, never understanding why they do what they do. Here, we get a glimpse of what a terrible life Ezra had under the clutches of his sadistic and bible thumping mother. You begin to sympathize with him, and that makes him have a human quality throughout, rather than the monster he really was.Blossom does an amazing job conveying Ezra's transformation into a killer, as well as showing those tender and raw emotions in dealing with his evil mother. It's a truly satisfying performance, as is the whole film. The blood, guts, and gore are magnificent too, as makeup legend Tom Savini was the makeup artist on this movie, making this his debut film to work on. 'Deranged' is a long lost film that most people don't know about that follows one of the most vicious serial killers that ever lived, and it holds up through the test of time as well as can stand with the other iconic movies mentioned in this review.

grybop I'm not entirely sure that Deranged is what it claims it is - a thriller. There's nothing too frightening happening on screen and the agony is zero level, bar two scenes. Then, there is the narrator. He destroys everything. If he'd just made a brief appearance at the beginning, he'd be tolerable, but no, he had to explain everything over and even enter the same scene as the killer at some point. Really bad direction choice. The acting was awful - apart from Blossom, who was simply outstanding. His character was probably not meant to be scary really, but rather what the title says, deranged. Blossom's expressions, moves and mannerisms are spot-on, at least I was convinced. Basically, Blossom's performance is the only reason to see this.

brando647 DERANGED is exactly what you'd expect for a 70's horror film: campy, creepy, and entertaining despite its obsoleteness. The movie was a pet project for successful concert promoter Tom Karr and, for a while, it remained the most accurate portrayal of American serial killer Ed Gein. The names and locations have been changed and a bit of artistic license has been taken, but the core of the Gein story remains intact. The film is portrayed as a special news report or some sort of P.S.A. with host Tom Sims (Leslie Carlson) popping in every so often to feed us more details and transition to the next phase of madness. Ezra Cobb (Roberts Blossom, and the film's Gein character) lives on a farm in small-town Wisconsin with his ailing mother (Cosette Lee) who fills his head with Bible-born hatred for the sins of the world and, more specifically, the women that perpetuate them. When his mother dies, Ezra's mind snaps. He maintains some semblance of normal life with an ongoing friendship with the Kootz family and the occasional odd job, but there's a new Ezra that the town doesn't see. He removes his mother's corpse from the graveyard, brings her home, and patches her up with parts from other bodies. As his madness deepens, his obsession shifts to finding a wife and the women of this small town are in for trouble. This is a great bit of 70's exploitation with the scantily clad women and horror/violence that we've come to expect.I love that this film wastes no time in trying to gross out its audience. The sole purpose of this film is to make its viewers squirm, and it succeeds. When Ma Cobb is dying, the filmmakers were sure to give us a stomach-churning close up of the blood and thick green soup sputtering from her mouth. It doesn't sound like much, but it's a pretty gnarly sight. It only gets better as the film continues and Ezra discovers his passion for turning human body parts into trinkets. Granted, this was an exploitation film from the mid-70s with a mere $200,000 budget so the effects aren't exactly the greatest. The blood effects look like thick red paint and the corpses and bones bend and flex. None of it really comes off as real or threatening to modern audiences but I imagine people in the 70s might've been more affected. There are still some parts that can give me the creeps; when Mary is searching Ezra's house and comes to Ma's room, loaded with dressed up corpses, and finds him blending in among them with a skin mask…it's probably the creepiest scene in the entire movie. Honestly, this movie isn't going to do much to scare a contemporary audience but it's fun.Roberts Blossom as Ezra is the only one here that seems to be taking his job seriously. He actually does a really awesome job. He gives Ezra extra charisma as the town's simpleton and, for a while, Ezra's too dumb/naïve to really hate (of course, that's only until he starts carving up women). Blossom's performance is the only thing that really keeps this moving from being your average throwaway exploitation movie. He's stupid and slowly goes insane without going too over the top. The majority of the supporting cast, on the other hand, fail. Cosette Lee is laughable in her one and only real scene. It's a shame because it's her death in the beginning of the film and it's supposed to be a moment where the audience learns just how messed up Ezra's upbringing was. Lee, Marian Waldman, and Robert McHeady are the film's biggest culprit of upping the camp. I just wish the movie had taken itself more seriously as a whole (but keep Tom Sims) and think it might've been a better movie for it.