I seldom watch movies from the 1970s anymore because the special effects, if any, are quite dated and the stories, whilst possibly novel for the time, are usually fairly common by 2016/2017. However, I was intrigued by Deranged (1974) because it sounded like one of those movies that would be as intellectually stimulating as it was creepy. Yes, I wanted to watch something creepy but smart. Don’t we all? Anyhow, I have mixed feelings but leaning toward the positive (otherwise I probably wouldn’t even have bothered to write the review). The story is supposedly based around Ed Gein who was a grave robber (or body snatcher) and murderer. You can read more about him at the link I just provided, if you’re interested.

Roberts Blossom plays Ed (under the name Ezra Cobb, for the movie) and he plays it very well. Basically, he’s a single guy (about the age of 50) who had to take care of his bedridden mother. When she died, he couldn’t take it basically and a year later dug her up to be with him back in the house again (macabre, I know). Since her body was rotting away, he figured he could “fix” her Frankenstein-style by using fresher body parts taken from recently deceased people. The man was obviously mentally ill even though no one around him suspected he could actually be up to such things. As they say, it’s often the person you least suspect. Soon enough, Ed realizes that nothing is fresher than a live woman (a young one, naturally) and his base instincts come into play as well.

Apparently, his mother warned him that “all women are evil” more or less and that he should trust none of them even though she suspected he would succumb to his male urges sooner or later (even in his 50s, apparently). This haunts Ed but doesn’t stop him from gaining what appears to be some kind of sexual pleasure from his victims as well (even though I doubt he ever really went all the way with them). Now, the modern MGTOW (men going their own way) community would actually tend to agree with Ed’s mother about the nature of (most) women but they have more practical solutions for dealing with this sort of thing (including loneliness, which must have plagued Ed as well).

If not for the attractive women (which may explain the movie poster as well), I think this movie would have lost some of its appeal even though it is by no means a “sexploitation” flick. In fact, there is hardly any nudity at all and certainly nothing frontal and below the waist which is fairly common in modern slasher movies (we’re talking full frontal male nudity too). This was basically a movie intended to be factually accurate and even has the reporter/journalist who originally covered the case introducing certain scenes. Ed eventually screws up by taking it a little too far. He murders a young woman in a store (after having gotten away capturing and murdering a previous waitress in a bar, played by the still lovely Micki Moore, earlier on) and then proceeds to cut her up like a pig.

Again, if this was a mere sexploitation flick, I’m sure there is much enjoyment he could have derived from the young woman’s lovely body before killing her (perhaps he did but they left that to our imagination). It would be “free pizza” as Keanu Reeves (in Knock, Knock) might say. Anyway, the trail and mess he creates doesn’t go unnoticed for long. Far less would be required by today’s standards before a dozen officers would be knocking at the killer’s door. As I mentioned, this is one of the many reasons these older movies might not appeal as much to modern audiences living in a post-CSI world. Ed is eventually found out and the movie ends on an uncertain note as to whether he is killed (vigilante justice) or basically imprisoned (insanity), like the real case of Ed Gein.

A rather sad story of a man who was too attached to his mother and failed to find female companionship which may have “set him right” (or pushed him over the edge as well). Personally, the movie was fairly entertaining and it was very interesting to see how women were like over 40 years ago (with and without their clothes on); and how they interacted with men. One thing I learned from this movie is that times surely change, but insanity stays the same. Crazy is crazy. You can never really tell about people or what’s going through their minds. So young women, especially, need to be careful or they might just end up upside down and naked with a crazy old man ogling at their lady bits (before he cuts open and eats them).