Psycho: The Lost tapes of Ed Gein

Ed Gein, often considered the prototypical serial killer before the concept gained widespread recognition, has left an indelible mark on popular culture. His gruesome actions have served as inspiration for numerous movies, shows, and books, most notably contributing to the creation of the Norman Bates archetype.

This series delves into Gein's early life, shedding light on his upbringing and the dynamics with his parents, with a particular focus on his relationship with his mother. However, the narrative takes a somewhat scattered approach, jumping from one intriguing event to another, interspersed with macabre commentary from various bloggers and fanboys. The excessive enthusiasm displayed by these individuals upon hearing Gein's long-lost voice recordings from police interviews can be a bit overwhelming.

Perhaps a more effective approach would have been a dramatization that carefully pieces together the story from its beginnings, allowing the events to unfold without the overshadowing influence of overly exuberant fan perspectives. Not worth it.

...as I found this 4-part documentary on Ed Gein VERY interesting! Sure, the guys from Last Podcast from the Left are annoying as hell but everyone else interviewed here has some interesting and informative things to say about this infamous man. Sure, I've seen all of the archival footage of Ed and know his story (found Harold Schechter's book "Deviant" to be excellent as well as a few other books) but the interviews of the current and former Plainfield residents, seeing the cemetery and the Gein family graves, seeing the town itself were all new to me.

In Chapter 4 now where the documentary is discussing "Psycho" (and will go on to "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "The Silence of the Lambs" I hope).

VERY interesting altogether!! Read the reviews but check this film out if you are at all interested in who spawned Norman Bates, Leatherface, and Buffalo Bill.

Had to put a small review after two episodes as I can't understand the low rating. If you like true crime then this is a good watch. They're not telling you anything we don't already know as such, it's just much more detailed and a 'deep dive into Geins crimes, mindset and family history. Also the impact on this quiet backwater town in Wisconsin which is forever known as 'Geinsville'. You also get to hear Geins voice for first time which is interesting. Anyway so far so good for me.

*edit* now watched all 4 episodes and it did dip slightly. The first episode remains the best one by far. That been said its still worth your time and a broad take on both him, his crimes and the impact the crimes made on cinema.

First off, the three podcasters in this are really, really annoying, laughing and joking around about Ed Gein's murders and laughing about the victims...

Let's just all admit that podcasting is not a genuine form of media when clowns like this are included in a documentary that has actual experts, from people in the town to the author of what's the quintessential Ed Gein biography...

Why these podcaster clowns are included is a mystery, but it's probably because the filmmakers felt that most young people can relate to young jokers, or something...

As for the titular interview tapes: they take about ten lines from Gein and try making a four-part doc with them, and that's a tall order...

With horror-movie music and a few shots making Gein look formidable, it's really the case of taking who's more a backwoods Barney Fife type than a Norman Bates or Buffalo Bill and making a contrived terrorizing study, which doesn't gel here at all...

However it's not a terrible documentary as you do learn some things about Gein... but learning/educating audiences isn't what passes for documentaries anymore...

For True Crime, books are always the best bet because there aren't any repetitive facts, opinions, speculations or photos, and best yet, no annoyingly childish podcasters.

I was really looking forward to this mini series but am kind of disappointed. Actually hearing the bits of recordings of Ed answering questions was really the only parts of this worth watching. The first episode basically goes over everything and gives very few clips of his actual voice and you can hardly hear his voice but somehow you can hear the detective clearly. The second and third episodes were just like the first but with a few more audio clips. They have chopped the tapes and you'll hear one response and then in the next episode you'll find out it was actually the response to a different question and you don't really know if the answers they put up are from that actual conversation and I do not know why they would have mixed the recordings up like that. False accusations mentioned such as a perversion with his mother and a heart on the stove. I did not care for the podcast group they had as speakers. They were unnecessarily vulgar and making jokes, laughing and being disrespectful, childish and very inappropriate in their comments. Very few speakers with actual credibility, and half of them almost seemed to have a fascination with Ed Gein himself rather than the psychology behind his behavior. I felt like this could have been one film. Very repetitive and would have been better with less random discussion by irrelevant people and more of the true consistent recordings and actual photos or video recordings. Full of peoples different interpretations of who Gein was, disappointed.