The same year as Texas Chainsaw, there was another version of the Ed Gein story, one that stuck closer to the truth than any other existing version (except for having to change the names). That doesn’t necessarily make for a better film, but taking the time to provide psychological reasoning for all of Gein’s crimes – not just murder, but grave robbing and an an obsessive fascination with death and corpses – makes for a more unsettling and uneasy journey into the dark side. Most people will probably prefer cinematic sensationalism over reality in this case, but I have to admire this film’s ability to create scenes closer to the true meaning of horror.
That’s not to say this is all dry and dour docu-drama. There’s a narrator who often steps into the film or lingers in the hallway to fill in some of the details. Also, getting into the reasoning of Ed (called Ezra), there’s some absurdist humor and campy comedy. It’s confined to 20 minutes in the middle, but the film is barely recommendable during this portion. In the last 30 minutes, it makes a remarkable recovery, with some of the best moments of 70s Horror.
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