Review and Comparison of the films-
Deranged (1974) and Ed Gein (2000)

Deranged (which I saw in double feature DVD form with Motel Hell) and Ed Gein, which I saw on Showtime Beyond are both films that are based on the murders commited by recluse Ed Gein. Other films that are loosely based on this man are Psycho and Texas Chainsaw Massacre (very loosely), as well as others. In Ed Gein, the character's name stays the same, but in Deranged, the maniac who starts to kill of the local residents of the small town he lives in is known as Ezra Cobb. In both films, Gein's mother is a religious fanatic who teaches her son that all women are basically evil, and that you should stay totally pure, and keep away from them no matter what. She dies, leaving Gein to himself, but he's never lived alone (tho he's probably in his 40's or 50's), so he...well, he basically goes nuts. He digs up his mother's body and puts her in her bed at home, talks to her, acts if tho she is still alive. In Ed Gein, he has constant flashbacks of his very rough life with his mother, being punished for thinking of women in "unpure" ways, and being read the same verse about wicked women from the bible. In Deranged, the movie action is interrupted every now and then by a reporter who narrates parts of the story. Gein ends up killing even more people in the small town, and he finally gets caught (as he did in real life, where he was found legally insane and institutionalized until his death.)

In comparing the two films, Ed Gein is definitely the better movie. Deranged was made nearly 30 years ago, and it's actually a pretty campy movie. The reporter who tells the story serves no point, and the character of Gein is more laughable than scary. In Gein, we see Ed as a real menace to society...this is a guy you would be scared of if you ran into him and he wasn't in a good mood. In Deranged, tho, he's just too over the top to be taken seriously, and it's almost as if you're watching a comedy of sorts. The Gein in the film Gein is much more human, whereas, the character in Deranged is too cartoonish...his actions are just too ludicrous to be believed.

As for the look of each film. Deranged was much less spooky. The house he lived in was much smaller, and plain. In Gein, the house was very large and very ominous as times. Gein was directed a lot better as well, and the acting was on a much higher level.

In the end, I wouldn't recommend Deranged- it's not at all scary, and it's really too crazy to be considered real horror. Gein, on the other hand, is a decent movie. It's enjoyable, and it's believeable. Gein isn't the most exciting story to be told as it is, but it is one that needs to be told, nonetheless.

note: Ed Gein (2000) is sometimes listed as In the Light of the Moon