Ryan Murphy's Monster series continues with Monster: The Ed Gein Story. The latest entry chronicles the life and crimes of the titular Ed Gein, one of America's most infamous names. Funny enough, Gein only killed two women, Mary Hogan and Bernice Worden, which is well below the murders of other serial killers. (Ted Bundy confessed to killing 30 people.) However, the sheer depravity and disturbing nature of what police uncovered in his home inspired no shortage of horror movie villains.
If you're familiar with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), picture something similar. Inside Gein's unassuming Wisconsin farmhouse were decapitated bodies and a host of furniture and clothing made from human skin. From skin-crafted lampshades to a human heart by the stove, the contents of Gein's house should only exist in fiction. Gein cited his mother—known to be overbearing and abusive—as his motivation for the crimes, essentially wanting to get closer to her after she passed. While movies like Psycho (1960) zero in on the Oedipal aspect of Gein's relationship with his mother, other films, like the aforementioned Texas Chain Saw Massacre, chose to pull inspiration from Gein's morbid fascination with grave robbing and crafting items made from human skin and body parts.
Looking to learn about the horror villains based on Ed Gein? Here are 6 of the most famous, including where to watch their corresponding movies and TV shows on Netflix, HBO Max, and more.
Norman Bates - Psycho (1960)
Norman Bates, the quiet, unusual owner of the Bates Motel, marks the earliest fictional killer inspired by Ed Gein. Before Alfred Hitchcock turned Psycho into one of the most iconic movies in cinema history, the story took shape in Weyauwega, Wisconsin, just a few towns over from the site of Gein's crimes. Author Robert Bloch took Gein's bizarre relationship with his mother and ran with it, delivering a twisty, tense story about a man driven to madness by his overbearing mother.
Without spoiling too much, just know Psycho ends with one heck of a twist. The 1960s production combined with Hitchcock's tasteful handling of violence makes the film suitable for thriller and horror fans alike. Really, the horror here is psychological. Thanks to Bloch's idea and Hitchcock's artistry, Norman Bates, somehow, remains one of the genre's most empathic villains. If you want an even deeper look into the twisted mother-son relationship, check out Bates Motel.
Ezra Cobb - Deranged (1974)
Leatherface (mentioned next on this list) might be one of the most famous Ed Gein-inspired slashers, but a lesser-known villain actually beat him to the big screen in 1974. Ezra Cobb, played with grounded glee by Roberts Blossom, stalks a small Midwestern town, killing women and robbing graves after the death of his mother. If that sounds familiar, it's because Deranged closely mirrors Gein's real-life story, just with a lot more dramatization and dark humor.
Disturbing, gory, and chock full of stomach-churning practical effects, Deranged isn't for the faint of heart. Mostly overlooked upon release, the movie remains a cult classic among horror fans who dig gritty, rural horror fare like The Hills Have Eyes (1977) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. This one might be best suited for the midnight movie crowd, but anyone wanting a peek into Gein's horrific world will get a taste of that here.
Leatherface - The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
While Psycho used Gein's Oedipal relationship with his mother as its main source of inspiration, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre looked to Gein's disturbing penchant for using human skin to create masks and various house decor for its biggest scares. Leatherface, of course, is best known for his various masks, which he fashions from the skin of his victims. Nubbins Sawyer, Leatherface's brother, also spends his free time grave robbing, harkening to Gein's M.O. of exhuming corpses.
While director Tobe Hooper credited Gein as a significant inspiration for Leatherface and his murderous family, serial killer Elmer Wayne Henley also played a role in the creation of one of horror's most iconic villains. As expected, when dealing with topics like cannibalism, skin harvesting, grave robbing, and murder, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is dark, brutal, and gritty. Squeamish audiences might balk at the idea of watching a backwoods Texas family hunt down twenty-somethings, but genre lovers will get one of the best atmospheric slasher stories out there.
Buffalo Bill - The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The list of Gein's crimes is long and disturbing, but perhaps the most disturbing of all is the half-completed "woman suit" he created from the skin of his female victims to feel closer to his late mother. Anyone who has seen The Silence of the Lambs knows that crafting a "woman suit" is also the main agenda of Buffalo Bill, the serial killer Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) uses Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to help profile. In the case of Buffalo Bill, however, the motivation isn't his mother, but the desire to be "reborn" as a woman.
Author of the Hannibal book series, Thomas Harris used a multitude of then-active serial killers when developing Buffalo Bill, including Ted Bundy, Gary M. Heidnik, Jerry Brudos, and Gary Ridgway, better known as the Green River Killer. However, Gein's influence is, perhaps, the most felt since it provides Bill's motivation. If you like dark psychology thrillers about killers, you really can't do much better than The Silence of the Lambs. Pulse-pounding, twisty, and harboring some of the most iconic performances in cinema history, this is an absolute must-watch.
Garland Greene - Con Air (1997)
One look at Steve Buscemi's Garland Greene chained up with a muzzle, and it's hard not to see Hannibal Lecter. However, according to Buscemi and director Simon West, Garland is actually inspired by multiple serial killers, including Ed Gein. While other notorious names, including Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, and Edmund Kemper, shaped different aspects of Con Air's coolly depraved serial killer, Garland's story about wearing one of his victims' heads as a hat pulls heavy inspiration from Gein.
Unlike the other entries on this list, Con Air isn't horror, but pure popcorn thriller action. It's got a vein of self-aware humor that makes it wild fun. Garland Green plays a small part in the film, so anyone hoping for an in-depth look into his pathology won't get that here. This is very much a Nicolas Cage movie. So, yeah, expect all the chaos, zaniness, and high-octane action that comes with the actor's reputation.
Dr. Oliver Thredson/Bloody Face - American Horror Story (2011-Present)
Monster: The Ed Gein Story isn't the first time Ryan Murphy has wandered into Ed Gein territory. In American Horror Story Season 2, subtitled Asylum, Murphy introduces Dr. Oliver Thredson (Zachary Quinto), who (spoilers!) later reveals himself as Bloody Face. The juxtaposition of Thredson's day job as a seemingly well-meaning psychiatrist and secret serial killer feels more akin to Hannibal Lecter. However, Thredson's crimes are ripped directly from Gein. Thredson murders women who don't quite live up to the hope of replacing his dead mother and uses their skin to craft furniture, decor, and, of course, his chilling mask.
Much like Leatherface and Buffalo Bill, Gein's desire to create a skin suit becomes a trademark feature of Thredson's Bloody Face identity. Still, Thredson is just one part of Asylum's larger story. Tackling heavy topics like mental health, religion, and abuse in its many forms, Asylum isn't short on trigger warnings. For audiences in the right headspace, however, it's one of American Horror Story's best seasons. If stories about old asylums equally fascinate and disgust you, Asylum shines a light on the many controversies and injustices faced by patients.
