Deranged
1974
CrimeHorrorThriller
A man living in rural Wisconsin takes care of his bed-ridden mother, who is very domineering and teaches him that all women are evil. After she dies, he misses her, and a year later digs her up and takes her home. He learns about taxidermy and begins robbing graves to get materials to patch her up, and inevitably begins looking for fresher sources of materials. Based loosely on the true story of Ed Gein.
"Pretty Sally Mae died a very unnatural death...But the worst hasn't happened to her yet!"
CA | en | Canada
Karr International Pictures
83 min.
Released
Release: 2/2/1974
Jeff GillenDirector
Roberts BlossomEzra Cobb
Cosette LeeMa Cobb
Leslie CarlsonTom Sims
Robert WarnerHarlon Kootz
More like this
Reviews
John Chard
11/13/2014
Mama? Mama? Deranged is brought to us by Alan Ormsby and Jeff Gillen. It's a telling of the Ed Gein story, the Plainfield Ghoul who in the 1950s shocked small town Americana to its very core. The names have been changed to, protect, well no that's not true, it's a product of its time is why, but this is an Ed Gein film, and it's a troubling and worthy piece of art in equal measure. Certain instances have been spruced up for poetic licence, but the core essence of Gein and his madness exists wholesale. Roberts Blossom plays Gein (as Ezra Cobb), a man so tied to his mama's apron strings that when she leaves the mortal coil he refuses to acknowledge said fact. Cue grave robbing, morbid scenario settings and murder. Operating on a low budget, Gillen and Ormsby do a sterling job of not letting their film come off as cheap exploitation. Tom Savini's effects work is a little crude when viewed now (he would become a legend in his field soon afterwards), but this unfurls in stylish and professional manner. With great acting by Blossoms, nifty camera work, a dark sense of humour and a chilling underplaying of key scenes leading the way, this is a fine entry in the serial killer movie pantheon. 7/10
MOVIZZ - all rights reserved @ 2025
Made with themoviedb.org