Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Bereamic Awesome Movie

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Scott LeBrun "Deranged" is a classic rural shocker that stars the excellent character actor Roberts Blossom as Ezra Cobb - Ez, to his friends. Ez goes off the deep end when his beloved mother (Cosette Lee) dies. He can't bear to be apart from her, so he brings her corpse home from the cemetery. Realizing that her body is in bad shape, he starts robbing other graves to help treat her body the best that it can be treated; he also brings home corpses for the "company".Blossoms' superior performance, which enables one to sympathize, as much as is possible, with this insane person, makes this a must see. It's also noteworthy for being one of the earliest makeup effects credits for a young Tom Savini. Also on the makeup crew is the screenwriter Alan Ormsby. Ormsby and his co-director, Jeff Gillen, were associates of the filmmaker Bob Clark; they'd also done "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things" and "Dead of Night" together. While the pacing is awfully slow at times, Ormsby and Gillen give "Deranged" wonderful rural atmosphere.The makeup effects on this show are pretty good for low budget fare; fans will be pleased to note that the recent Blu-ray release includes a long excised scene of eye / brain scooping.Ormsby based his screenplay on the real life exploits of the notorious Ed Gein, and apparently this version has been one of the most faithful to the true story for over 40 years now. Buffs, of course, are already aware that Gein also inspired such favourites as "Psycho", "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre", and "The Silence of the Lambs".The supporting cast - Robert Warner, Marcia Diamond, Robert McHeady ("Cannibal Girls"), Marian Waldman (the original "Black Christmas") - are good, but this is almost entirely Blossoms' show.Some people take issue with the presence of the newspaperman / narrator character Tom Sims (Leslie Carlson, "Videodrome"), which admittedly is not really a necessary element.Good stuff overall, but the ending is awfully abrupt.Seven out of 10.

brando647 DERANGED is exactly what you'd expect for a 70's horror film: campy, creepy, and entertaining despite its obsoleteness. The movie was a pet project for successful concert promoter Tom Karr and, for a while, it remained the most accurate portrayal of American serial killer Ed Gein. The names and locations have been changed and a bit of artistic license has been taken, but the core of the Gein story remains intact. The film is portrayed as a special news report or some sort of P.S.A. with host Tom Sims (Leslie Carlson) popping in every so often to feed us more details and transition to the next phase of madness. Ezra Cobb (Roberts Blossom, and the film's Gein character) lives on a farm in small-town Wisconsin with his ailing mother (Cosette Lee) who fills his head with Bible-born hatred for the sins of the world and, more specifically, the women that perpetuate them. When his mother dies, Ezra's mind snaps. He maintains some semblance of normal life with an ongoing friendship with the Kootz family and the occasional odd job, but there's a new Ezra that the town doesn't see. He removes his mother's corpse from the graveyard, brings her home, and patches her up with parts from other bodies. As his madness deepens, his obsession shifts to finding a wife and the women of this small town are in for trouble. This is a great bit of 70's exploitation with the scantily clad women and horror/violence that we've come to expect.I love that this film wastes no time in trying to gross out its audience. The sole purpose of this film is to make its viewers squirm, and it succeeds. When Ma Cobb is dying, the filmmakers were sure to give us a stomach-churning close up of the blood and thick green soup sputtering from her mouth. It doesn't sound like much, but it's a pretty gnarly sight. It only gets better as the film continues and Ezra discovers his passion for turning human body parts into trinkets. Granted, this was an exploitation film from the mid-70s with a mere $200,000 budget so the effects aren't exactly the greatest. The blood effects look like thick red paint and the corpses and bones bend and flex. None of it really comes off as real or threatening to modern audiences but I imagine people in the 70s might've been more affected. There are still some parts that can give me the creeps; when Mary is searching Ezra's house and comes to Ma's room, loaded with dressed up corpses, and finds him blending in among them with a skin mask…it's probably the creepiest scene in the entire movie. Honestly, this movie isn't going to do much to scare a contemporary audience but it's fun.Roberts Blossom as Ezra is the only one here that seems to be taking his job seriously. He actually does a really awesome job. He gives Ezra extra charisma as the town's simpleton and, for a while, Ezra's too dumb/naïve to really hate (of course, that's only until he starts carving up women). Blossom's performance is the only thing that really keeps this moving from being your average throwaway exploitation movie. He's stupid and slowly goes insane without going too over the top. The majority of the supporting cast, on the other hand, fail. Cosette Lee is laughable in her one and only real scene. It's a shame because it's her death in the beginning of the film and it's supposed to be a moment where the audience learns just how messed up Ezra's upbringing was. Lee, Marian Waldman, and Robert McHeady are the film's biggest culprit of upping the camp. I just wish the movie had taken itself more seriously as a whole (but keep Tom Sims) and think it might've been a better movie for it.

preppy-3 This movie is a (somewhat) accurate movie on Ed Gein. Ezra Cobb (Roberts Blossom) is a middle-aged man who has cared for his ill mother for 12 years. She dies and he's all alone and slowly goes mad. He digs up her body from the graveyard and brings it home. He also digs up other bodies and uses their various limbs or organs. Then he decides to go after live humans...I originally caught this on VHS back in the early 1990s. Back then it was uncut and had a doc on Ed Gein as an extra. The 2002 DVD release from MGM looks fantastic but is, sadly, edited. This got an R rating back in 1974 but the ratings board insisted that an eye gouging and brain scooping sequence be removed to get an R rating today. That makes no sense. The scene wasn't THAT graphic and it was obviously fake. Idiots. That aside this is a creepy, unsettling film. It was made on a VERY low budget and has its slow spots but it works on you. It isn't that gory either but pretty sick. There are only three killings here but there are the various rotting corpses and, at one point, Ezra wears the skin of one of them (which Ed Gein did do)! Also there's an absolutely revolting scene at the end showing what Ezra did with his last victim (a young blonde here--in reality it was a middle-aged woman). This isn't all grim and violent. There's a very funny séance scene that works well. Blossom is excellent as Ezra. It's his movie and he knows it. He shows Ezra's madness slowly growing until it overcomes him. Also there's a VERY creepy music score that adds to the unpleasant tone of the film.This is a must-see for horror fans but the casual movie goer might want to steer clear. If you can, see the unedited version. I give this a 7.

sunznc This was released the same year as Texas Chain Saw Massacre. This is the story of Ed Gein, the butcher of Plainsfield, the case that inspired Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Two very different films.This film is creepy and the sets and make up are very good. You can almost smell the rot of the corpses that Ed has collected, all sitting around the dining room table waiting to be served.The film is low budget. The photography is just okay. It appears as though the post dubbing didn't match up in some scenes. Some of the sound doesn't match what is happening on screen. The film is low key and somewhat somber. It's depressing for sure and depicts the loneliness and despair of Ed Gein's horrible life.Roberts Blossom is the best actor here. The rest are amateurs. I think the film could have used some more action somewhere. I don't think I would want to sit through it again and I am a horror fan. There is something interesting about it though.