Everything Wrong

I read that Steve Railsback read several books on Ed Gein for this part and was an Executive Producer, but it manages to get just about everything wrong in scene after scene, from the physical characteristics of the people involved (Gein's mother was a large woman and the bartender he killed was like her doppelganger to Ed in terms of physical stature, but in Ed's mind his mother was a saint and the bartender was her evil opposite, which is why he chose her as his victim). That's not in this picture, nor is the relationship between the father and mother where the father was weak and the mother was overbearing and combative and oppressive. She was also the hard worker and the brains in the family, even being the owner listed on the businesses the family bought and ran at a time when that was rare for a woman.

Even Gein's demeanor of sort of village idiot with a stupid grin is missing here.

If you really want to understand the dynamics that produced a monster like Ed Gein, read Deviant by Harold Schechter. Its also available in narrated form from Audible.com.

This film is largely a missed opportunity, with a weak script, very weak direction, and wasted acting talent.

There's absolutely nothing about the real dynamics that led to this ongoing tragedy captured in this film.