| Deranged |
| I remember when this flick first came out back in the early 1970's.It was heavily advertised on televison.Man did I ever want to go see this one!Unfortunately it was rated "R" and there was no way I could get in. When the video age came and darn near went this was a film that was seemingly lost.Finally it surfaced on a bootleg which I snapped up.So after 25 years of waiting the moment had arrived.... This is partly inspired by the real life murderer Ed Gein. Ezra is a middle aged momma's boy. He's also a pet moron.Mommy is a raving twisty herself as she is a zealot and always preaching about "dirty women"(finest kind).So when mom drops dead old Ez starts to get lonely. Well Ezra starts hearing mom's voice after a year. She's lonely & so is he.He digs her up and brings her back home where everybody is happy.His neighbors try and set him up with a woman.This is a really funny scene as his date tries to seduce him. She's kind of crazy herself and tells Ez that her dead husband wants them to play beneath the sheets. Well, she winds up under the sheets permanently. Ez starts digging up the graveyard and bringing mom some company.He also starts semi stalking a waitress.Finally he sandbags her, brings her back to his place and it gets wild from there.She finds herself trussed to a chair with a table full of rotting corpses.Ez is dressed in the skin of a dead woman.There is no way out of this house of hell. And if that sounds familiar well, that sort of happened in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.But Deranged was released first so keep that in mind. Ez really goes off the deep end on a trip to town. It involves a rifle, a young girl and a harrowing chase through the woods.This is another gripping scene that spirals into complete madness. There are a few drawbacks. This movie could have done without the narrator.When he popped up it seemed like we were in a different movie.Old Ezra is the most sympathetic person in the movie.Everyone else is cruel, stupid or as nutty as he is.So when you are forced to "identify" with a raving looney it does make for tough sledding. On the upside Roberts Blossom gives a great portrayal of Ezra.You feel for Ezra and can really understand his madness.There are many shocking and disturbing scenes in this movie. But it uses suggestion rather than out and out gore.It looks rather tame compared to slasher flicks but that's why this is better. MGM is releasing this as part of their Midnight Movies set on dvd August 27th.It will be a double feature with the excellent horror comedy Motel Hell starring Rory Calhoun.("It takes all kinds of critter to make Farmer Vincent's Fritters!").The downside is the documentary on Ed Gein & the making of Deranged probably won't be on this dvd.But this is a must grab for fans of strange horror. |
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