Ryan Murphy is probably one of the most controversial shows in the industry, but you can’t argue with results. His initial “Monster” show, Dahmer, is the fourth most-watched English language show in Netflix history. Now, he’s back for another installment inspired by the most notorious serial killer of all time. If we’re not counting say, Vlad the Impaler.
The show is Monster: The Ed Gein Story, which stars Charlie Hunnam playing Gein, who murdered at least two people, was suspected of killing seven others and dug up nine corpses which he “mutilated.” The trailer is just deeply unsettling, and I need to throw up a content warning here if you want to avoid people wearing skins and such, based on Gein’s real crimes:
If you’re thinking “hm, that really looks like Psycho” or “isn’t that Silence of the Lambs?” you’re never going to believe what inspired those movies. The mom-killing and dressing up in her clothes, the wearing skinsuits and masks (this also inspired Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Gein’s influence is widespread in the horror film industry, behind some of the most classic genre entries of all time.
Charlie Hunnam is a fascinating pick here, given that the English Hunnam is mainly known for roles in Sons of Anarchy, Pacific Rim or most recently, Netflix’s insanely bad Rebel Moon. Here? He’s doing a crazy voice, playing a crazy role, but Ryan Murphy thinks he’s aligned with the part. He certainly seems enormously creepy here.
The release date for Monster: Ed Gein is October 1. It will join Dahmer and Monster: The Lyle and Erik Menendez story. Both of those series were hugely controversial, with complaints from Dahmer victims about exploitation, and then complaints from the Menendez family themselves about their characterization (though if anything, it seemed to make the brothers more sympathetic).
(Original Caption) Farmer Ed Gein, 51, (center), confessed slayer of two women, stands with his Arthur Schley in the Wabsara county Court here November 21st. Gein was charged with first degree murder in the butcher slaying of Mrs. Bernice Worden.
Bettmann Archive
Will Ed Gein be that controversial? That’s a little hard to imagine given that this was just so long ago and we’re talking about distant, generational relatives of victims, and almost certainly no Gein family members around to complain about the portrayal of…the most notorious killer in modern history.
If anything, my guess would be the complaints would be centered on the idea that Murphy simply pushes the gore and sexual awfulness too far onscreen. That may be accurate to his real-life crimes, but there are limits in what you might want to show, even in an MA-rated program. I mean it’s Ryan Murphy, someone will complain about something. We’ll find out in two weeks.
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