It's refreshing to see that Henry Winkler has passed his creative torch to his son, Max Winkler. With Monster: The Ed Gein Story, part of the third season of The Monster anthology series, Max proves that he understands not only the craft of storytelling, but also the psychology that makes true horror so fascinating.
These episodes dive deep into the infamous case of Ed Gein; the quiet, tormented man whose crimes in the late 1950s shocked America and reshaped the horror genre for decades to come. Ed Gein wasn't a typical killer; he was a man lost between the folds of reality and delusion, haunted by schizophrenia and loneliness. He could not distinguish between what was real and what existed only inside his fractured mind. His actions were monstrous, unforgivable, yet his legacy became the seed of some of cinema's greatest nightmares: Hitchcock's Psycho, Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Thomas Harris's The Silence of the Lambs.
From the opening scene, the series makes one thing clear: this is not another gore-fest obsessed with body counts. This is a psychological autopsy. A study of the man behind the myth, the human behind the horror. And that exploration is brought to life through a mesmerizing performance by Charlie Hunnam.
Hunnam doesn't play Ed Gein, he becomes him. His physical transformation is striking, but what's truly chilling is how he captures the stillness, the confusion, the eerie innocence that coexists with evil. There are moments where his portrayal almost feels tender, a dangerous tenderness that reminds you that monsters are not born in darkness; they often stumble into it, blinded by their own pain. Hunnam manages to make us feel repulsed and sympathetic at the same time, a rare balance that only a few actors can achieve.
Like Sean Penn's transformative performance as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw, Hunnam vanishes completely into his role. You no longer see the actor; you only see the man, the myth, the wound. That is acting at its purest form.
The tone of the series shifts beautifully between horror, drama, and psychological suspense. Every now and then, there's a flash of dark humor or absurdity, moments that almost make you smile before you realize what you're smiling at. Those brief breaths are essential, allowing the audience to recover before descending back into the abyss.
In the end, Monster: The Ed Gein Story isn't just another addition to the true crime wave. It's a haunting portrait of madness and humanity, framed with intelligence, compassion, and cinematic precision. The direction is sharp, the writing grounded, and Charlie Hunnam's performance is nothing short of extraordinary. He deserves not just applause, he deserves recognition for reminding us why acting still matters in a world filled with cheap shocks and hollow scripts.
Like a fine red wine, this story lingers; heavy, unsettling, and unforgettable.
