Ezra Cobb (Roberts Blossom) loves his mother and is intimated by women. When his mother dies, he still hears her voice and decides to keep her around the house. But he does not want his mother to get lonely and has to get her some new friends...
Blossom is amazing as Ezra Cobb. You can say what you want about this film, but one thing you cannot say is that Blossom is a horrible actor -- he made Cobb come to life and seem as believable as such a character could be. Cobb, being the movie version of Ed Gein, is more or less exactly the way I picture Gein being. Blossom's facial expressions make this whole picture worthwhile.
I would like to commend them for the faithful version of this story. So many people take the Ed Gein story and add all these elements to it or just take a grain of it and run wild (as in "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" or "Silence of the Lambs"). While not all of this movie is factually what happened in Gein's life, the similarities are quite striking -- right down to the death of the hardware store clerk and the gutting of the woman like a deer.
Although this film is now almost forty years old, almost nothing is lost from the passage of time. In some ways, the film quality really adds to the setting (the story could only take place in the past). Another great feature is the narrator, who enters the story at random intervals to do an overview of the situation. Not only is he great, but watch the camera -- in one scene, the camera leaves Ezra in one room, goes to the narrator, and returns to Ezra in another room, in a seamless fashion (no cuts or edits) and visually showing the passage of time. It is quite well put together.
For a great Gein film, check this out. Whether Tobe Hooper admits to it or not, I do not know, but he owes a debt to this film (much as John Carpenter owes a debt to the late Bob Clark -- who coincidentally produced this). This film is plotted wonderfully, acted wonderfully, and flows wonderfully. With one small detail changed (the plastic looking blood) this would probably be considered a lost classic. Heck, maybe it already should be. (Okay, and maybe we should not be able to read the license plate saying Ontario.)
For a bonus: not only is the legendary Bob Clark an uncredited producer, but Tom Savini worked as a makeup artist for the film's corpses. This was Savini's first film, and the undisputed horror effects master is still going stronger today.
