Some mothers do ‘ave ‘em. Maniacs for sons, that is. Farmer, body snatcher, murderer and avant-garde fashion designer, Ed Gein’s after dark activities and morbid proclivities inspired such iconic horror pictures as Psycho (1960), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
Ezra Cobb (a fantastic Roberts Blossom) is the Gein-esque freak who digs up dear old Ma and carries on like she’s very much in the land of the living. More nightly raids on the local cemetery follow – propelled by the mad remit to give his beloved (s)mother some company – until the twisted fiend kicks-off a short-lived campaign of homicide.
Deranged is a grotty B-movie with a captivating performance by Blossom. Film fans may recognise him as the old geezer from Home Alone that petrified young Kevin or the frustrated jailbird artist who hacked off his fingers in Clint Eastwood’s Escape from Alcatraz (1979). It’s a creepy yet comic portrayal of a man unable to cope with life, his attraction to the fairer sex and his mum’s absence. There’s nothing like a mother’s love, but it can so easily turn monstrous when on the domineering and indoctrinating side. But try telling that to the psycho…
Extras
The best extra feature is the commentary with Tom Savini hosted by Calum Waddell. It’s absolutely jammed with info and Savini charmingly goes off on tangents about his career and life. The horror makeup and effects maestro’s memories of what was only his second professional assignment are sketchy, but Waddell kindly fills in the blanks.
The short featurette, Wages of Sin, cuts together an archived interview with co-director Jeff Gillen with a discussion on various aspects of the production such as the reinsertion of the infamous ‘brain-scooping’ scene. The Human Centipede II’s Laurence R. Harvey’s interview discussed Ed Gein’s influence on cinema and Deranged’s importance on his portrayal of Martin in Tom Six’s controversial sequel. The interview with Scott Spiegel is also worth a spin. A booklet (we didn’t have it to review, unfortunately) boasts an essay by Stephen Thrower, an archive interview with Bob Clark and an article on Mr. Gein.
The HD transfer gives the film a spruced up sheen, but one imagines watching this on an illicitly obtained videotape in the 1980s was the best way to see it. Deranged, however, is still winningly grubby and the extra features compliment the Blu-ray release very well.
Martyn has awarded Deranged four Torches of Truth
