Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan's true-crime anthology series has always had a reputation for shock, but Ed Gein takes it too far.Netflix/Supplied
If it takes you several sittings to finish Monster: The Ed Gein Story, you’re not alone. There’s a reason so many TV viewers are discussing the series, and why a good chunk of them admit they couldn’t make it past a couple of episodes.
Like past iterations of the series from co-creators Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, it’s intriguing, sure. But it’s also relentlessly grotesque, exhausting and unsettling. This true-crime anthology series has always had a reputation for shock, but Ed Gein takes it too far.
For those who need a refresher, Ed Gein is also known as the Butcher of Plainfield or the Plainfield Ghoul. He was a murderer and bodysnatcher who skinned human corpses and created bodysuits and furniture from his victims. He had psychological issues that stemmed from his abusive parents. And his infamous crimes inspired pop culture, music and films throughout the decades, including Psycho, Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Silence of the Lambs.
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Following the Monster template, the series crawls inside the killer’s head to explain his actions. Bloody images of murders, skinnings and necrophilia are rampant. Close-ups of chicken carcasses, red syrup for a milkshake and Gein’s hands add to the tactile goriness. These visuals forcefully immerse viewers in the horror of it all, making a person wonder how such a series could ever pass as entertainment.
This is about more than creating shock. As the episodes unroll it’s obvious Monster aims to examine our fascination with violence by juxtaposing this version of the real-life story with scenes of filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock and Tobe Hooper (performed by actor) trying to push the envelope on depictions of blood and violence. For better or worse, Gein’s life inspired storytellers to explore human darkness, leaving a cultural legacy of violence.
And while theatregoers may have vomited and walked out on Psycho in 1960 before hailing the movie as a game-changing piece of history, here’s hoping Monster, which brings that same nausea into living rooms, never leads to the same desensitization.
Monster: The Ed Gein Story is gross and disturbing, forcing the question of how far is too far when it comes to championing serial killers on television.Netflix/Supplied
Putting the audience in Gein’s head with hallucinations and dreamlike sequences invites uncomfortable empathy. These scenes are deliberately disorienting and include creative liberties that blur the line between fact and fiction (there’s no record of Gein helping the FBI find Ted Bundy or engaging in necrophilia, for example). They also humanize the crimes and the criminal, inviting disturbing fandoms into the fold.
It doesn’t stop there, as the series also blends historical evil through Gein’s sexual fascination with German war criminal Ilse Koch. Certain scenes trigger overwhelming feelings and venture into uncomfortable territory, seemingly romanticizing Nazism.
By the final episode, the series proves unredeemable as it gives Gein a heroic send-off and redemption arc – a choice sidelines the victims and transforms their stories into spectacle. Is this really what we want to be entertained with?
Charlie Hunnam’s acting is a key element in creating this reality. His accent is an odd thing that sounds nothing like the tape of Gein circulating online and more like Ernie from Sesame Street. Otherwise he is far too charming, convincing and sympathetic – things that viewers shouldn’t feel about serial killers. Hunnam gives one heck of a performance, as does Laurie Metcalf as Gein’s deranged mother. Unfortunately, both are impossible to appreciate in this context.
The cinematography is likewise meticulously composed, with shots that linger over the bloody and the grotesque. That choice would typically elevate a series, but here it only intensifies the uncomfortableness. (How many times do audiences need to see a box of detached female body parts or a dead woman hanging upside down in a barn?) It is one thing to examine the psychology of evil but it is another to present it as a beautiful spectacle.
Charlie Hunnam as Ed Gein is far too charming, convincing and sympathetic – things that viewers shouldn’t feel about serial killers.Netflix/Supplied
If the point of this series is to hold a mirror to our obsession with violence and serial killers, it doesn’t leave much to reflect on. Instead, it presents everything without subtlety or moments of reflection.
In the end, Monster: The Ed Gein Story is a technically accomplished series that’s beautifully shot, diligently designed and acted with skill. But it’s also gross and disturbing, and forces the question of how far is too far when it comes to championing serial killers on television? For all its craft and conviction, this series doesn’t illuminate our fascination with evil so much as indulge it, and that’s the real horror.