5 Horror Films Inspired by Real Life Murderer Ed Gein
By Jeremy Dick
5. In the Light of the Moon (2000)
We’ll go ahead and get the most obvious one out of the way. Originally released as a Spanish and Portuguese movie in 2000, In the Light of the Moon was renamed to the more bluntly-titled Ed Gein in the United States and Australia in 2001, as a biographical story of the notorious murderer.
As you can expect, Ed Gein was the most literal adaptation of Gein’s story. Steve Railsback (who also starred as Charles Manson in Helter Skelter) did an excellent job as the titular mama’s boy who lived a double life as a serial graverobber. Veteran actress Carrie Snodgress also appeared as Gein’s mother in a stellar performance, and the acting was certainly one of the strongest qualities of the film.
The events in Ed Gein are pretty accurate to what happened in real life, albeit with some subtle differences (like the way he was caught). It gives viewers a pretty good glimpse into what was going on in this guy’s head that made him have such atrocious behavior. While all of the other adaptations of his story are pretty loosely based on what really happened, Ed Gein was pretty close to the real deal, and it’s definitely worth watching.
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