Case Closed?
Review of Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story.
Let me be honest up front here; I still have not finished this series, and I do not know if I will. I had heard some buzz that it was very disturbing and honestly insane to watch, but I still wanted to see it. Unfortunately, this series is on a whole other level of disturbing, and I do not even know what words I can use to describe it.
The series digs into the series of crimes of Ed Gein, one of the most infamous killers in all of American history. Something I did not know is that Gein is the real-life inspiration for Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The details and the portrayal of Gein are so realistic, but honestly, it just made it much harder to watch. It is not scary, but it is a psychological twist, which some would describe as a “mind fuck”.
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I will not be discussing the details of Gein’s crimes, as I did not finish the series, so I do not even know the extent, but mostly because I do not want to type out what he did. What I do appreciate that Netflix and Ryan Murphy did is they told quite a bit of his backstory and upbringing, and how that “created” him in a way. A fun fact here is that Ryan Murphy also made the shows Glee, Scream Queens, and American Horror Story, though I much prefer Glee to his other works…
The feelings I had while watching the first three episodes are honestly just bone-chilling. I felt uncomfortable, but also did not want to turn it off because I was interested. I turned it off because I had class, but I never found myself interested enough that I wanted to relive that feeling again.
However, this feeling is the mark of a good documentary, because it gives you a feeling you can’t shake. The only other thing that has ever given me this feeling is the Peacock documentary on the Idaho 4 Murders. This case will never ever not be with me, and I have developed a genuine fear of Bryan Kohberger, even though he is locked away for eternity. At least Ed Gein is dead though…
As someone who has never not finished a crime series, I am determined to go back and finish it. I think I have to be in a certain mindset to turn it back on, and maybe Halloween will inspire me this weekend.
Have you watched this series yet? Did you finish it? What were your thoughts on this disturbing story?
