Deranged

Released by: Kino Lorber
Released on: July 7th, 2015.
Director: Jeff Gillen, Alan Ormsby
Cast: Roberts Blossom, Cosette Lee, Leslie Carlson
Year: 1974
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The Movie:

Also known as Deranged: Confessions Of A Necrophile (which is an odd title because there's no confessing in the movie), this 1974 film co-directed by Jeff Gillen and Alan Ormsby and distribute by American International Pictures was shot in Canada doubling for Wisconsin. Why not just shoot in Wisconsin? Because when the mayor of the town where they planned to shoot found out what the filmmakers were up to, he declined and then called the Governor to make sure they didn't come around. Why would anyone in Wisconsin care? Because Deranged is basically the story of that state's most notorious criminal, serial killer Ed Gein.

The film begins with an on-screen narrator named Tom Sims (Leslie Carlson) who requests of the audience that we try to learn from the movie. From here, we meet Ezra Cobb (Roberts Blossom) as he tends to his dying mother, Amanda (Cosette Lee). Before she shuffles off this mortal coil, she warns him again about the wages of sin and to keep away from troublemaking women! After her funeral, Ezra gives up farming the land he was raised on and takes work as a handyman for Harlon Kootz (Robert Warner) and his family. During dinner with them one night her learns of the newspaper's obituary section where he can learn about where to find dead bodies before they're buried.

Armed with that knowledge he sets out to dig up his old Sunday School teacher and use her parts to help keep the recently dug up corpse of his mother in tip-top shape. Soon enough, however, Ezra wants fresher kills, whether it be the portly widow Maureen Selby (Marian Waldman) or the attractive but 'over the hill' waitress at a dive bar named Mary (Micki Moore). Of course, it's only a matter of time until Ezra's murderous ways catch up with him…

Those familiar with the films of Bob Clark (who served as a producer on this, though he's not listed in the credits), will no doubt recognize some of the cast members here from his films Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things and Black Christmas. Ormsby, who played the lead in Children, does a great job of working some twisted black humor into the storyline (something that producer Tom Karr takes issue with in the extras) but never to the point where it feels out of place or disruptive. This is still fairly gruesome stuff, and the makeup effects (some of which were handled by a then newbie to the industry named Tom Savini) leave little to the imagination.

The Ontario locations, found just outside of Toronto, do a great job of doubling for Wisconsin (though a few telltale signs like an Ontario license plate and a newspaper rack holding copies of the Toronto Star give things away) and the movie has a sufficiently bleak, cold tone to it not too far off from what Ivan Reitman captured with Cannibal Girls. Ezra's house isn't quite as over the top in its morbidity as the Sawyer family home is in Texas Chain Saw Massacre (also inspired by Gein's exploits) but it works on the same level, particularly when Ezra gets Mary home for dinner. If Psycho and Texas Chain Saw Massacre beat Deranged to screens, however, this one earns points for being the most accurate representation of Gains' depraved story.

Having said that, as clever as the script is and as effective as the direction and pacing are, the real reason that this movie works as well as it does is the casting of Roberts Blossom in the lead role. He's perfectly twitchy and weird and quirky and off just enough that you know something's up with the guy. So much of the film's success lies on his shoulders that you can't imagine anyone else doing a better job in the part. The supporting cast are all fun too - Cosette Lee is great as the mother and Marian Waldman is a kick as the portly widow who can't keep her paws off of Ezra… though not without getting her late husband's permission first.

It's also worth noting that the films is presented on this Blu-ray in its uncut form - that means the skull sawing sequence is presented here completely intact (the previous MGM Midnite Movies DVD release was the edited version).

Video/Audio/Extras:

Deranged looks great on Blu-ray, framed here in its original aspect ratio of 1.85.1 widescreen and presented in AVC encoded 1080p high definition. The movie makes use of a very drab color scheme, particularly for those scenes that take place inside Ezra's home, but those colors are reproduced quite nicely and the outdoor scenes, which are much more colorful, have some nice pop to them. Black levels look good and there's very little print damage to note at all. This still looks like the two hundred thousand dollar low budget picture that it is, but detail is very nicely improved over the previous DVD release, texture is solid and there's a fair bit of depth here too.

The English language DTS-HD Mono track is definitely on the flat side but it too is improved over the previous DVD release. Things are a little muffled at times but for the most part the dialogue is clear enough and not too tough to follow. The score sounds alright and the screams of Ezra's various victims are definitely piercing. No alternate language or subtitle options are provided.

Extras start off with a commentary with co-director Alan Ormsby that's moderate by Elijah Drenner. Ormsby also wrote the movie and had a hand in pretty much every other aspect of the production as well. He tells some interesting stories about how Bob Clark was responsible for getting him the work on this, what it was like shooting the film in Canada, his relationship with the cast and crew including a young Tom Savini and quite a bit more. He's got a sharp memory and on the rare occasion that he does slow down a bit, Drenner is quick with a good question to get him back on track. The disc also contains a second commentary, this one with film historian Richard Harland Smith. Here we get a very informed critical analysis of the film that does an interesting job comparing it to other cinematic takes on Ed Gein's legacy. Smith's a good speaker and he does a great job of detailing the history of the movie, covering who did what on the picture and loads more.

Also on the disc is an interview with Tom Karr, the film's producer. He talks for about seventeen minutes about how he wanted to make a horror movie after working for some time as a music promotor. He then details how he got in touch with Bob Clark who in turn put him in touch with Ormsby, the casting process (noting that both Harvey Keitel and Christopher Walken auditioned for the role of Ezra), why the movie was shot in Canada, the film's legacy, how the film wound up with AIP and how he'd like to one day get a remake done.

Outside of that we get a theatrical trailer (which is interesting as it has no real dialogue or narration), static menus and chapter selection.

The Final Word:

Deranged holds up really well, it's a sick little picture that's still got a lot of bite. Highlighted by Blossom's fantastic lead performance the film makes very good use of its low budget and it remains a pretty entertaining watch. Kino's Blu-ray improves on the previous DVD release in every way that you'd want it to and it's got some solid extras too.

Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!