Top 10 Horror Killers Inspired By Ed Gein

Top 10 Horror Killers Inspired by Ed Gein

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the ten most notable fictional killers who were largely inspired by Ed Gein.

#10: Michael Myers

“Halloween” (2007)

Rob Zombie’s reboot of the “Halloween” saga leaned into grittier, more disturbing realism, and that includes going into far more detail about the unknowable Michael Myers. Unlike John Carpenter’s more enigmatic killer, Zombie’s version bears many Gein-like undertones. He has a fixation on masks - collecting them, making them, and using them to conceal his fractured psyche. And come on, his mask looks a bit more…skin-y than the original’s fresher “Halloween store” appearance. He’s also depicted as having a close bond with his mother, whose spectral memory guides Michael in his violent quest. Both characteristics echo Gein’s infamous life, and with Zombie’s love of horror, it’s probably no coincidence. This Michael Myers isn’t just a blank slate boogeyman; he’s a macabre manifestation of real life horror.

#9: Frank Zito

“Maniac” (1980)

Considered an unofficial video nasty, “Maniac” has long attracted controversy for its themes and graphic violence. Much like Ed Gein, the movie’s killer Frank Zito is driven by deep psychological trauma that is rooted in a warped relationship with his mother. Both men express their violence through an obsession with women and trophies - Zito scalps his victims to place their hair on mannequins, while Gein infamously exhumed corpses and crafted grotesque keepsakes from their remains. The fixation on recreating female figures as controllable objects echoes Gein’s attempts to cope with his loneliness and grief following his mother’s death in 1945. While Zito is a far more outwardly violent figure, the influence of Gein’s macabre legacy is obvious.

#8: Vincent Smith

“Motel Hell” (1980)

On the surface, Farmer Vincent seems like a kindly small town figure, but beneath that folksy charm is a cannibalistic entrepreneur. Vincent traps unsuspecting travelers, “plants” them in his secret garden, and eventually turns them into his famous smoked meats. While Gein was never known to engage in cannibalism, the collecting and harvesting of human bodies is a direct nod to the famous criminal. Vincent’s rural isolation, his twisted sense of practicality, and the way he treats human bodies as resources is also lifted directly from the Gein playbook. And who can forget Vincent’s grotesque pig mask, which too obviously recalls Gein’s fascination with wearing trophies of flesh?

#7: Garland Greene

“Con Air” (1997)

Steve Buscemi’s Garland Greene is a highly intelligent serial killer who casually recounts his atrocities with unnerving calm. Garland’s psychology shares much in common with Gein’s - his calm demeanor belies his horrific acts, much like Gein’s neighbors who remembered him as a quiet and harmless man. The “boy next door who harbors sinister secrets” vibe reeks of Gein, and at one point he tells a story of wearing a woman’s head as a hat as he embarked on a road trip. The connection there is obvious. Indeed, Gein is often credited as a major inspiration on the character, alongside other “charming but deadly” killers like Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, and Ed Kemper.

#6: Otis Driftwood

“House of 1000 Corpses” (2003)

Rob Zombie clearly has a thing for Mr. Gein. The famous director makes the list again with Otis Driftwood, a sadistic killer who delights in mutilation and turning victims into grotesque art pieces. Otis’s manner of transforming corpses into grotesque “art pieces” reflects Gein’s notorious furniture and clothing made from human remains. Otis also embraces the rural madness aesthetic of Gein’s story, trapping outsiders who stumble too close, his house of 1000 corpses mirroring Gein’s Plainfield farmhouse nightmare. And in one twisted scene, Otis torments Denise by wearing a mask made from the skin of her dead father. While he’s far more sadistic than Gein, Otis clearly borrows from the same twisted foundation.

#5: Dr. Oliver Thredson

“American Horror Story: Asylum” (2012-13)

We turn to the realm of television for Zachary Quinto’s Dr. Thredson, who begins the series as a caring psychiatrist but who is eventually revealed as the sadistic killer Bloody Face. Yeah, you can see where this is going. Thredson’s entire persona drips with Gein influence. Thredson abducts women, murders them, and crafts furniture and masks from their remains, hence, you know, Bloody Face. And, like Gein, he also harbors some severe mommy issues, although in this case it’s abandonment, not abuse. Thredson’s combination of medical grotesquery, manipulative charm, and macabre handiwork makes him a modernized version of Gein, with the Bloody Face mask serving as a chilling homage to the famous skin masks found in the Gein house.

#4: Ezra Cobb

“Deranged” (1974)

Few films are more on-the-nose than “Deranged.” Ezra Cobb is essentially Ed Gein with his name changed for legal reasons, as there was very little attempt made to disguise the obvious inspiration. Like Gein, Cobb is a lonely farmer living in the rural Midwest under the thumb of his fanatically religious mother. And after her death, he turns to grave-robbing, exhuming corpses, and eventually wearing skin. At one point he even kidnaps a cashier and hangs her upside down in his barn, which is taken nearly verbatim from the Bernice Worden murder. The film’s haunting and blatant recreations of Gein’s actions makes Ezra Cobb one of the most faithful screen adaptations. He’s just Ed Gein with a different name, plain and simple.

#3: Buffalo Bill

“The Silence of the Lambs” (1991)

Few cinematic killers are as overtly Gein-inspired as Jame Gumb, AKA Buffalo Bill. His obsession with transformation and his creation of a “suit” stitched from the skin of dead women come directly from Gein’s infamous proclivities. But unlike some other killers on this list, there’s also a deeper layer of psychology at play here. Bill is largely fixated on identity and becoming someone “new”, which mirrors Gein’s attempt to literally wear the skin of others to escape himself. He’s far more violent than Gein was, especially when it comes to trapping his victims in his creepy basement. But the psychology, the choice of female victims, and the wearing of human skin all relate directly back to the infamous Wisconsin killer.

#2: Norman Bates

“Psycho” (1960)

The archetype of the “mother-obsessed killer” was born from Ed Gein, and Alfred Hitchcock brought it to cinematic legend through Norman Bates. Norman’s controlling and abusive mother, who lives on in his fractured psyche after her death, reflects Gein’s unhealthy attachment to his own abusive mother, Augusta Gein. Gein also wished to “become” his mother by wearing the skin of dead females - a disturbing aspect which is directly mirrored in Norman’s penchant of “becoming” his mother by wearing her wig and clothes. The isolated rural home, the secret double life, and the dual existence of “innocent son” and “domineering mother” all echo Gein’s unsettling reality. Hitchcock may have fictionalized some aspects, but the real killer’s DNA is simply unmistakable here.

#1: Leatherface

“The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” (1974)

Who else could be in the top spot? Leatherface is horror’s most direct and lasting creation born from Ed Gein’s heinous crimes. His mask of human skin, rural isolation, and reliance on manipulative family members draw heavily from Gein’s horrific legacy. Leatherface also does one better than the other killers on this list, as he actually has furniture and decorations made from human remains - a grotesque aspect of Gein that is often ignored in cinematic adaptations. He also hangs his victims from the ceiling, which is exactly what Gein did with Bernice Worden. While exaggerated into sheer chainsaw-wielding chaos, Leatherface embodies the disturbing blend of domesticity and monstrosity that made Gein’s crimes so chillingly cinematic.

Did you know these killers were modeled after Ed Gein? Let us know in the comments below!