Ed Kemper review
A true crime story that embraces the splatter horror aspect of those true crimes.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Ed Kemper
Directed by Chad Ferrin
Written by Chad Ferring and Stephen Johnston
Starring Brandon Kirk and Susan Priver
Ed Kemper Review
Chad Ferrin is a very prolific director. We’ve only been covering movies for about two and a half years on this site…and this is our third review of a Chad Ferrin movie. And we missed one. Scalper and the very recent Unspeakable: Beyond the Wall of Sleep were both wild movies. The wild tone fits the material in those stories perfectly. One is about a masked serial killer who butchers his way through a town. Unspeakable is a slice of H.P. Lovecraft madness. I went into Ed Kemper expecting a similar splatter movie aesthetic. Ed Kemper was a real serial killer who did some things with his victims that would make Ed Gein blush. Ferrin allows some moments to reach a fevered pitch…but mostly plays Kemper’s story straight. Ed Kemper is better off for it.
Ed Kemper is presented, for the most part, as a grounded and straightforward true crime drama. Its format should appeal to fans of that genre straight away. There are, of course, moments where the gore and violence take over during Kemper’s killing spree. If you know anything about what the real Ed Kemper did to the bodies…the movie lets you off a bit light. There’s still beheadings, dismemberment and necrophilia…but it isn’t as graphic as described on even his Wikipedia page. Ed Kemper doesn’t want to drive off viewers who love a good true crime reenactment piece…but it also can’t ignore the violent and sexual nature of those true crimes.
The story places a large focus on the relationship between Ed (Brandon Kirk) and his mother Clarnell (Susan Priver). Kirk and Priver are part of Ferrin’s regular acting troupe. They turn in fantastic performances here. Kirk has to be able to talk you into the car a scene after you’ve watched him have sex with a headless corpse…and you have to believe you’d get in. Priver’s condescending mother character lords over all of Ed’s resentments and feelings of inadequacy. It frames his killing spree as a response to those feelings…as the real Kemper has suggested was his motivation in real life.
Ed Kemper opens with a flashback to Ed’s first kills. He’s fifteen…and the victims are his own grandparents. The slaying occurred in 1964 and would lead Kemper to a stay at maximum security mental institution. We pick up with Kemper again upon his parole in late 1969. Along with the warning to stay away from his mother. With nowhere else to go…Ed returns to his mother’s home to take up residence. He eventually gets a job working on the highway…where he takes notice of the large number of young women hitchhiking on the side of the road.
Kemper would go on to kill 8 women he gave a ride to over the course of a year. Ed Kemper shows you their interactions both before and after he’s killed them. There’s some sick stuff here…but, again, surprisingly not pushed as far as it could have. Instead, Ed Kemper maintains a true crime feel…highlighted by some hardcore gore effects. Ferrin could have pushed things much farther if he wanted to. The real Kemper did things to the pieces he cut off his victims that would have fit right in with the penis monster fights of Unspeakable. The movie certainly goes further than, say, Zodiac or the countless movies that it inspired. We watch dismemberments and mutilations as he sexually humiliated the deceased bodies. And yet…that’s not only a part of the true crimes of Ed Kemper…but it isn’t even as far as things were taken.
The story inevitably returns to Ed and his mother. Kirk and Priver bring these somehow likable unlikable people to life…and make the relationship as understandable as it is doomed. Ed Kemper doesn’t take liberties with real events. It doesn’t need to exaggerate who this man is. He’s given plenty of interviews since his killing spree ended in 1973…so there’s not guessing necessary about his demeanor or motives. Ed Kemper is one of the serial killers who helped people understand the mind of such a person. Which makes this surprisingly straightforward and grounded examination of his crimes the correct choice all along.
Scare Value
Ed Kemper isn’t void of all the gonzo horror moments you may have come to expect from director Chad Ferrin. There are elevated moments of violence and the desecration of corpses. But those moments are also a part of the true record. Ferrin doesn’t shy away from them…but he also doesn’t push them to a place where they’ll take you out of the film’s chosen aesthetic. Kirk and Priver give great performances. Ed Kemper is one that true crime film fans should enjoy.
3/5
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