What does an infamous Wisconsin grave robber from the 1950s have to do with the classic horror film Psycho? Quite a bit. The gripping new docuseries Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein, which premieres on MGM+/Roar on September 17, illuminates the story of Edward Theodore Gein, a notorious killer and grave robber from the small village of Plainfield, Wisconsin. This is one of the most compelling docuseries of the year.

Gein’s mindbending crimes came to light in 1957 after authorities learned he had taken the bodies he exhumed and used them as trophies. He confessed to murdering two women but was declared unfit for trail due to psychological issues. Gein died in a mental hospital in 1984.

“What most viewers might be surprised about is that Ed Gein inspired a horror movie revolution,” said James Buddy Day, director and executive producer of the docuseries. “All the contemporary horror movies and horror movie genres we see today were really inspired unwittingly by him. They all very much go back to Psycho. His story is incredible and what he did is shocking.”

James Buddy Day, whose previous works include chilling outings such as Catching a Serial Killer: Bruce McArthur, and the Blumhouse documentaries Compendium of Horror and Fall River, shared more with MovieWeb in this exclusive interview.

Finding the Ed Gein Tapes
MGM+

Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein boldly dives into the life and crimes of the infamous killer that became the inspiration of Alfred Hitchcock’s cultural phenom, Psycho.

Filmmakers, journalists, and scholars all attempted to delve into the mind of the notorious killer, but here, James Buddy Day, ever the intrepid investigator, reveals new information and never-before-heard recordings. Audiences will be transported to late-1950s Middle America and, in an essence, plunged deeply into Gein’s twisted universe.

“Ed Gein’s tapes had been in possession of the family of the judge who is in the series,” Day explained. “They had them in a safe deposit box, and they decided they should do something with them. They reached out to a producer who’s a friend of mine who has a production company, and they listened to the tapes. They knew this was going to be incredible. They reached out to me through a mutual friend, and the rest is really history.”

The series also explores Gein’s upbringing and twisted relationship with his mother — hence the connection to Norman Bates’ mommy issues in Psycho. It tracks Gein’s early grave robbing, the murders leading up to his arrest, and the cop’s discovery of what was dubbed, “a terrifying house of horrors.” Stunning, brand-new revelations are revealed in the recordings.

The Mind of a Psychopath
MGM+

For James Buddy Day, the project fed into his lifelong interest in troubled souls. “I’m continually fascinated about what a psychopath is, the neurology behind it, the sociology behind it, and why people kind of fall off the curve into that kind of dark realm. That fascinates me,” he said.

“I’ve been intrigued by true crime and serial killers since I was in high school. I remember getting Helter Skelter off the shelf in my family home, reading it and being just so fascinated with Charles Manson. It started at a very early age for me. I’m still a true crime junkie to this day.”

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In the very first episode of the docuseries, Day delves into the haunting origins of Ed Gein. It lays a solid foundation for the captivating material that arrives in future episodes. “As soon as I heard the tapes, I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is incredible. I think we need to do something special with this,” Day shared, noting his keen collaboration with Jill Latiano Howerton and Josh Kunau, who also serve as executive producers for Roots Productions.

“I actually got the tapes right before Christmas, so I spent my two-week Christmas break listening to them every day,” he added.

What amazed me was, they had brought Gein to jail, and then very shortly thereafter, brought the judge over, and that judge recorded this. So, these tapes unfold like a scene we filmed for the series. The tapes were so interesting because they really were this window in time into Gein’s story.

A Tale That’s Trippy and Twisted

Day was very interested in knowing where Gein derived some of his disturbing ideas. He said he found some really fascinating connections with magazines that were at Gein’s possession that were in existence at the time, especially ones detailing Nazi atrocities occurring at the time. “That information [was] coming out right at the time when Ed Gein was active,” Day said. “He was reading about headhunters and Nazis from these detective magazines. That was really interesting to me. We actually went back… and you could actually find literal descriptions of things Gein must have read and took, then did, because they match what they found in his house exactly.”

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No doubt Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein will entice fans of true crime and provoke thought. And Day believes viewers will also get a new perspective on serial killers, in general. “I think the modern-day construct of a serial killer is a myth,” he said.

“It’s different from the idea that serial killers are these Hannibal Lecter or Ted Bundy-esque kind of people who are malicious and hyper-smart, these kinds of super villains. What we’re learning through familial DNA and geographic profiling, is that serial killers are much more prevalent than we thought. And they really defy the common myths that we believe.”

“What’s really fascinating about Ed Gein for me is that he is the original [archetype of a] serial killer and he kind of defies these tropes,” concluded Day, whose docuseries defies quite a few tropes itself.

Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein premieres September 17 on MGM+.