While Ed Gein’s name may not be as familiar to you as Ted Bundy, Charles Manson or Jeffrey Dahmer, he’s arguably had the most impact on cinema of any deranged American killer. Often cited as a serial killer, Gein was only convicted of two murders (serial killers kill three or more). However, the weird nature of his crimes has led to him being the inspiration for many of cinema’s most iconic killers.

Alfred Hitchcock’s suspenseful classic “Psycho” borrowed elements from Gein’s life. Like Gein, Norman Bates was obsessed with his mother and liked to dress like her. In the biography film “Hitchcock”, which stars Anthony Hopkins (“Thor”) as Hitchcock during the production of “Psycho”, we see somebody playing Ed Gein.

Gein also had an evil habit of wearing masks made out of people’s skin, making him the inspiration for Leatherface in “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. He was also trying to make a suit out of women’s skin like Buffalo Bill in “The Silence of the Lambs”.

There are a handful of other movies that are more directly based on Ed Gein but the ones I’ve mentioned are easily some of the most famous horror movies out there.