I thank Indra for his post about the Mumbai, India, serial-killer Raman
Raghav. I take this matter up, Indra, mainly because it bears out what
Alfred Hitchcock always knew, and had a character say in one of his films
(FRENZY, 1972), that 'Religious and sexual mania are often closely linked.'
Such figures recur in Hitchcock's films, from the eponymous lodger (Ivor
Novello) in THE LODGER (1926) to Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) in SHADOW OF
A DOUBT (1943) to, yes, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) in PSYCHO (1960) and
Bob Rusk (Barry Foster) in FRENZY.
The lodger was loosely based on the prostitute-slaying (and eviscerating)
Jack the Ripper. (At one point Hitchcock photographed the character with a
cross-like shadow on his face.) Uncle Charlie was based on a couple of
real-life serial-killers, including Earle Nelson, whose principal victims
were landladies. One survivor remembered that he had wanted a quiet room
because 'he was a religious man of high ideals'. He thought his face
resembled Christ's. Norman Bates has religious pictures in his house and
motel. He was based, in part, by author Robert Bloch on the killer Ed Gein
who had lived a reclusive life in outback Wisconsin. But also, Norman is
said to have been part-based by Bloch on one Calvin Thomas Beck, horror and
science fiction fan who published and edited the respected fan magazine
'Castle of Frankenstein' and was totally dominated by his mother, even after
his father had passed away (in circumstances reminscent of THE OLD DARK
HOUSE). (For more, go to: http://www.bmonster.com/horror29.html.) I'm told
that among Beck's interests were 'theosophy, lost continents, and other
sci-fi fannish fads'. As for Bob Rusk in FRENZY, he appears to have been a
composite of such killers as Gordon Cummins, Neville Heath, John Christie,
and the so-called 'Jack the Stripper' who had recently killed several women
and dumped their bodies in the Thames.
America has had many serial-killers who, like Raghav, roamed the highways
and freeways, picking up victims. Drifter Henry Lee Lucas claimed 200
victims, mostly young children and women whom he met during his travels
across the country during the 1970s and 1980s.
Now, I see no reason not to suspect that some religious fanatics, even in
high places, including religious officialdom, aren't driven by a dynamic
PARALLEL TO or THE MIRROR OF that which drove some of the above-named
killers. But I also suspect that NONE OF US is without questionable or base
motives which, fortunately, have been sublimated in relatively altruistic
and pro-social (as opposed to anti-social) lifestyles. (Note. Some of the
above killers were clearly damaged goods. In the case of Earle Nelson, for
example, it is said that he suffered significant brain damage when, at the
age of 10, he was knocked down by a streetcar and was unconscious for six days.)
The Jesuits used to have a saying, 'An idle mind is the Devil's playground'.
I can almost hear Alfred Hitchcock, the maker of PSYCHO, commenting,
'That's very wise!'
If anyone can recommend some relevant texts, or has related thoughts, I
would be grateful to hear (about) them.
- Ken M
http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~muffin/news-home_c.html
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