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Psycho Actor Anthony Perkins’ Son Lays Into Monster Season 3

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The son of actor Anthony Perkins has called out the inclusion of the Psycho star in the controversial Netflix series Monster.

Earlier this month, the third season of Monster began streaming, focussing on the horrific crimes of serial killer and grave-robber Ed Gein, whose actions inspired the murderous fictional characters in movies like The Texas Chainshaw Massacre, The Silence Of The Lambs and Psycho.

One episode centres around the creation of Psycho, with Tom Hollander and Joey Pollari playing its director and star, Alfred Hitchcock and Anthony Perkins.

Following its debut, the show received criticism from many viewers over the way the show hinted at a link between the latter and Ed Gein, because of the way the actor chose to conceal his sexuality publicly in his lifetime.

Anthony Perkins on the set of Psycho
Anthony Perkins on the set of Psycho

The Legacy Collection/THA/Shutterstock

Speaking to TMZ, Anthony’s son Osgood Perkins (the director behind recent horror movies like Longlegs and The Monkey) claimed he “wouldn’t watch” the series “with a 10-foot pole”.

He also slammed streaming platforms for “glamourising” the true-crime genre and which he said is “increasingly devoid of context”, while lamenting that “the Netflix-isation of real pain” is “playing for the wrong team”.

Osgood Perkins
Osgood Perkins

via Associated Press

Oz told People magazine last year that the way his parents concealed his father’s sexuality from him when he was growing up was part of the inspiration for his movie Longlegs.

“Everybody knew it, even my brother and I theoretically knew it, but we were never given any language for it,” he claimed.

“The idea that [my mother] could make up – not make up, it’s not a lie – but it’s like a cover, a storytime…”

He said that Longlegs became “the most baroque horror version of, ‘What’s going on in my household?’”, noting: “Every kid probably feels [that] to some greater or lesser extent. But if your father’s a public movie star and you don’t know who he is, that’s a little bit more profound.”

Despite the controversy around all three seasons of Monster so far, the show has continued to be popular with Netflix users, with a fourth currently in the works, based on another famous case from history.

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Monster Season 3 Faces Further Backlash Over Anthony Perkins Psycho Storyline

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Unsurprisingly, the third season of Netflix’s controversial Monster anthology was faced with backlash from the get-go.

Ryan Murphy’s latest creation depicts the life and crimes of real-life serial killer Ed Gein, following previous seasons’ equally-controversial dramatisations of Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez brothers’ crimes.

Straight away, reviewers panned the Netflix show as being “utterly devoid of morality” and pandering to “viewers’ basest instincts” with its graphic and violent portrayal of Gein’s crimes.

Needless to say, the controversy has also not exactly hindered the show becoming Netflix’s most-watched show in the UK at the time of writing.

In addition to the suggestion that the show “sensationalises” the heinous crimes committed by Gein, many viewers have also taken issue with Monster’s subplot involving the depiction of Anthony Perkins, the real-life actor who appeared in Psycho as Norman Bates, a character partially inspired by Gein.

Joey Pollari as Anthony Perkins and Tom Hollander as Alfred Hitchcock in Monster: The Ed Gein Story
Joey Pollari as Anthony Perkins and Tom Hollander as Alfred Hitchcock in Monster: The Ed Gein Story

As well as taking viewers into the bowels of Gein’s depravity, Monster highlights that his crimes influenced many iconic horror films like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Alfred Hitchcock’s aforementioned Psycho, depicting Perkins (played in the show by Joe Pollari) being cast as the infamous fictional killer Norman Bates by Alfred Hitchcock (as portrayed by Tom Hollander).

However, viewers have pointed out that Monster makes some dangerous and “tasteless” links between Gein and Perkins, because of the latter’s decision to keep his sexuality private.

“Ryan Murphy is so tasteless to me, man. If you’re going to do a Anthony Perkins biopic, do a Anthony Perkins biopic and give him the respect he deserves,” wrote one viewer. “But you comparing Ed Gein being a closeted killer to him being a closeted gay man is homophobia”.

Another criticised the show for implying that “Anthony Perkins had a special connection and understanding of Gein because Gein being a murderer is just like being a closeted gay man”.

Meanwhile others called Murphy’s Perkins subplot “disrespectful” and accused the show of “pushing” false narratives about Hitchcock casting Perkins in Psycho because of his sexuality and a perceived connection to Gein.

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Ryan Murphy is so tasteless to me man. If youre going to do a Anthony Perkins biopic, do a Anthony Perkins biopic and give him the respect he deserves.

But you comparing Ed Gein being a closeted killer to him being a closeted gay man is homophobia,

— Jane Doe (@AdhdBarbiee) October 3, 2025

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Ryan Murphy is so tasteless to me man. If youre going to do a Anthony Perkins biopic, do a Anthony Perkins biopic and give him the respect he deserves.

But you comparing Ed Gein being a closeted killer to him being a closeted gay man is homophobia,

— Jane Doe (@AdhdBarbiee) October 3, 2025

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the Ryan Murphy Ed Gein show saying that Anthony Perkins had a special connection and understanding of Gein because Gein being a murderer is just like being a closeted gay man pic.twitter.com/iZnTtIegVt

— 🖤🤍 (@rorschachisgay) October 7, 2025

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the Ryan Murphy Ed Gein show saying that Anthony Perkins had a special connection and understanding of Gein because Gein being a murderer is just like being a closeted gay man pic.twitter.com/iZnTtIegVt

— 🖤🤍 (@rorschachisgay) October 7, 2025