Writer and producer Dan Davies presents the Arizona premiere of his film Ed Gein, The Musical at 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, April 29 and 30, at the Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St.

Davis will offer an introduction, meet-and-greet and a Q&A session. The film's director, Steve Russell, will be in attendance. Davies' friend Michael Blake, author of Dances With Wolves, will be his special guest.

Interesting note: The film was made with a budget of $9,000. Visit www.edgeinthemusical.com for info.

From a press release:

"Ed Gein, The Musical" is a 92-minute musical/comedy/horror movie filmed in Wisconsin and is based on the notorious killer and grave robber from Plainfield, WI. Gein was arrested in 1957 and the horror of his crimes and the macabre uses of the dead prompted national and international coverage and outrage. He has been the subject of numerous books and films including, "Psycho, "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Silence of The Lambs", "Deranged" etc.

The producers at DaviesRussell Studios of Appleton, WI felt that their variation of this often told tale would be singularly unique and very watchable. Steve Russell who directed and co-produced felt that, "...our story does not glorify Ed or his actions or demean his victims...but we use the music and dark comedy as a vehicle to tell the story with truth and a fair amount of accuracy."

Dan Davies who wrote the film and stars as Ed feels he has an inside track on the story, "I grew up about 20 miles from Plainfield, WI. My grandpa and the arresting sheriff were, at one time, best friends. He was actually very close to all of the Waushara County deputies. My grandma knew and bought school supplies from Bernice Worden, the lady he murdered just before his arrest. I'm not some outsider from LA or New York doing an exploitative film on this horrible man." Davies added "the movie has been getting some really great laughs and people really enjoy the original and parodied music but our film is really a psychological treatise on how this man became a monster."

Steve Russell added, "we know the subject matter is very controversial as evidenced by all of our national TV, radio and print coverage but people really have to see the movie first and then decide for themselves."

An interview with writer Dan Davies: Listen here.

Dan Davies writer, co-producer and star of the controversial and critically acclaimed film, "Ed Gein, The Musical" was interviewed along with John Waters on National Public Radio's "To the Best of Our Knowledge" Sunday, March 20th. Hosted by Jim Fleming, TTBK has been on the air since 1990 and is broadcast nationally on NPR and XM Satellite Radio. It's also broadcast internationally on Public Radio International and the Armed Forces Network.This Peabody award winning radio program is "two hours of smart entertaining radio for people with curious minds".

On this show entitled "Pushing the Limits in Film" Eccentric director John Waters (Pink Flamingos, Crybaby, Hairspray etc) is interviewed first and then Davies immediately follows him. He talks about the film "Ed Gein, The Musical" and it starts at 12:15 on the timeline and lasts 12 minutes.