Dahmer (2002)

Absolutely amazing

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Maybe people wouldn't have been so hard on this film if it featured a fictional protagonist. Most people coming into this movie are familiar with the Dahmer case and therefore expecting gruesome gore or condemn this movie as "humanizing" him and refuse to accept it. That's just the thing though...Dahmer WAS a human. He had a slow but unyielding descent into madness that this movie captures perfectly. After Dahmer's first killing, done seemingly because he was hurt and embarrassed that his bizarre homosexual flirting backfired, we see him cringe and look away as he cuts up the man. Then, after he loads the bags up in the car and drives away to dispose of them, he gets stopped by a policeman. Jeffrey manages to lie his way out of the situation but when he returns home is visibly shaken and begins sobbing on his couch. It's an unsympathetic moment; he still killed a man, after all, but it shows that maybe he wasn't always a monster. Maybe he did have a conscience, but the isolation that resulted from being unable to express his demented fantasies overtook his capacity for normality. The film is intertwined skillfully between scenes that show Dahmer as an awkward, maladjusted teen who earns our empathy, and horrific glimpses of his lurid secret life. There is one scene in particular that just stands out as absolutely jarring considering the macabre nature in comparison to the background, in which the Dahmer family gets ready for church. I've heard people complain about this film not being gory enough, which I find odd. The few scenes we get of Dahmer's crime are terrible enough, just enough to contrast the shy, soft-spoken man we've seen earlier without bordering on camp. We already know Dahmer did horrible things; but, all too often we forget that he was just a son, a neighbor, a coworker to somebody too. Part of the reason this movie's subtlety works is the phenomenal directing and acting. I love the look of this movie. It has the feel of a dingy, cheap '80s porno movie, and the dedication to the look of the period is astounding. I also love the flashback sequences in this movie. It perfectly encapsulates Dahmer trying to justify his emotions that led to these gruesome acts, and if you aren't paying attention you won't notice Dahmer's almost incessant drinking, showing further how far he's sunk into the abyss. part of the reason this movie is so stirring is because of the pitch-perfect acting. Jeremy Renner is absolutely phenomenal here--he has Dahmer's mannerisms, voice, and emotions down to an eerie tee. He has an indescribable eroticism about him that makes his scenes with his targets captivating and scandalous. It seriously might be one of the most jaw-dropping performances I've ever seen. His planned victim Rodney, played by Artel Kayaru, is also great and brings heat and drama to a movie that might stick a bit close to the mundane and non-theatrical at times.Pros: phenomenal acting; sinister, understated aura that makes it a masterpiece of psychological horror.Cons: I actually wish this movie was a bit longer. I feel like some extra scenes exploring Dahmer's psyche could've pushed this movie to a complete 10. Also, it does sort of eroticize Dahmer's crimes, which is a sticky moral issue I'm not discussing in an IMDb review.In conclusion: Great understated psychological horror film, it's worth a view if you're interested in the Dahmer case at all or are at least open to the idea of opening your mind on a subject in which there's usually only one narrative.

I'm a true crime buff and almost cringe at the thought of a movie based on someone like Dahmer. Number 1 because they don't deserve it, and number 2 because movie makers tend to mess them up. Not so in this case. I know the case fairly well and can tell you that this movie is fairly accurate. The few artistic type liberties taken were very well done and make sense in the context. The best part of this is Jeremy Renner's portrayal of Dahmer. Wow, what an amazing actor. I had no idea. The accent, the movement, the phrasing, all sound exactly like every interview of Dahmer I've seen. Just a terrific job on Renner's part. All in all I recommend watching a documentary on this case if you're interested in the true story, but then you'd miss Renner's brilliance in this one.

--Warning Spoilers--I've seen this movie 5 years ago for the first time and it had a huge impact on me! This movie became one of my favorite movies of all time and I'm still shocked that this movie scored into a 5 and not higher. This movie had everything there should be and to my saying it absolutely perfect! The way dahmer got portrayed from inside and outside couldn't have been better. Jeremy Renner looks A lot like dahmer i have to say even in the scenes he plays as young jeff dahmer it looks exactly how it should be. The movie leaves you feeling extremely empty and even sorry for dahmer. In total i must've watched it like 6 times and it still amazes me how good of a movie this is even though it was low-budget!

I'll admit, I hadn't even heard of this movie before Jeremy Renner shot to fame, and I think he's an extraordinary actor, managing to embody each and every one of his characters he's played perfectly. And this movie is no exception.Although there was a alternate reasoning behind me watching this, I did however, do a little research on the real Dahmer before watching the movie, and like most people, I had expected it to be a bit of a gore fest.Upon watching it I was actually pleasantly surprised to find out that the director had taken a different viewpoint on what could have turned out to be the same as every generic horror they throw out nowadays. This movie was far more sinister this way, that and the fact it is inspired by true events.The constant flashbacks I thought were really interesting and helped to develop the character of Jeffery Dahmer. Again, I was surprised to find that a lot of the movie focused on the dialog.Credit goes to the actors in this movie, the two best being Jeremy Renner and Artel Kayàru who I thought were fantastic and portrayed their characters in such a convincing way.So why did I give this movie a 7 rating you wonder? the kudos go to the actors and the directing throughout but what it certainly doesn't go to is the abrupt and awful ending.After sitting watching this whole movie through, completely enraptured, it was a shock when the credits suddenly started rolling. The whole thing seemed to be building up to something and then suddenly we are faced with a flashback of Dahmer as a teen walking into a forest. Where was this even supposed to fit in with anything else that had happened and what was it's relevance? If anything the movie should have gone on a little longer to wrap it up properly, and by that I don't mean involving any killing or whatever else you originally expected from this movie, I simply mean making it come to an ending that actually seemed like it belonged there. If anything, having the credits after the scene just before this would have been fine, I just didn't see the need to put this extra piece in.Saying that, this movie was still well worth the watch and I would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in the psychological side of a 'horror' movie, rather than just being there for the gore. It's one of those movies that you just sit there afterwords, thinking about it for a long time and still wondering what to say.