I must admit that I am fascinated by serial killers. Ted Bundy, Andrei Chikatilo, John Wayne Gacy, Herman Mudgett; the stories of their atrocities and their personalities always piqued the morbid side of my curiosity. Now having said this, I knew that there was a series of biopics made about these men, but I was under the impression that they were of the direct-to-video ilk. For most, this was a correct assumption. Not so for
Dahmer. This movie looks at the last days that Jeffrey Dahmer was a free man. Taking a decidedly personal look at the killer,
Dahmer is not the bloodsoaked gorefest that one would think a movie like this would be. Using the camera to look at his lifestyle, the audience sees how far removed from society in general Dahmer was. I am in no way condoning or explaining away his crimes, but this was a shockingly lonely man. A misguided, twisted person, he was incomprehensibly unable to cope with himself, so he made and kept companions the only way he knew how: by murdering them and keeping the bodies. This movie is absolutely disturbing in the the ways that make good cerebral horror movie good; showing almost nothing, and letting the imagination take the reins.
Jeremy Renner plays Jeffrey Dahmer. Even in this early role, Renner does a fantastic job bringing this reprehensible person to life. Bruce Davison portrays Jeffrey's overbearing and occasionally irrational father, Lionel. The remainder of the cast is played by relative unknowns, and it's easy to see why they are unknown, they're not that good, but they do the job.
A very subdued horror movie based in reality, but, I'm guessing, perhaps 75% accurate (at best),
Dahmer is a decent movie to watch if you're in the mood for something off the beaten path. If you want a bloodbath, look elsewhere, but if you want to take a peek into the life of a social misfit and complete psychopath, check out
Dahmer. It's not bad, but it is disturbing. 7/10.
See you tomorrow, and GO WATCH A MOVIE!!
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