Film Review - Dahmer
Starring - Jeremy Renner, Bruce Davison, Artel Kayaru, Dion Basco | Directed by David Jacobson | First Look DVD FF R 102min 2002
Review By Xmortis
Dahmer is a film about the famous serial killer that terrorized Milwaukee in the early 90's, and claimed the life of 17 young men. The film starts with a look at Jeffrey Dahmer as he works in a chocolate factory and had a boring job. At a department store Jeff sweet talks a young man into coming home with him to take pictures by buying him a pair of sneakers, but while there the young man is drugged and gets a power drill to his head making him a zombie to Jeffrey's will. Jeff keeps the young man alive and drugged as he battles with his father and grandmother in flashbacks who seem to know there is something wrong with their loved one. All the while Jeff is finding young men at all types of places and his next target is a gay black male who he meets at a knife shop. Jeff then goes to a gay bar and drugs a young man who he takes to a back room and rapes him. He does so night after night until he is caught, and the bouncers at the bar kick the living shit out of him and ban him from the bar. On his way home from this night Jeff runs into the young man whom he takes home and the two talk all the while Jeff is having flashbacks to his young adult life and even his first kill. In the end the young man is freaked out and flees for his life as Jeff just cold stares out the window and watches him get away. The film then informs us that Dahmer was sentenced to 957 years in prison and was murdered by another inmate just two years into his sentence.
This is a serial killer film done right to a point. Again they add things into the story pep up the story and that's always bullshit in my eyes. Just stick with the facts if you are going to make a bio-pic. The film revolves around Dahmer and the man he picks up at the knife store. He is starting to really like someone and that someone like's him back so it feels like instead of being with him he thinks it would be better to scare him off. The flashback scenes are fascinating and well done. At times you almost feel for the sick fuck! The acting is great with Jeremy Renner being a great choice to play the soft-spoken Dahmer. In fact all the actors and actresses did a great job. The sick moments of murder and rape have a dirty feel to them and not glorified and leave the viewer feeling gross.
The DVD has some extras that are worth checking out like commentary, a featurette, the original trailer, subtitle options and good old scene selections. The cover is a creepy dark light picture of the cold stare of Dahmer looking right at you.
Over all this was a great thriller even if you know how the story ends. Powerful cast, well directed and a lot of heart in the genre where it's normally about a quick buck and that's the real killer horror.