Such a frustrating disappointment

Absolutely amazing

The acting in this movie is really good.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

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.

The first frame of the movie informs us that Dahmer was one of the most notorious killer of all time and he was sentenced to 937 years in prison!! You think that the movie will either tell you about the origin of this evil or will vividly show the kills. Alas, this is a philosophical discussion cum homoerotic dance which happens between Dahmer and one of his intended villain. Jeremy Renner is Dahmer, an unassuming guy who works in an ice cream factory. He is a homosexual. He lures guys to his home, mixes drugs in their drinks and then kills them. He likes a black guy, brings him home and the aforementioned philosophical bullshit starts. This is interspersed with scenes showing Dahmer's youth. Renner shows early hint of his awesome acting prowess but he cannot rise above the horrible script. It was as if the director chose the most boring 90 minutes of Dahmer's life to make the movie. Very disappointed. 1 out of 5 for Dahmer. This killer will bore you to death.

i have read quite a few books on jeffrey dahmer, and he did some unspeakable things, and was a cannibal, I've seen some of the crime scene photos and they are rough stuff, yet if you watched this movie you would never believe it. first of all the movie is all over the place, and the timeline goes back and fourth, and while some things are quite accurate, for the most part this movie fails on all levels, its not a great drama, it's certainly not a horror movie, in life dahmer claimed the life of 17 victims, in this he kills about 2 or 3, don't get me wrong im not a gore monger, but if your going to do a biopic of the most notorious serial killer of alltime, show the truth. there was a much better version of this story made in 1993 called 'the secret life of jeffrey dahmer' it was very accurate, and mighty disturbing, showing dahmer's crimes for what they was, the movie was very controversial when it came out, due to it's no holds bared look at dahmers crimes, maybe that's why the makers of this 'dahmer' chose not to show all the murders, fair enough but to not even show or even hint that this was wrong and stupid, and the ending was very disappointing, and don't expect anything to do with his trail or prison or death, of all the true crime serial killer movies I've seen this is probably the worst and least accurate, never the less the actor who played dahmer was very good in the role. just a shame that he didn't have a better script to work with

This movie was OK overall but considering how low budget it was I would say it was very well made. Dahmer is an interesting character and having read his biography I came away from this feeling much different then I did from reading the book. I found the movie didn't quite reach its goal in capturing the full extend of Dahmers incurable loneliness. It did however capture just how troubled this man really was.As for the crimes it didn't even come close to showing what he really did. Little glimpses of it here and there just showed a fraction of what this horrible person was about.I did enjoy this film and thought Jeremy Renner did an amazing job in this role. I was excepting something totally different then what this movie showed but I wasn't disappointed. A little bit slow to begin with but interesting enough to keep you watching.ZombieSteak.com - Discover a new world of horror films, designed just for you.