Yes, I found this movie horrible. It was dark, dreary, dull, and boring. Very boring because of repetitious killing scenes, all of whose endings were totally predictable. Dahmer was obnoxious and despicable in the manipulative way he operated. The violence and the sex WAS gratuitous and disgusting.
The story had a beginning without a middle or an end. It just meanders from one killing to another. Dahmer's psycho babbling was pointless as he attempts to analyze one of his potential victims. I saw nothing about his childhood that may have contributed to his madness. The scenes with his father when he was a teen were not credible because the father was a one-dimensional bad dad who, we're supposed to believe, created this Frankenstein son by dominating him and invading his privacy. Nonsense. This is a superficial conclusion and surely an oversimplification of a highly complex problem. We never find out the many causes that effected such inner hatred and vengeance that it erupted into such canabilistic violence. So many guys have had overbearing dads--but how many turned out to be a Dahmer?
This movie is just another sensationalistic attempt to exploit a killer who committed a series of ghastly, gruesome murders and offers neither understanding nor insight into his true motives. Dahmer is unclear and thus unsympathetic. Furthermore, the movie gave no information on how Dahmer was caught, tried, convicted, and imprisoned, and the circumstances leading to his murder in prison.
I wasted my money buying this. I threw my copy in the trash can--I wouldn't even donate it to Good Will (because that would be bad will) or to the Public Library.
The actor playing Dahmer was just FAIR, showing a limited range of understanding and expression of the depth of the character's internal dissension. It was all so perfunctural and matter-of-fact--just another ho-hum day of killing! And dismembering!
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"I didn't want them to leave"
Added 11/3/2007
From 1978 until 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer lived a life that became the focal point of worldwide media interest Amongst the most well-documented portions of this were the acts of creating lobotomized sexual slaves, of keeping trophies of victims in various states of decomposition all around his home, and of having the mysterious "blue barrel" that was used for disposal in his home. Some of the lesser-known facts were that he worked in a Chocolate shop, that he had been arrested before because he had sexual contact with a minor, and that his family life was something that had been strained. When reading about him in the book his father's book wrote, (A Father's Story by Lionel Dahmer), you could see some of the ingredients that went from "deviant sexual impulses" and "aberrant drug use" and spiraled into something that nightmarishly consumed 7 people before the police finally intervened.
This is the story of some of that and of his younger years combined, with extreme liberties taken.
One of the things that made this movie different than a lot of other movie was the fact that it didn't focus on blood and gore as much as it did on the characterization of Dahmer. Jeffrey Renner does a great job doing that portrayal, keeping the awkward charm attributed to Dahmer and yet still giving Dahmer a methodical approach that seems cold and disjointed. The movie starts in the middle of Dahmer's killing spree and doesn't really offering conjecture as to why he does everything he does. It does offer the viewers little glimpses into Dahmer's life in a round-about way, however, putting together a portrait of what Dahmer was like. It begins with Dahmer manning the chocolate production line, and from follows Dahmer as he starts looking for people that suit his needs. The first he finds is one of his most well-known, the 14year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone, and goes into how he lured the boy into his home and how the police had intervened but had done nothing in the end. That seemed to be something typical with Dahmer and related something about him and his victims; he was white and was good at choosing words and his victims were minorities and were oftentimes ignored. Along the way the movie also backtracks in the film and shows us the first murder Dahmer participates in, a hitchhiker names Steven Hicks, and shows us how the words "I didn't want him to leave" came into play there. It also explores his homosexuality, the way he drugged people to make them compliant, and the way his brutality escalated.
Remembering that this movie is a work of fiction, this movie could be interesting to a number of people depending on what you want to watch. Since it is about a serial killer the topic is well-known, and if the thought of a Dahmer movie appeals to you then it appeals to you. I personally thought it was well done, again taking liberties, but that is to be expected.
4 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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So many unanswered questions....
Added 9/14/2007
Yes, this film doesn't answer the question why? But it's very well acted-esp. by Jeremy Renner. I had hang-ups with this guy as well, very afraid to see the film. I was glad most of the violence was implied. One scene I found interesting was where one of his victims tried to show him some compassion, and he tries to strangle him. A strange thought went thru my mind: if he'd have given anyone the chance, could he have been shown love, or was he too far gone? Every friend I ask this say it was too late, all he cared about was the control. I've seen alot of serial killer movies-I'm fascinated by Dahmer though because his upbringing wasn't exactly out of the ordinary-broken family/home, delved into alcoholism, but his dad tried to reach out to him, and he closed himself off. With as smart and as good-looking as he was, I do have a hard time understanding why he was so ignored. I give this film three stars because it is very well acted, but doesn't answer alot of questions. Rent it before buying it. Buying it first maybe a waste of money for some.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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to all the people saying this movie was horrible...
Added 7/19/2007
if you buy this movie and expect an actor portraying jeffrey doing every murder hes done, chopping up bodies and eating them, than this is not the movie for you. this movie is more like an psychological insight of dahmer. what he was and why he did what he did(what sparked him to kill). you're gonna see 4 major psychological event in his life. his first murder, detailed insight of the only guy who happened to escape, a flashback why he was the way he was, and one of his plotted attempted murders. thats it. its not going to be a gruesome detailed description of every murder he's done. if you're looking for that than i rather you buy a documentary of jeffrey dahmer rather this dramaticized movie of his life. knowing the director insight of the synapsis of this movie, i think this movie is superb.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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not a typical serial killer movie...
Added 2/13/2007
I was actually disappointed in *Dahmer*. I guess I was expecting the life and crimes of Dahmer. I remembered, as a teenager, how it was such a big deal when Dahmer was arrested. So, I was looking forward to a gruesome account of how he had came to be. He was charged on 17 counts of murder. However, he was actually convicted on 15 of them, totally some 937 years in prison.
Instead, like one reviewer put it, this was like "pre-Dahmer" and it certainly felt that way. Plus, not everything in this film was accurate as there was a disclaimer saying so. So, if you're not familiar on Dahmer and his crimes, then you won't know which is true and which isn't.
*Dahmer* paints this serial killer as a lonesome gay chocolate factory worker in Milwaukee. However, Dahmer likes his men to be totally submissive. In order for them to be submissive, he'll have them drugged and then killed.
The problem is that we don't really see how or where he murders them, except 2 of them. We see, in flashbacks, how he seduced his (first?) victim. Then, we see how he seduced Khamtay. Khamtay was the only person who gave suspense in this entire film. You see, Khamtay escaped from Dahmer's apartment and begged for help. However, when the police arrived so did Dahmer, from work. After some smooth talking, the police gave Khamtay back to Dahmer to his death. Last, we see the drama between Dahmer and Rodney. In real life, Rodney is supposed to be Tracy, who was the second and last victim to escape from Dahmer.
However, we do not see that here. Instead, we see that Rodney is interested in Dahmer. Dahmer is interested but conflicted. Every time that Dahmer wanted to kill Rodney, he stopped.
So, we do not really see the real portrayal of Dahmer in this film. Instead, we see flashbacks of his teen years and young adulthood where Dahmer struggled against the authority of his religious father. I guess that is supposed to explain why Dahmer came to be as this serial killer. We see his run-in's with the police but gets away with it every time. We see how he drugged men at the local gay bar and in his apartment. And that's just about it.
Honestly, it was a waste of time. You're better off watching *The Texas Chainsaw Massacre* just to get an idea of what Dahmer might've been like.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Yes, I found this movie horrible. It was dark, dreary, dull, and boring. Very boring because of repetitious killing scenes, all of whose endings were totally predictable. Dahmer was obnoxious and despicable in the manipulative way he operated. The violence and the sex WAS gratuitous and disgusting.
The story had a beginning without a middle or an end. It just meanders from one killing to another. Dahmer's psycho babbling was pointless as he attempts to analyze one of his potential victims. I saw nothing about his childhood that may have contributed to his madness. The scenes with his father when he was a teen were not credible because the father was a one-dimensional bad dad who, we're supposed to believe, created this Frankenstein son by dominating him and invading his privacy. Nonsense. This is a superficial conclusion and surely an oversimplification of a highly complex problem. We never find out the many causes that effected such inner hatred and vengeance that it erupted into such canabilistic violence. So many guys have had overbearing dads--but how many turned out to be a Dahmer?
This movie is just another sensationalistic attempt to exploit a killer who committed a series of ghastly, gruesome murders and offers neither understanding nor insight into his true motives. Dahmer is unclear and thus unsympathetic. Furthermore, the movie gave no information on how Dahmer was caught, tried, convicted, and imprisoned, and the circumstances leading to his murder in prison.
I wasted my money buying this. I threw my copy in the trash can--I wouldn't even donate it to Good Will (because that would be bad will) or to the Public Library.
The actor playing Dahmer was just FAIR, showing a limited range of understanding and expression of the depth of the character's internal dissension. It was all so perfunctural and matter-of-fact--just another ho-hum day of killing! And dismembering!
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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"I didn't want them to leave"
Added 11/3/2007
From 1978 until 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer lived a life that became the focal point of worldwide media interest Amongst the most well-documented portions of this were the acts of creating lobotomized sexual slaves, of keeping trophies of victims in various states of decomposition all around his home, and of having the mysterious "blue barrel" that was used for disposal in his home. Some of the lesser-known facts were that he worked in a Chocolate shop, that he had been arrested before because he had sexual contact with a minor, and that his family life was something that had been strained. When reading about him in the book his father's book wrote, (A Father's Story by Lionel Dahmer), you could see some of the ingredients that went from "deviant sexual impulses" and "aberrant drug use" and spiraled into something that nightmarishly consumed 7 people before the police finally intervened.
This is the story of some of that and of his younger years combined, with extreme liberties taken.
One of the things that made this movie different than a lot of other movie was the fact that it didn't focus on blood and gore as much as it did on the characterization of Dahmer. Jeffrey Renner does a great job doing that portrayal, keeping the awkward charm attributed to Dahmer and yet still giving Dahmer a methodical approach that seems cold and disjointed. The movie starts in the middle of Dahmer's killing spree and doesn't really offering conjecture as to why he does everything he does. It does offer the viewers little glimpses into Dahmer's life in a round-about way, however, putting together a portrait of what Dahmer was like. It begins with Dahmer manning the chocolate production line, and from follows Dahmer as he starts looking for people that suit his needs. The first he finds is one of his most well-known, the 14year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone, and goes into how he lured the boy into his home and how the police had intervened but had done nothing in the end. That seemed to be something typical with Dahmer and related something about him and his victims; he was white and was good at choosing words and his victims were minorities and were oftentimes ignored. Along the way the movie also backtracks in the film and shows us the first murder Dahmer participates in, a hitchhiker names Steven Hicks, and shows us how the words "I didn't want him to leave" came into play there. It also explores his homosexuality, the way he drugged people to make them compliant, and the way his brutality escalated.
Remembering that this movie is a work of fiction, this movie could be interesting to a number of people depending on what you want to watch. Since it is about a serial killer the topic is well-known, and if the thought of a Dahmer movie appeals to you then it appeals to you. I personally thought it was well done, again taking liberties, but that is to be expected.
4 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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So many unanswered questions....
Added 9/14/2007
Yes, this film doesn't answer the question why? But it's very well acted-esp. by Jeremy Renner. I had hang-ups with this guy as well, very afraid to see the film. I was glad most of the violence was implied. One scene I found interesting was where one of his victims tried to show him some compassion, and he tries to strangle him. A strange thought went thru my mind: if he'd have given anyone the chance, could he have been shown love, or was he too far gone? Every friend I ask this say it was too late, all he cared about was the control. I've seen alot of serial killer movies-I'm fascinated by Dahmer though because his upbringing wasn't exactly out of the ordinary-broken family/home, delved into alcoholism, but his dad tried to reach out to him, and he closed himself off. With as smart and as good-looking as he was, I do have a hard time understanding why he was so ignored. I give this film three stars because it is very well acted, but doesn't answer alot of questions. Rent it before buying it. Buying it first maybe a waste of money for some.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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