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DahmerRating:
Release Date: 22 April, 2003 Retail Price: $9.98 OUR Price: $9.98 You SAVE: $0.00! Cast: Complete Cast (5 total) |
Dahmer Reviews
Pre-Dahmer: Or, what happened to a young man
Three and a half stars, but I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt.
If you are looking for blood and murder, you won't find it here. There is one puddle of blood, a pretty tame drill bit, and one flashing, bloodless cavity exploration. This isn't a film about Dahmer's killing spree; it's a "Pre-Dahmer" exploration of a young man's transformation. And even then, sorry to say, it doesn't have the ring of accuracy to those who know psychology.
What 'Dahmer' does have is some surprisingly good acting from unknown talents. Jeremy Renner is especially good in his role of Jeffrey Dahmer, and kudos to Artel Kayaru, Matt Newton, Dion Basco and Bruce Davison. The film is artistically directed, well photographed, well edited, and makes good use of music/soundtrack and make-up effects. Overall, it's a very well done movie.
'Dhamer' covers Jeffrey's life prior to his 'splurge', so to speak. It's a development study. The script makes use of Dahmer's close run-in's with police that were blown off, like getting caught trying to return a victim to his house, getting caught drugging drinks in a gay bar, and an incident in his youth with a garbage bag in the back of his mothers car that *wasn't* grass clippings.
The movie makes strong use of flashbacks and scene-skips, but it works to an advantage on film. Jeremy Renner plays both younger and older Dahmer, and the make-up/photography is excellent in making this work on-screen. To some, the movie may seem paceless, but it's absorbing nonetheless. It did seem to end too soon, too much left out; but for the time frame of Dahmer's life it did a good job.
Some interesting notes of my own would be the writer's reference to the Christian cross as a torture device, like worshiping an electric chair or a guillotine. To a serial killer, this would make sense. It brings up interesting social issues for a young gay man, but I honestly don't credit Dahmer with having much debative intellect. Serial killers are normally creatures of immediate sensation, not debative thought. They live 'in the now' and often believe that other people are simply 'items' in their world and not beings with thought processes; like them. Others are a study, not a reality.
I strongly doubt Dahmer felt any revulsion the first time he cut, killed, dismembered, or ate any of his victims. It would have been merely interesting to him. In the real world, you can't use reason to reach unreasonable people. They cannot hear it.
All in all, I suggest renting before buying, and keep in mind its more of an artistic study than a horror movie. Enjoy!
Poor Film
The disc paused for some inexplicable reason every 15 minutes. For events that took place in the early to mid 90's, the setting and visual quality was very poor. Lastly, if you're a homophobe, this movie is not for you.
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