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DAHMER - 2002
First Look Pictures / Blockbuster Films / Peninsula Films
Rating: Canada: 18A / USA: R |
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Are
you gonna eat that?
DAHMER was written and directed by David Jacobson (CRIMINAL [TV]). He doesn't do any Dahmer jokes so I felt the need to
open with one. I don't do it to minimize the monstrosity of Dahmer's
crimes or the grief of the families and loved ones of his victims. But
what this guy actually, really, did is so far removed from normal behavior
that humor becomes a shield between sanity and the mental abyss Dahmer
represents.
Wow, that was deep. Was the movie as eloquent as me?
The story opens in the chocolate factory where Jeffery Dahmer (Jeremy
Renner: A NIGHTMARE COME TRUE [TV]) works the late shift. The images
of chocolate pouring from a pipe and Dahmer at times covered in chocolate
are disturbing in an unexplainable way.
Jeffery cruises a local mall and meets a young Asian guy named Khamtay (Dion Basco). We see what came to be the standard procedure for Dahmer's victims who were lured back to Dahmer's apartment, then drugged, murdered,
raped (if that term applies to the dead)
and sometimes devoured. Khamtay represents perhaps Dahmer's most heartbreaking
real victim because after drugging him and performing some experimental
brain surgery with a
drill, Dahmer goes out to pick up some more beer. Khamtay wakes up enough
to stagger out into the street where passersby call the cops. When Dahmer
comes upon this scene on his way home he lovingly puts his arm around
Khamtay and tells the amused cops that the boy is drunk and they had a
lover's spat. Dahmer is allowed to take Khamtay home where he promptly
strangles him.
A call from Jeffery's grandmother (Kate Williamson: DISCLOSURE,
INTERVIEW WITH THE ASSASSIN) interrupts and Jeffery has to run
over to grandma's house to help her get a crow out of the kitchen
(The crow is listed in the credits as "Edgar
Allen"). Dahmer lived with his grandmother for years and apparently
had a good relationship with her.
The next victim is a young black man named Rodney (Artel
Kayaru). The cat and mouse play between these two in Jeffery's
apartment is broken up by a series of flashbacks and this is the bulk
of the movie. In these flashbacks we see a variety of documented incidents
in Dahmer’s life, including the murder of his first victim when Dahmer
was just out of high school.
Given the subject, there’s surprisingly little gore. And no attempt is made
to explain why Dahmer was what he was, although to be fair, there is no
explanation. He wasn’t abused as a child or any of the usual causes
blamed for odd behavior. He was just a monster – no one knows why.
The movie does a good job of portraying portions of Dahmer’s life, and
the actor Jeremy Renner gives an excellent performance, but ultimately
the film is a bit dull. It’s too middle-of-the-road as far as choosing
which way to go to tell this story. That’s why I can only give it
two shriek girls.
This review
copyright 2002 E.C.McMullen Jr.
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DVD
TRIVIA
Jeffery Dahmer was a very unusual kind of serial killer. These miscreants
are usually motivated by revenge on society in general and women
in particular for all the wrongs they perceive as having been done
to them.
They’re usually losers of one kind or another but none of what’s
wrong with their lives is their fault. Their murders are a way to
feel strong and in
control. But Dahmer was different in that murdering his victim was
the beginning rather than the end of the ritual. He’d admitted
to being sexually aroused by corpses as early as age 14.
I think creatures like Dahmer may be the origin of vampire myths. Imagine
someone like this, murdering boys in a medieval city. Maybe, when
he realizes the locals have become suspicious, he simply leaves
town one night.
Then his home is examined and all the partially eaten body parts
and ritually prepared skulls are found. How would superstitious,
illiterate
people react to such discoveries? What stories would spread outward
from an event like this, growing in the telling - though they'd
hardly need to? |
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