Rodolphe Fleury There's several things to say about that film : the portraying of Jeffrey Dahmer is not accurate, it's very two dimensional, it doesn't mention his childhood nor the way he used to get rid off his victimsIt's also morally wrong to do a horror movie out of real life events, it's completely wrong to relate this events from the victims point of view and their family, in this film they are no longer human beings but characters for movies, just imagine being the parents of that kid and watching that or even simply knowing some idiot made a film out of that to make money out of it ... what's wrong is that it's exploiting those people's death for entertainment ... why not a gritty portrait of Dahmer ... being subtle about the whole affair ... you can convey horror and reality without showing this much. A biopic (and gods knows I hate biopics) would have been more suitable, I think even a full on slasher loosely based on Dahmer would have been better than this trash film to be honest ... Dahmer doesn't know where to stands ... is it horror? is it a biopic ? is it a thriller or a portrait ? well it's a bit of both but really sadly and badly digested. It's mostly inaccurate too historically. Some of the acting is terrible : the two girls at the beginning helping that Asian kid, it's very forced and laughable, the cops are even worse actually. the lighting in the daytime scenes is terrible. the music sometimes it truly atrocious, some other time it fits well the horror genre ... the framing and the photography is most of the time worthy of a really mediocre TV movie, except for the night scenes where there's a lot of effort, probably too much actually. Jeremy Renner is okay in it but lacks depth in its portrayal of Dahmer, I guess he's doing his best since the script is really poor and the characters under developed . The dialogues are not helping : nor the mise-en-scene : the scene between is grandma and his dad is a prime example, it's unsubtle, underlined in red and printed in bold like if we were too stupid to understand, and still it's not working at all, it's dragging for ages to a really poor "climax" in the end. it's just painful to watch. Some of the choice in the editing are really odd, the mix towards the end between his first murder and last murder is random and ineffective. Some of the action makes no sense : the guy coming back after Dahmer trying to kill him, that didn't even happen in the end, and the hugging before being gutted, like really? that was an easy and lazy ploy and yet It all falls flat again. Hardly the masterpiece described in those earlier comments, watch Portrait of Serial Killer or My Friend Dahmer instead of wasting your time watching this very poor waste of film.

theinfamousblackraven Renner makes this movie worth watching. His acting of such a complex and disturbed individual is amazing. Its important to remember that Dahmer had a psychological disorder which deeply affected his emotions and Renner manages to convey the deep and painful emotions even through the cold and stoic face Dahmer presented. But as for the movie itself, it misses the majority of what makes Dahmer's case so memorable. In order to understand Dahmer and his actions there must be a portrayal of how desperate he was for a companion - the driving force behind so many of his experiments and murders. The movie switches back and forth between time periods in Dahmer's life with little explanation or transition making it hard to follow if you are not intimately familiar with the case. If you are familiar with the case you may enjoy seeing such an interesting portrayal of the man himself but you are likely to be disappointed by all the missing details. For true crime fans its not a waste of time but it won't be something you'll come back to again and again. For Jeremy Renner fans though, you'll see a lot of what makes him such a great actor.

Jan Manning I'm sure readers will find flaws with what I say, but I'm mostly interested in making sure people watch this movie as a case study rather than an entertaining horror film, which it is not. Jeremy Renner does an amazing job in this film, and he brings Dahmer to life in a haunting, sympathetic way.Serial killer movies are fascinating to me because they study the mind of human beings whose brains aren't wired right. I agree with those who said if you wanted a gore-fest in this movie that you'd be disappointed. But as a case study of a troubled young man who turns to horrible acts to feel good, this movie is interesting. I'm getting my masters in counseling, and when I watch movies like this one, I always find the interactions with the family interesting. Many people have said that Jeffrey Dahmer had a "good upbringing", so why did he turn out so weird? In my opinion, he was born with faulty wiring when it comes to figuring out good and bad, and then he was basically neglected by his family. He did not have a loving family and a good upbringing. His parents know he's strange, but instead of helping him become a better human being, they abandon him. How was he supposed to learn about healthy relationships that way? And battling with his homosexuality on top of that, he didn't have a chance to ever feel happy without some serious help.Overall, I thought the movie was well done. In my opinion, the flashback method gives the viewer the sense of loss-of-control that many sociopaths feel. The scenes where he uses the drugged men as romantic partners, not necessarily just for sex, are uncomfortable, for sure, but they also show Jeffrey's longing for love. He obviously thinks that he would never get romantic attention unless he drugs the men he desires. But the viewer can also see his struggle with this. On the other hand, I wish the movie had gone back to his childhood more. His father is obviously aware that Jeffrey is strange, considering the scene with the mannequin. But how long had his father thought Jeffrey had problems? What had he done in the past to show Jeffrey the revulsion for his own son? Another aspect I find interesting is about Jeffrey's relationships. Sure, he had the one-time deals when he drugged men in the bar, but he also tried to have relationship with people on a recurring basis. He wanted so badly to be a social person and to have relationships, both romantic and platonic, but he had no idea how to actually do that, so he eventually followed his basic urges every time.I think this movie is a sad drama that takes a difficult look at someone who didn't get the help and love he needed when he was younger. Would he have turned out differently if he had gotten those things? We can only wonder and use him as an example of what can happen when mental illness goes unchecked.

tmpj The crimes of Dahmer were sensational, and being from the mid-west, this writer knows that they were front-page news, and they hit home hard. This film does little to help understand Dahmer the killer or Dahmer the man. In fact, it is a huge disappointment because it does not cover the ultimate apprehending of Dahmer by an all too indifferent Milwaukee PoliceDepartment. To some degree, they bear responsibility for the protracted crime wave that ensued because of their inability to recognize what was happening. Dahmer, as did the cops, suffered from the blinding racism that was...and to some extent still is...pervasive in the society, and which may have been an influence on how he chose his victims. These attributes are all down-played in this film. Not much gore, and not much of a shocker. It fails to get across the elements of sheer evil and terror that were associated with these acts. Because of the lackluster way in which the film moves, and because it did not move me to shock but to anger...and because the script, acting, and chronology were disappointing...if not non-existent...I cannot recommend this film as being an authoritative source for familiarizing one's self with Dahmer. This is a film that literally demands the kind of blood and guts and cannibalism that we witness in action packed adventure films because it truly happened. Yet we get little of it. The film leans a bit too much toward being sympathetic to Dahmer, and that is dangerous. While Dahmer's case merits understanding to be sure, he does not merit sympathy in any wise. Maybe down the road, some intrepid soul will produce the definitive film on Dahmer. Unfortunately, for us, this film is not it.