Because the Things They Do would Hardly Qualify as "Friends" as We usually Define it. A sad end to a sad life.īased on the Graphic-Novel by John Backderf, who was with Dahmer in High School, and was sort of His "Friend" But if the Movie is Accurate Backderf came to Dahmer Late in Senior Year and Only as a Sideshow to Satisfy a Few Other High School "Rejects". Sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty but insane to fifteen counts of murder, he was bludgeoned to death by a fellow inmate on November 28th, 1994. Many of Dahmer's later murders included necrophelia and cannibalism, with his killing spree lasting till 1991, at which time he was arrested and admitted to the murders over the years. It's more gruesome than that, but if you need to know, you can look it up for yourself. When it's mentioned at the end of the picture that Steven Hicks (Dave Sorboro) was never seen again after being picked up by Dahmer as a hitchhiker, it fails to mention definitively that Jeffrey killed him using a ten pound dumbell, striking him in the head twice and strangling him with the bar.
The movie stops short of providing a glimpse of Dahmer's first murder. The film doesn't explore young Dahmer's recognition of his gay sexuality it's hinted at in the scene with the doctor having him cough, but it's not so blatant that one might consider it if you didn't know about it before hand. I guess it didn't help that his mother (Anne Heche) was a borderline mental case, and his father (Dallas Roberts) was a little late in providing Jeff with the support and attention he needed from an earlier age. The idea of a Dahmer fan club seemed almost as bizarre to me as the way he went about looking for attention. At first, the story line leaves it up to the viewer whether his acting out in high school was the result of an epileptic condition, or whether it was intended to seek notice and approval from his peers, though later it's shown that he does so voluntarily. This film takes a look at the teenage Jeffrey Dahmer (Ross Lynch), who's fascination with dead animals gradually led to increasingly bizarre behavior. You have to wonder how and why some people simply go off the rails. something I reckon people were expecting. It is really slow paced and is more of a drama rather than a horror movie. Of course because this is not really sensational, it means it won't be for everyone. The directing, the acting, framing/camera work, the editing, the script. And that is what makes this movie so incredible and so powerful. But in the case of Dahmer it is a lot of things that make him the person he is. Maybe just so you can tell if you see someone like him and be able to stop that from happening. Having said that, there is always that intrigue of watching someone and trying to figure out what made him go off the rails. The movie also can not change what this boy will become once he grows into an adult man. Most are aware of what this man has done and while I am generally against criminals/mass murderers/crazy individuals getting the limelight of publicity and their name known in the press, Dahmer happened a long time ago and you can't change the handling of the story in hindsight. Not the infamous late part of him is what I'm trying to say.