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Dahmer
Directed by	David Jacobson
Produced by	Larry Ratner
Written by	David Jacobson
Starring	Jeremy Renner, Bruce Davison, Artel Kayàru
Release date(s)	21 July 2002 (USA)
Running time	101 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	~ US$144,008

Dahmer is a 2002 American film, a biopic about the American serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Jeremy Renner stars in the title role.

Plot

Jeffrey Dahmer kills young men. He photographs them, masturbates afterwards, and conducts sadistic experiments on them before he murders them. He killed 17 men in this way in Bath, Ohio and the metropolitan area of Milwaukee.

At the same time, he examines his crimes and rationalizes them with the divorce of his parents and his emotionally isolated childhood.

Nevertheless, he can't stop inviting more and more young, mostly gay and ethnic minority men from bars and clubs to his home, where he kills them.

Only when the young Rodney escapes from Dahmer's apartment are the authorities able to arrest him.

Plot devices

There are two timelines in the film: The "present" of the film runs in ordinary chronological order covering the period of one or two days; the flashbacks go in reverse order, so that we see Dahmer in successively younger and younger events until we arrive at his first murder and its aftermath.

Background information

Although the script recreates actual events, the names are changed out of respect for Dahmer's victims. In reality, the escapee who led to Dahmer's capture was Tracy Edwards, and Dahmer's first victim was a man named Stephen Hicks, portrayed in the film by Matt Newton. Certain details are also changed, as is the nature of films based on true stories. For example, Tracy Edwards (Rodney) was in his early thirties, rather than his early twenties as depicted in the film. He was also a heterosexual who was troubled by Dahmer's advances.

Production of the film took place in Los Angeles and one scene in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The mask special effects were created by Christien Tinsley and Kelley Mitchell, who were involved two years later in the makeup of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.

Awards

• Independent Spirit Award (Nomination for Jeremy Renner (Best Male Actor in a Leading Role))
• Independent Spirit Award (Nomination for Artel Kayàru (Best Newcomer))
• John Cassavetes Award (Nomination for Larry Rattner and David Jacobson)

External links

• Dahmer at the Internet Movie Database