The mini-series “Dahmer – Monster: The Story of Jeffrey Dahmer” by “American Horror Story” creator Ryan Murphy (56) is currently causing a sensation on the Netflix streaming service. Even before the Netflix series, however, some filmmakers embraced the chilling true story of the murderous Jeffrey Dahmers (1960-1994). Two of these works are particularly worth seeing.
In 2002, the horror thriller “Dahmer” appeared, starring later Marvel star Jeremy Renner (51). The low-budget film, shot in just 18 days, deals not only with Jeffrey Dahmer’s murders but also with the traumatic youth of the serial killer – and helped its main actor to break through in Hollywood. Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow (70) became aware of Renner through the strip and gave him the leading role in “The Hurt Locker” (2008).
On the review collection site Rotten Tomatoes, “Dahmer” has a good rating of 73 percent positive reviews.
The 2017 film “My Friend Dahmer” takes an original look at the serial killer. It is based on the graphic novel of the same name by John Backderf (62), who was a close friend of Jeffrey Dahmer as a student. In “My Friend Dahmer” the brutal series of murders is left out. Rather, it’s about the time before, the difficult home of the killer and his experiences in high school.
Critics emphasized in “My Friend Dahmer” that in addition to the murderous tendencies already present in Dahmer, the human side of the later killer is also shown. On Rotten Tomatoes, the work has a convincing 86 percent positive reviews.
