DAHMER - MONSTER (2022)

CREATED by Ryan Murphy & Ian Brennan

STARRING - Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer, Richard Jenkins as Lionel Dahmer, Molly Ringwold as Shari Dahmer, Niecy Nash as Glenda Cleveland, Michael Learned as Catherine Dahmer...and too many more to list here.

PLOT - The true story of cannibalistic homosexual serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. The story follows Dahmer's early life and childhood, his killing spree that started in the late 70's and came to an end in the early 90's, his subsequent arrest,incarceration and eventual death in prison at the hands of a fellow inmate.

Why would an eccentric but otherwise normal seeming man commit the atrocious crimes that Dahmer carried out. Maybe his story will give us the answers...or maybe not ?...

PERFORMANCES - When embarking upon a project like this the main actor involved is faced with several problems. First and foremost is how to actually play the part, especially if like in this case that part is Jeffrey Dahmer - the infamous "monster of Milwaukee" - a cannibalistic serial killer that terrorised the black and gay communities of the day, a man whose crimes are very much still within living memory, whose victim's families are still mostly alive and still missing the people he took from them. If the actor plays the role too over the top then he's going to be accused of not taking the crimes seriously and "camping it up", if he plays the role too softly or sympathetic then he runs the risk of being criticised for "glorifying" a monster. 

Couple that with the potential flack he's going to take from certain sectors of the public who are a little too credulous (just look at all the actors who play soap opera villains who get abused in the street by overzealous "fans") and you can see why it would take a certain amount of guts to take on a role like Dahmer. 

Thankfully Evan Peters DID have the guts to take on this potential minefield of a part and what's more he gets it EXACTLY right.

It's safe to say that he nails Jeffrey Dahmer's mannerisms and voice to a tee. The dead eyed stare, the stilted almost monotone way that Dahmer had of speaking (after watching this, I then watched an interview with the real Jeffrey Dahmer on YouTube and you'd honestly think it was the same guy speaking - the voice is EXACTLY one hundred percent accurate). In a way Peters isn't just doing a Jeffrey Dahmer impersonation - he instead completely channels him. It's chilling the way he does it.

Peters doesn't just play Dahmer as a monotone, dead eyed psycho though - oh no - we get to see other sides of Dahmer too. At some points he's quite charming, sometimes he's even quite funny. We even get to see him in love at one point (or as close to love as a total sociopath like Dahmer could ever aspire to at least).

From the above description you may be concerned that Peters humanises Dahmer a bit too much, and it's true he does sail dangerously close to the wind at times, but for every moment of gawky charm or amusingly bad dancing there's a moment that completely pulls you out of your comfort zone. Every time you think you're coming close to figuring out what makes this dangerous maniac tick Peter's performance (and the script) always pulls the rug out from under you, leaving you no closer to feeling empathy or even understanding Dahmer - and that's exactly how it should be.

Some quarters have criticised Peter's casting - the usual complaint is that Peters is "too good looking" to be Jeffrey Dahmer and that he isn't intimidating enough. I say bullshit to this - firstly, surely an actor's perceived physical attractiveness (or otherwise) shouldn't preclude them from being cast in a specific role (I'd imagine this would only be an issue in a porno movie), and secondly - Peters CAN and DOES do intimidating really, really well - just sit down and watch the scene where Dahmer uses intimidation tactics to try to scare his next door neighbour into withdrawing her complaints to the landlord about the smells of rotting flesh issuing from his flat, or the opening scenes where he terrifies the living daylights out of an entrapped victim (who eventually escapes and gets Dahmer finally arrested). Peters isn't just intimidating, he's absolutely bloody electrifying.

Another good thing about his performance is that he manages to pull off capturing Dahmer convincingly at various points in his life. Peters was in his mid thirties when he filmed the series (older than the real Jeffrey Dahmer was at the time of his death in jail) and yet he convincingly manages to play the 16 year old Dahmer just as authentically as he plays the 31 year old Dahmer. From awkward gawky teenager discovering his twisted sexuality for the first time (NOT his homosexuality I hasten to add, I mean his violent, necrophiliac tendencies) to the more world weary imprisoned Dahmer turning to religion to clear his conscience whilst simultaneously going out of his way to piss off his fellow inmates in the hope that they end him for good (they do). At every point he completely nails it. Peters has gone on record as saying that he had to go to some really dark places in his head to play the part and the experience left him feeling disturbed afterwards. His sacrifice for his art was well worth it though as this performance is just spot on.

It's not all about Peters though. The rest of the cast are all excellent as well, in fact I don't think there's anyone in this entire production that gives a bad performance. 

Take for example Richard Jenkins as Jeffrey's father Lionel. He paints a superb picture of a man who has spent a lifetime trying his best to get his no-hoper of a son to sort his life out. When the story about Dahmer's crimes breaks, Lionel feels guilt and blames himself for Jeff's crimes (he was responsible for instilling an interest in Taxidermy in Jeffrey as a child). Despite his son's monstrous actions he still loves him. When Dahmer is killed in jail in the final episode Lionel's grief feels real and genuine.

Another good performance comes from Niecy Nash as Dahmer's next door neighbour Glenda. She suspects that Dahmer is up to no good from the outset - partially due to the foul smell coming from his apartment but mainly because she encounters one of his drugged up victims shortly before his death at Dahmer's hands. She calls the cops but they pretty much ignore her and send the young boy to his death.

As the story progresses Glenda pretty much becomes the central character in the second half of the series once Jeffrey is safely locked up in jail. She calls out the local police for their racist and homophobic attitude which enabled Dahmer to go undetected for as long as he did. She tries to get justice for the victims and thier families but sadly ultimately fails to do so. Nash gives a very dignified  and powerful performance.

SFX - Not much to speak of, a few prosthetic body parts and not much else.

SEX & VIOLENCE - Obviously with a series dealing with a serial killer who was motivated by perverse sexual desires, you can take it as a given that the themes of both sex and violence feature heavily.

What we DON'T see are many of Dahmer's victims actually getting murdered. This is probably for the best seeing as most of thier immediate families are still alive and well and most likely still grieving.

I say mostly - we do see him murder his first victim by strangling him with a barbell, and we see the corpses of several victims but not the actual murders themselves, instead we see the events leading up to each killing and then the after effects of the killings on the victim's friends and families.

There's a disturbing moment where Jeffrey kisses the severed head of a victim but this is the only moment where the series really strays into exploitation movie territory - the rest is as tasteful as they could have made it in the circumstances.

In fact the most graphic killings shown onscreen aren't actually committed by Dahmer. We get a flashback to serial killer John Wayne Gacy killing one of his victims which is much more graphic than anything we see Dahmer doing.

We then get Dahmer's death at the hands of a fellow convicted - who smashes Dahmer's skull in. Dahmer accepts his death and bleeds out on the prison floor. Again more onscreen blood is shed here than anywhere else in the series.

RATING - All in all this a well crafted, well written, well acted series. 

Undoubtedly some people will find it's very existence objectional or offensive (or at least get offended on somebody else's behalf - which seems to be a thing in this day and age), but I'd say this series is worth defending precisely because it attempts to show all sides of the story - it's not just from Dahmer's point of view but also from the p.o.v. of his victims, thier friends and families, his neighbours and the wider culture which his very presence and actions affected. It dwells less on the violence and more on the after effects of Dahmer's violence - and that makes it a story worth telling.

No attempt is made to make you "like" Dahmer, there are points where you maybe emphasise with him (which is bound to make people feel uncomfortable - and it SHOULD), but never are his actions ever excused.

At the end of the day no real explanation is ever really given for Dahmer's actions - several possible explanations are posited - was his unstable upbringing ? Was it his dad's fault for getting him into taxidermy ? Was it because his mum took medication when she was pregnant with him ? Was it because of an illness he had as a kid ? Or was he just a mentally ill loner with no friends who slipped through the cracks ? As the show states in it's closing scenes - we'll never know for sure.

This deserves a 5 star rating - it's not an easy watch (you have to completely be in the right mood), and some people might not stick the full distance but if you can get over any squeamishness the subject matter might trigger in you it's well worth a watch. Dark, morbidly fascinating and utterly compelling.