User reviews

An experimental documentary film that uses archival footage, interviews, and fictionalized scenarios to tell the story of the people around Jeffrey Dahmer during the summer of his arrest in 1991.

I like how they emphasized that Dahmer was a white guy in the black neighborhood, an wish this could have been explored more. Those not familiar with Milwaukee may not realize how incredibly segregated it is.

I further appreciated the story of the shirt, and plenty of other behind the scenes details from Detective Pat. Some may find it boring, but I think the idea of Pat just talking for two hours would be fascinating. He probably has other non-Dahmer stories to tell.

Using an actor to portray Dahmer was interesting. At first it seemed silly and unnecessary, but I understand why they went with it -- if you do not have the footage, you have to fill the screen with something.

This starts off very slow to the point that I almost turned it off after a few minutes. However, when I saw that one of the speakers was the lead investigator on the Dahmer case, I continued to watch for a little while longer. And it was then that the documentary got interesting. This short movie follows the story of the lead investigator who interrogated Dahmer during his confession and how he corroborated with forensic investigators to determine just how many people Dahmer had killed. The deceive's and forensic's stories are good. The other chunk of the documentary interviews Dahmer's neighbor and a few others who knew him and their experience during his arrest. Although it offers another story/point of view to the case, it ultimately was not needed and made the picture feel slow and lackluster. The final chunk follows an actor playing the role of Dahmer just shopping and walking around so just reenacting his everyday life. This was absolutely a waste of footage and time. More footage of the Dahmer case would have been better to show in it's place.

Experimental Jeffrey Dahmer documentary which actually focuses more on the Milwaukeeans during and after his hidden spree. The reenactments are beautifully shot; and Andrew Swant (also the film's co-writer) slides into the monster's skin so smoothly, ultimately humanizing Dahmer without becoming charming or remotely likable. Unfortunately, the three interviewees are not overly appealing, and you can't help but remember that there are many more interesting people who had a thing or two to say about Dahmer. Archival footage included, but is used somewhat minimally. Originally premiered simply as JEFF and was later changed to THE JEFFREY DAHMER FILES when picked up by IFC.

**½ (out of four)

The Jeffrey Dahmer Files (2012)

*** (out of 4)

Good, if at times uneven, documentary taking a look at three people who were close to Jeffrey Dahmer at the time he was arrested for what turned out to be one of the most shocking crimes in American history. This documentary features interviews with the neighbor Pamela Bass, the medical examiner Jeffrey Jentzen and most interesting is Pat Kennedy, the detective who talked with Dahmer after his arrest and got the confession. The film also has actor Andrew Swant playing Dahmer during a few scenes as we see him on a day-to-day basis as he carries out certain acts of his crimes. THE JEFFREY DAHMER FILES isn't your typical documentary and perhaps that's a good thing. I will admit that at first it was a little strange seeing how the film went back and forth between the documentary aspect and the docu-drama but once you got comfortable with it the film flowed much better. At just 76-minutes the thing never wears out its welcome and in fact I think that a longer running time probably would have helped matters as there are all sorts of questions that aren't answered. I think the highlights of the film involve the detective as he gives a first-hand account of how Dahmer was acting after being arrested and what it finally took for him to realize that his days were over as a free man and that he might as well start talking. I thought the relationship the two men formed was quite interesting and these stories are certainly the best in the film. The neighbor aspect wasn't nearly as interesting but she does answer a few good questions like what it was like having someone like this murdering people just feet away from her.

Chris James Thompson's Jeff, a docudrama involving the interworkings of the Jeffrey Dahmer case, opens by establishing two different, vital points for a film like this to make. It has the medical examiner, Jeffrey Jentzen, assigned to the case of Jeffrey Dahmer state how many people have formulated different meanings behind what exactly a "disaster" is, and then has leading detective on the case, Patrick Kennedy, go into how as human beings we'd love to believe we'd react courageously in the face of tragedy or despair, but we can never be certain until it happens. He then goes on to state how as a devout Catholic, he was always thought that courage is fear that said its prayers.

All I can say is that fear can pray all it wants, but it could never have prepared itself for the horror Dahmer inflicted not only on a community but on a country as a whole. Jeff dives into three people, all of them deeply effected by Dahmer's actions in some way, and spliced in are scenes recreated to show Dahmer's day-to-day life, as mundane as it is, with the man in question played wonderfully by Andrew Swant. The three people, however, are not actors, and are here to share their depressingly grim accounts of their relationship with Dahmer. The medical examiner is Jeffrey Jentzen and the leading detective is Patrick Kennedy, as established, and but the third person was the most personally affiliated with the man and that is Pamela Bass, who was the next door neighbor to Dahmer in his apartment for many years.

The film explores how deeply this one unexplainable murder case completely changed the lives of three normal, innocent, law-abiding people and how they've gone on to better or further their lives based on this case alone. Pat Kennedy, easily the one with the biggest story to tell due to his explicit connection with Dahmer during the time of his arrest, conviction, and jail-life, goes into how when he first met the man, they talked in lengthy detail about religion and alcoholism. This was during the time that a skeleton was found in his refrigerator, so says Kennedy, who recalls his thoughts and mindset as he discovers there was not just one but six skulls found in Dahmer's refrigerator, among other severed body parts in containers, drums, and jars that lied throughout the home of Dahmer.

This is one of the most unique documentary films I've ever seen, with a style very similar to that of Richard Linklater's Bernie, which featured polarizing performances by Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey, and Shirley McClaine. It takes the same kind of mockumentary approach that film did, featuring reenactments and authentic interviews from various townspeople who knew the suspect in question. However, this film has less of a mock-narrative consistency than Bernie, with the scenes featuring Dahmer involving little dialog and emphasizing on the mundane activities of the man behind washed-out cinematography and often low-key music. This is the stylistic side of the picture, which is very innocent and unobtrusive to its central focus. Next to Quentin Dipeux's Wrong, this is easily some of the best cinematography and stylistic merits a film has had this year, only this time, the traits are embodied in a film that is much more watchable and clear in its tone.

Jentzen goes into the grim details of investigating and gutting the apartment, and being put to the painstaking task of identifying all the bodies removed from the apartment. It was a tireless project, seeing as how not only were the bodies dismembered and mutilated, but they had begun decomposing, leaving much of the reliance on small facial details and anatomy structure to identify them. Finally, Bass goes into how she was effected simply for being her neighbor. The apartments and their always reeked of death for weeks on end, and she and her building were the target of public scrutiny and attention, with numerous people asking if they could come in to sit on couch Dahmer gave her or touch a glass Dahmer once drank out. We begin to question that, besides Dahmer, who else was sick in this whole equation.

There is no better way to describe Jeff than a complete film than a subtle and low-key crime drama. Everything about it is an exercise is subtle, minimalist filmmaking that accentuates drama, uncertainty, and impending doom with true craft, from a filmmaker who clearly has a long road to travel on before he can even give us, what I believe, is half of what he wants to say. If there's any film that should be shown to film students as a look at what a first-time auteur looks like, this is it.

One of the best and most thought-provoking scenes is the scene where Jentzen reveals that he doesn't go to horror movies and can't see why people would want to. The last horror film he saw was The Exorcist, likely in its original theatrical run in 1973. He doesn't feel the need to watch anymore. Why would he? He lived a horror film and there's no "stop" button on his.

Starring: Andrew Swant, Pamela Bass, Jeffrey Jentzen, and Pat Kennedy. Directed by: Chris James Thompson.

As some other review said, you learn more about the Jeffrey Dahmer case by reading wikipedia, than watching this movie because half of what the interviewees are talking about have nothing to do with it.

And while dramatizations of actual events may be great in a documentary, what half brain thought it was a good idea to constantly interrupt the storytelling to show long clips of:

Jeffrey Dahmer buying an aquarium fish in a store.

Jeffrey Dahmer eating a hamburger on the bus.

Jeffrey Dahmer sitting by a railroad track drinking a beer.

Etc.

This is about as entertaining as watching paint dry.

If what you're looking for is a slasher movie, The Jeffrey Dahmer Files is not for you. Director Chris Thompson is not interested in showing you actual scenes of blood, severed heads, or other grizzly images. If that's what you're into, you won't like this movie.

If what you're looking for is a smart, insightful, and unique look at three people who's lives were forever changed by Dahmer's deeds, this is the ticket. Pat Kennedy, the detective handling Dahmer's case, Jeffrey Jentzen, the medical examiner called in to deal with the bodily remains, and Pamela Bass, a neighbor who had befriended Dahmer tell their incredible stories with chilling detail. Thompson is a brilliant interviewer knowing just what questions to ask of these three unique individuals who have never been asked what their personal experiences were, instead having been barraged with questions about the gory details they witnessed only for purpose of media sensationalization. In Thompson's film they are allowed to spill their guts which is a chilling experience for the viewer.

Throughout the film, the intense testimonies of Kennedy, Jentzen and Bass are intersected with short docudramas of Dahmer going through his daily life being played by Andrew Swant. At first these seemed a bit amateur and even annoying, but with time they gave this viewer a moment to catch her breath - much needed after the chest-tightening details of Dahmer's murders. Swant plays Dahmer as the seemingly dull and uninteresting man he actually was which seems so contrary to the horrific actions taken behind his apartment door. You will witness Dahmer buying fish at an aquarium, a large blue barrel and taking it home on a bus, and bleach at a grocery store, all in a sort of daze. Of course we know what he will use the barrel and bleach for and we would expect Dahmer to be creepy. But instead he looks like a regular guy who is somewhat slow and disinterested in the world. After a couple of these dramas I began to relax and enjoy the break they provided.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who is interested in personal stories of people experiencing something none of us are every likely to experience. Kennedy, Jentzen, and Bass will walk you through their harrowing personal life-changing experiences of knowing Jeffrey Dahmer.

Thompson's story will leave you with lot's to think and talk about. Can't recommend it enough.

Everyone knows it was APT 213, but they had it as 214 in these really bad dramatizations/recreations that are cut in between interviews which makes for a bad format. It would be better just with the interviews.

Another year, another movie about American Serial Killer from Milwaukee. This documentary has some new information, but it also has some old information. I wished it didn't have the re-enactments because they were kinda corny. It goes into more details about the gruesome discoveries in Dahmer's apartment, and those sections are the most interesting. They also talk about Dahmer interrogation, his feelings, and how his crime has changed the life of everyone involved as well as the people of Milwaukee.

Jeff had its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. The film paints an intriguing, even provocative, portrait on a man whose actions place him among pantheon of the most evil figures of our times alongside the Nazis in our collective memory. The use of interviews with a neighbor, a police investigator and a medical examiner paints a compelling picture of the events surrounding the arrest and prosecution of Jeffrey Dahmer. They also show us how the revelation of his crimes affected those around him. The interviews paint a powerful picture and deliver a solid portrait of the serial killer that provides us with interesting insights into Dahmer's twisted mind and personality.

However, the other aspect of Jeff is more problematic. The director felt the need to supplemental the interviews by recreating everyday aspects of Dahmer's life using actors to show bits and pieces of his daily life as he shops for stuff that he'll need to carry out his vicious crimes. These scenes present the absolute ordinariness and in-distinctiveness of Dahmer. The phrase that kept going through my mind was Hannah Arendt's famous phrase "the banality of evil" which she used to describe Adolf Eichmann during his Israeli war crimes trial. The director and writers seem to be trying to do something similar in this film. The problem is that in so doing they are taking the dangerous step of merging fact and fiction. It is unclear whether they are attempting to recreate actual events or just imagine how Dahmer might have behaved based on their own speculations. The line between reality and imagination has becomes very blurry when you mix documentation with dramatization.

Not a bad documentary here, considering I've pretty much exhausted the Jeffrey Dahmer informational breadth at this point. Having seen every movie and documentary on the Milwaukee killer, and read my share literature, I think I've learned it all, for the most part. Still, "The Jeffrey Dahmer Files" isn't a total wash, despite it's flaws.

You're basically getting the Dahmer story through first-hand accounts with the detective who got the initial confession, the forensic guy and a crack head neighbor who goes over some of her casual interactions with him around the apartment complex...

Again, I wasn't getting a whole lot that I didn't already know about the Dahmer case, but the interviews were okay. That said, it seemed like they were a little "light" on the more 'pertinent' material so a lot of the doc is padded out with some pretty pointless dramatizations of Dahmer's day-to-day life. No murders are reenacted - the closest being Jeff dragging a body in a suitcase out of a hotel and into a cab. The rest of this type of stuff is just bland filler, showing Dahmer making a beer run and checking out a gay pride parade. I just didn't see the point in any of this so, in turn, I firmly believe that "The Jeffrey Dahmer Files" would've made for a much better short doc - consisting of, maybe, 15 minutes worth of the interview material.

So, as I said, you're not getting a whole lot of new and interesting facts on the Dahmer case, but I kind of enjoyed hearing from the retired detective.

More Gorepump horror reviews at http://swinesewage.blogspot.com/

THE JEFFERY DAHMER FILES (dir. Chris James Thompson) A startlingly original dramatization and documentary about infamous Milwaukee serial killer, Jeffery Dahmer. The film features conversations with three interviewees; the detective who had first contact with Dahmer, the middle- aged, Afro American woman who was Dahmer's neighbor in the apartment building where his crimes were committed, and the medical examiner on the case. The fictionalized sections of the film augment and enhance the interrogative segments, and make this an authentic dramatic production and not just a series of interviews with 'talking heads'. The film is not even eighty minutes, but it is superbly edited and a brilliant example of documentary film-making. Well Worth a Look.

This sad excuse of a documentary is a confusing combination of pointless and boring reenactments and interviews with people who seemingly have not one bit of useful information to offer and yet they talk on and on for an hour and a half of your life. One sourest is a fame driven cop who considers this case his glory days and proceeds to talk about this issues he had when the case ended because he lost his "fame and recognition" WHAT?! Half of what this guy says has nothing to do with the case and the other half sounds embellished or simply made up. The other extremely CREDIBLE source is a crack head neighbor he had.... Enough said. I learned way more about this guy and his case by reading the Wikipedia page. Do NOT waste your time.

The good in this documentary is really good. The interviews are compelling and interesting, and tell the story of Dahmer from perspectives not only not shown before, but not often shown at all. The bad is almost just as bad. Why do I need some unmemorable actor playing Dahmer in an over-the-top "Look how weird I am" performance? It adds nothing and comes off as pretentious hipster rebranding of a "character" that anyone should know isn't accurate.