Jeffrey Dahmer's movies: Must-watch movies based on the infamous serial killer (2024)

Hollywood has a history of telling the stories of the world's most evil criminal's gruesome crimes through films. With true crime podcasts growing rapidly in the past year and Netflix screening several popular documentaries that focus on these twisted minds, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood adapted the gruesome, horrific, and ultimately evil tales for the big screen evidenced in Jeffrey Dahmer's movies.

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Jeffrey Dahmer was famously known as the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster. He was an American serial killer and sex offender who rap*d, murdered, and dismembered 17 men and boys from 1978 to 1991.

Jeffrey Dahmer's movies

Given the gruesome nature of Dahmer's crimes and Americans’ ongoing fascination with serial killers, it’s unsurprising that there are many movies about Jeffrey Dahmer. Here is a list of must-watch movies based on the infamous serial killer

1. The Secret Life: Jeffrey Dahmer (1993)

IMDb rating: 5.6/10 | Runtime: 1h 39min

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The Secret Life: Jeffrey Dahmer was a made-for-TV film. The movie was written by Carl Crew and directed by David R Bowen, starring Carl Crew, Cassidy Phillips, and Donna Stewart Bowen. It is first-hand coverage of Jeffrey's lifestyle over 14 years of his murder career.

Many people believe that the movie was the most unsettling and brutal of all Dahmer movies ever released. It was released only two years after his arrest. During this period, his crimes were still fresh in most of the public's minds and eyes. The film production took place a year before he was murdered in prison.

2. Dahmer (2002)

IMDb rating: 5.6/10 | Runtime: 1h 41min

Dahmer is one of the best movies about Jeffrey Dahmer. It explored his later years and tortured inner life. The film is a narration of his life before arrest and conviction. The chocolate factory worker hunted Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for young and attractive males, later turning them into human sex toys.

In addition, the film theorizes how he managed to murder many people without getting noticed. It emphasizes that his victims were usually young people of colour who were less likely to be believed by law enforcement. For instance, a victim makes it to the police only to be sent home with Dahmer, who claims the victim is drunk.

3. My Friend Dahmer (2017)

IMDb rating: 6.2/10 | Runtime: 1h 47min

My Friend Dahmer is an adaptation of a graphic novel by Dahmer’s high school classmate John Backderf. It solely focuses on his high school years and his struggles to belong in that environment. It stars Ross Lynch as Dahmer, Anne Heche as Joyce Dahmer and Dallas Roberts as Dahmer’s father.

The movie was filmed in Jeffery Dahmer's actual childhood home in Bath, Ohio. The producers were hoping to use Revere High school, where he studied in the shooting but unfortunately, the school rejected the offer.

4. The Jeffrey Dahmer Files (2012)

IMDb rating: 6.4/10 | Runtime: 1h 16min

The Jeffrey Dahmer Files is one of the famous serial killers movies, a hybrid of documentary and fiction. It is a combination of staged scenes and interviews intertwined with the archival footage and everyday scenes from Dahmer's life, working collectively to disassemble the facade of an ordinary man leading an ordinary existence.

The producer interviews people who came into contact with Dahmer. They include his neighbour Pamela Bass, Patrick Kennedy, the detective who took his confession and Dr Jeffrey Jentzen, the medical examiner at the time of his killings.

5. Dahmer on Dahmer: A Serial Killer Speaks (2017)

IMDb rating: 6.9/10 | Runtime: 1h 28min

Dahmer on Dahmer: A Serial Killer Speaks narrates the story of the infamous serial killer through the eyes of a woman who was one of his close confidants. All the interviews were aimed at getting an in-depth look at the monster he was.

Some of the close people interviewed were his parents, Lionel and Shari Dahmer, who in more than 20 years never publicly spoke about their son. In addition, two of the victim's survivors' Billy Capshaw and Preston Davis, eventually broke their silence about what happened to them.

6. Raising Jeffrey Dahmer (2006)

IMDb rating: 3.9/10 | Runtime: 1h 40min

Raising Jeffrey Dahmer is one of the best serial killer movies about Dahmer. It was written by Wood Dickinson and Christopher Ryan and directed by Rich Ambler. The stars include Bo Svenson as Detective John Amos, Scott Cordes as Lionel Dahmer, Cathy Barnett as Shari Dahmer and Rusty Sneary as Adult Jeff Dahmer.

The movie explores Dahmer's childhood and relationship with his father, Lionel. It is based on Lionel Dahmer's record of his son's childhood and tells the story of a father's unconditional love for his son. Additionally, this movie tackles Lionel’s guilt over his son’s crimes.

7. Dahmer vs. Gacy (2010)

IMDb rating: 2.6/10 | Runtime: 1h 30min

Dahmer vs Gacy is a comedy-horror film about a secret government lab which is on a mission to try and create the ultimate killer using DNA from Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy, another notorious serial killer. However, they’ve escaped!

Some of the major scenes from the show include Dahmer and Gacy rampage across the U.S. on a killing spree. Ringo, a hick warrior, being trained by God, is on their tails, armed with only a shotgun and a bottle of whiskey. Simultaneously, Ringo fights his demons, an army of Japanese ninjas, and a super serial killer.

8. Serial Killers: The Real Life Hannibal Lecters (2001)

IMDb rating: 6.5/10 | Runtime: 1h

Serial Killers: The Real Life Hannibal Lecters is a documentary that aims at contextualizing Dahmer in relation to other well-known serial killers. The film used the fictional Hannibal Lecter as a springboard. In addition, the documentary details the crimes of Ted Bundy, Albert Fish, John Wayne Gacy and Andrei Chikatilo.

Jeffrey Dahmer's movies can be described as gripping, disturbing and fascinating. This is because they are actual crime films that centre on serial killer Jeffrey. These films have grown in popularity as viewers seek to find more details about the crimes committed.

Yen.com.gh shared an interesting article about the top Ghanaian twi movies. These movies either won awards, raked headlines, broke records, birthed stars or undeniably entertained those who watched them.

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Source: YEN.com.gh