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7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Low budget but true to the facts, 15 October 2003
8/10
Author: manalone923 from California, USA

This is a tough film to review, since several factors need to be taken into account. Let's filter the more judgmental..Ok, are you interested in the facts concerning the serial killer of Jeffrey Dahmer? Can you withstand an independent, low-budget film? Are you objective enough to NOT dislike a film solely due to its lack of stars or professional look? Well, if you said yes then you should have a mind open enough to handle this one. This film is an almost 100% accurate dramatization of Dahmer's adult life and subsequent murder spree, and is styled as an autobiography. It isn't a glamorized, unrealistic account that unfortunately the theatrical film "Dahmer" (2001) was. The movie begins with Dahmer, played quite convincingly by Carl Crew, sitting in the police car as they raid his apartment. His thoughts of what got him there are presented to us in a past-tense, narrated style that accurately explains much of Dahmer's psychoses and motives which led him to commit murder almost 20 times. We get to know the character, both the devious side as well as the side that came moderately close to living a normal life. It isn't anyone's fault but Dahmer's that 17 people died, but being a criminal psychology student, I was pleased to more than just his animalistic side represented, truthfully, in this film. You see him having a loving relationship with his grandmother as well as trying to find companionship, but of course we witness the side of him that everyone remembers. It should be noted that there is little actual onscreen violence, with much of it suggestive in shots such as spattering of blood or a body being struck through a blurred curtain. You do see two deaths that I remember, one being a pretty bloodless throat slash and the other being a man shoved alive into a barrel of acid. While you don't see anything graphic, this cruelty and the convincing acting of both Crew and his victim make this a disturbing scene. And while the actual onscreen mutilation is kept low, you will see the results. There is a prop hand and head or two, but it seems as if this was to disturb the viewer and doesn't look to be exploitive. Besides, these fake anatomical pieces are where the budget limitations are visible. Although acceptable, they look enough like fakes to not be too disturbing. The film actually concludes before Dahmer's death in 1994, due to the fact that it was released a year or two prior. That's about the only big difference from the real story, and the information that remains is, as I've stated, very true to the facts. The film quality could be better, the dialogue often sounds a little too quiet, and the acting of several characters IS a bit hammy, but it's not overboard. In my opinion, this is a flawed but ultimately honest and serious look into one of America's most remembered serial killers. I think it's safe to say the film is memorable as well, and I respect it for overcoming its limitations to deliver the story in a believable manner, aided by a thoroughly excellent Carl Crew as Dahmer.

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6 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Horrific, 5 December 2004
7/10
Author: EDWARD BAGGALEY (EJBaggaley@yahoo.co.uk) from uk

This film is the most traumatising and painful horror film I have ever seen in my life. To know that this film is based on a true story and watching Jeffrey Dahmer(Carl Crew) brutally murder his victims, is enough to bring a tear to your eye. Yes, this was a low budget film with not the best dialogue, however it explained why Jeffrey Dahmer was a Psycotic maniac. As he was so selfish/inwardly emotional, his emotions and selfishness went so far deep into his brain, it resulted into him becoming a murderer. You see, every person that he lured back to his apartment, he was attracted to, and had feelings for, and the reasons why he murdered them wasn't only for the thrill of killing them, but because he couldn't cope with the fact of them leaving him. You see, in the scene when he killed his first victim by bashing an object at the back of the guys head from what I noticed wasn't because he wanted to kill him but because he was devastated with the idea of the guy leaving him. It was from thereafter that he got use to the homicidal behaviour and made killing his hobby - for both evil and emotional reasons.

The scene when he was talking on the phone with his mother, telling her how much he loved her, while crying, and the love he showed to his grandmother and how he didn't want to move out of her house, showed that he did have love in his heart. One scene that I found quite spooky and strange was when a priest overheard Jeffrey in a pub inviting a guy back to his apartment and then phoned Jeffrey up in a phone booth within the pub, so that the guy would lose patience and change his mind on going home with Jeffrey. When the guy left the pub, the priest then hung up the phone and was was laughing at Jeffrey. Another than this, I found that Carl Crew played a remarkable acting performance as the role of Jeffrey Dahmer. His evil and cold blooded facial expressions before he massacred his victims were so real, I was shivering in my seat. His facial expressions reminded me of the way Vincent D'onofrio (Private Pyle/Leonard) in the film 'Full Metal Jacket' looked just before he gunned-down the General in the toilet barracks. Anyway, if your an emotional person I wouldn't recommend you to watch this film, but if your not, than go ahead and watch it.

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Unrated, uneven, but fairly accurate., 3 January 2006
5/10
Author: capkronos (capkronos00@hotmail.com) from Ohio, USA

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Prolific real-life serial killers seem to merit at least one big-budget film or at least some made-for-TV movie with a one-time star. This grisly, direct-to-video take on the late, infamous Dahmer (killed in prison in 1994) is pretty obscure and hardly ever even talked about by the most devout of horror fans. Carl Crew, who also scripted and co-produced, is Dahmer, and the film follows him from Bath Township, Ohio to his subsequent arrest in Milwaukee. Using the prospect of money for nude pictures, he lured dozens of men to their deaths. Scenes of him dismembering bodies with an electric saw, dipping live people in acid, performing botched lobotomies and caressing skulls and various body parts are appropriately disturbing and hard-to-shake. The films impact is enhanced by the low-budget mock documentary-style direction and grainy photography, but it's not in the same league as HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER. Unfortunately much of the realism is killed by some lousy supporting performances and an uneven script full of unintentional howlers.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Slightly interesting, but it goes around in circles., 17 July 2001
Author: Car316

The Secret Life: Jeffrey Dahmer is slightly interesting, but it goes around in circles too much. It never really taps into his mind, or shows why he is, what he is. It just shows Dahmer luring countless victims, and that's it. The special they did on Dahmer on the show Mugshots, was much more informational and interesting. Overall, slightly interesting, but the special they did on the show Mugshots, is far better. ** (out of four)

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4 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Eh...not bad., 7 September 2002
Author: james_oblivion from Nowhere Interesting

I bought this used and only payed $1.99 for it. That said, it's worth that kind of money. It's pretty decent for an extreme-low-budget film, but it could have been much better. To me, Carl Crew wasn't believable as Jeffrey Dahmer. He wasn't the right physical type, nor did he speak with Dahmer's distinctive nasal accent. And frankly, the constant "I should have stayed with God" diatribe becomes annoying after a while.

For a more realistic and subdued look at Dahmer's life, see the new film "Dahmer" with Jeremy Renner. Renner's performance as Jeffrey is so dead-on, it's scary. And while it doesn't get into as many of Jeffrey's killings, everyone should already know the basic story by now.

Bottom Line: If you can see this movie cheap, it's worth a look. But the 2002 movie is far superior, in my opinion.

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Great movie, 2 August 2008
10/10
Author: elleinad3303 from United States

Hey what do you expect form a very low budget movie!?!? Although I haven't seen "Dahmer" (2002) I can say that following what the media put out about Jeff this is a pretty accurate depiction. I have studied the Jeffrey Dahmer case and learned all I can about this man. This is a low budget movie but it shows the mentality of a serial killer. If you can get past gore and see what the underlying story of a sick mind. I loved this movie! Just brace yourself for low budget and no blood. Its a story as seen through the eyes of a killer and his actions and thoughts from childhood up through his arrest. My favorite line is : "If they had bothered to look in the back seat it might have saved a lot of lives" Enjoy!

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Suprisingly well made, 22 November 2002
Author: wamslv from Norfolk Virginia, USA

Considering the type of films one usually comes across produced on this low of a budget, Dahmer "The Secret Life", is suprisingly well made. Despite it's shortcomings;tedious scripting and dialouge, sub-par cinematography, and repetative scene structure-(i.e. two or three run-throughs of Dahmer's modus operendii would have been more than sufficient.) definate high points do shine through. Carl Crew's acting job held my interest till the end. Special make-up effects were better than I've seen on alot of "Big Budget" movies. The producers seem to have spent most of the limited funds where it counts most anyway. Overall, I'd rate this movie with three out of a possible four stars.

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3 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Wow!!!, 31 August 2002
Author: Rick (rickb610@aol.com) from IL

This movie was fantastic and boy was it a powerful look at Dahmer. I liked it much better then the newer movie that came out this year. What ever happened to Carl Crew who plays Dahmer in this film? Not only is he damn good looking but he was a great actor. It's sad he did not have a longer and more exciting career in the business,especially when you consider the many undeserving talentless actors out there going strong. Anyway,the film is very entertaining,Carl Crew is a breath of fresh air to watch and the plot moves along great. See the movie. I only wish the DVD was better quality,but it's better then nothing.

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5 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Serial Boredom, 30 April 2006
3/10
Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls

"The Secret Life" starts with the worst possible narrative intro: "The crimes committed by Jeffrey Dahmer are too horrible to make a film about...". Okay, so what are you suggesting? That we shouldn't bother to continue watching as the film won't be accurate or bloody, anyway? And they were right, too! The film isn't the least bit shocking and contains almost no blood or gore at all. Although I think that's mainly due to the low budget production values and not because of Dahmer's crimes being too horrific. Basically, "The Secret Life: Jeffrey Dahmer" is just one sequence repeated over and over again. Young, pitiful and mentally confused Jeffrey picks up victims (always males, as he was a homosexual), kills them and then talks about how it wasn't his intention to hurt them and about how lonely he is. This gets boring really quick and even the admirable performance by unknown actor Carl Crew can't save this movie from being a total dud. Still, this version is much better than the pretentious and hopelessly muddled "Dahmer" that got released in 2002.

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0 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Just not good enough, 11 December 2003
4/10
Author: illegal_alien51

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

***Possible spoilers***

I've read up on Dahmer a little and saw the new Dahmer film (with the same name) at an earlier time. This movie here concentrates rather much on the victims and killings, too little on Dahmer himself. The film called "Dahmer" had the opposite problem, it was too little about his crimes and too much about himself.

I did not find the acting to my satisfaction, it had a certain amateur feel too it, especially the probation officer. It also seemed as if the Dahmer acting got worse every time he played against the probation officer actor. But I might be wrong about that.

What annoyed me a bit was that some of the scenes were quite disturbing but that the filmmakers seemed to try and show "the real deal" about what he did anyway. That is ok - but what I then don't understand is why the guy who ran away from his flat while Dahmer was out getting beer, was not depicted being naked, since that is also how it happened. It's not a big deal, but it just eats away further on the movies quality that such details are left out. What wasn't shown either or not even really hinted was Dahmers sexual obsession with the dead. Again, I don't mind they didn't SHOW it, but at least they could have mentioned it or built it in to the movie somehow.

Conclusion: I think the really good Dahmer film is still to be made, a movie that incorporates not only Dahmers crimes but also who he was, and why he did what he did. I think that 1.5 or 2 hours are just not enough to grasp the complexity of it all. This movie was just a cutout (excuse the pun) of Dahmers life and personality and does not give you any 'close to good' insight into his life or personality.

4/10

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