The word “monster” is thrown around so often that it’s lost a lot of its meaning. It’s supposed to be a word that describes something horrific and evil beyond description. In the case of Jeffrey Dahmer, monster is the only word that is appropriate. Beneath the surface of his benign appearance lies the heart of a serial killer who preyed upon young men and boys between 1978 and 1991. Cannibalism, necrophilia, torture, murder, and sexual assault were just some of his crimes. Now, Netflix is offering a new exploration of this killer in the upcoming miniseries, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
Evan Peters has played some pretty dark roles across his nine-season run on American Horror Story. But fans of that series may not be prepared for his chilling performance as Dahmer. In this trailer alone, Dahmer simply lacks the traits most people would associate with humanity. And he’s absolutely terrifying when he tries to intimidate his neighbor, Glenda Cleveland (Niecy Nash), into eating a sandwich that is probably filled with human meat.
Similarly, Dahmer’s successful attempt to trap another victim at the beginning of the trailer has some heart-stopping moments even though we all know how it’s going to turn out. This trailer doesn’t try to humanize Dahmer because he has no humanity to bring forth. Dahmer lacks all traces of empathy, and he’s far worse than any movie monster because he was all too real.
Richard Jenkins also stars in the series as Lionel Dahmer, with Penelope Ann Miller as Joyce Dahmer, Molly Ringwald as Shari Dahmer, Michael Learned as Catherine Dahmer, Shaun J. Brown as Tracy Edwards, and Colin Ford as Chazz.
Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan co-created the miniseries for Netflix. Dahmer – Monster: the Jeffrey Dahmer Story will premiere on September 21, only on Netflix.
