Entertainment

9 Jeffrey Dahmer Documentaries, Movies, & TV Shows To Watch ASAP

The latest Dahmer series recently became one of Netflix’s biggest shows ever.

by S. Atkinson and Grace Wehniainen
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
Netflix’s recent Jeffrey Dahmer documentaries and TV series join a long list of titles about the not...
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If you’ve recently been recommended a Jeffrey Dahmer documentary, movie, or TV show, it can be hard to keep track of which one to watch (and where). There are countless such titles streaming today, including two released on Netflix in less than a month this fall. Ian Brennan and Ryan Murphy’s Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story dramatized Dahmer’s life and series of murders, starring Evan Peters as the titular killer. Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes takes a documentary approach, using archival audio interviews between Dahmer and his defense team to tell his violent history.

Of course, these are only the latest Dahmer series currently streaming. Thirty years after the cannibalistic killer was brought to trial (shortly before being murdered in prison himself), there’s no shortage of media about Dahmer documenting every stage of his life and crimes. Here’s a look at some of the Jeffrey Dahmer documentaries, TV series, and movies available to watch today — from the most recent Netflix projects to a film made all the way back in 1993 when Dahmer himself was still alive.

1

Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

Netflix

According to Deadline, the latest dramatization of Dahmer’s life became Netflix’s second-biggest series of all time within three weeks of its release. The series follows Dahmer from his childhood to his imprisonment and all of his crimes in between — including several moments where he was nearly caught before ultimately being arrested in 1991.

2

Conversations With A Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes

Netflix

If you prefer to learn about Dahmer in a documentary, the latest Conversations with a Killer installment may be worth watching. The three-part series combines Dahmer’s own recollection of events from present-day interviews with people familiar with his crimes.

3

Jeffrey Dahmer: Mind Of A Monster

Another recent documentary, Jeffrey Dahmer: Mind of a Monster, approaches the serial killer’s history starting with his childhood — and even includes an interview with his father, Lionel.

4

My Friend Dahmer

This 2017 adaptation of a graphic novel by John Backderf, who attended high school with the serial killer, focuses on Dahmer's high school years. It stars Disney Channel favorite Ross Lynch as the murderer and cannibal and received positive reviews, with The Hollywood Reporter describing it as “exceptionally moving,” and Variety calling My Friend Dahmer “a serious and audacious attempt to dramatize the inner life of a sick puppy when he wasn’t quite so sick.”

5

The Secret Life: Jeffrey Dahmer

This true crime film is all the more horrifying for focusing on the serial killer a year before Dahmer was murdered in a Wisconsin prison. It stars Carl Crew in the titular role.

6

Serial Killers: Real Life Hannibal Lecters

This one is for viewers who'd like to understand the Milwaukee Cannibal in the context of other serial killers. The hour-long documentary isn't just focused on Dahmer; it also tells the tales of Ted Bundy, Albert Fish, John Wayne Gacy, and Andrei Chikatilo and compares these very real serial killers with the fictional cannibal Hannibal Lecter.

7

Dahmer

Starring Jeremy Renner (aka Hawkeye from the Marvel Cinematic Universe) in the titular role, this drama focuses on the serial killer’s later years and his inner life. As Entertainment Weekly reported in their review of Dahmer, "It lets you brush up against the humanity of a psycho, without making him any less psycho." The film also outlines a theory as to how he was able to murder unnoticed for so long, stressing the fact that his victims were usually young people of color.

8

The Jeffrey Dahmer Files

The Los Angeles Times calls The Jeffrey Dahmer Files a "hybrid of documentary and fiction," with the film staging scenes and weaving them in with real footage. The Jeffrey Dahmer Files interviews people who came into contact with the serial killer, including his neighbor Pamela Bass, the detective who took his confession, Patrick Kennedy, and the medical examiner at the time, Dr. Jeffrey Jentzen. The movie contrasts the grotesque details of Dahmer’s crimes with his everyday facade, depicting how the murderer appeared innocent to many who had daily contact with him. As TV Guide observes, this leads to the conclusion about Dahmer "...that evil can pass right before our eyes on a daily basis."

9

Footage Of Dahmer's 1992 Trial

Curt Borgwardt/Sygma/Getty Images

This isn't a documentary, but it is equally compelling. Dahmer’s full 1992 trial is available to view on YouTube.

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