Monster

For those interested in the psychology of a serial killer, there is no more fascinating character study than Jeffrey Dahmer. He was a psychiatric enigma and a profoundly sick individual. A chronic alcoholic from a very young age. A sexual deviant with all manner of unusual fetishes. A necrophiliac. A cannibal.

A pure psychopath and the product of a perfect storm of schizotypal/borderline personality disorder, developmental toxicity (exposure to psychoactive drugs in utero), negative parental influence, neglect and childhood trauma, a morbid curiosity with the macabre, social exclusion at school and deep feelings of loneliness, sexual confusion and insecurity.

He longed to be cared about and loved by his family. He longed to be accepted by his peers. But, at the same time, knew deep down that he would inevitably disappoint his parents because of his inability to live a normal life and that he wouldn't be accepted by friends due to his odd personality.

We all tend to seek out like-minded people and make connections with those we have something in common with. The problem was that Jeffrey knew there wasn't anybody out there with the same interests or outlook as him. Left to his own devices by absent parents and socially isolated, he became increasingly withdrawn and followed a path of introversion and solitude.

He must have felt like he didn't belong in this world, and that there wasn't a place for him within society, so he abandoned all attempts to participate and pursued a voyeuristic way of life. He lacked a clear or positive self-image, meaning his perspective of other people was skewed, which resulted in him fully embracing his warped perception of pleasure and satisfaction. The men he felt attracted to were purely sex objects to him; walking, talking sex dolls. His interest was solely in their aesthetic, or physical appearance.

He appeared to have been a deeply troubled soul from the outset and his behaviours were predominantly a consequence of his genetic constitution, exacerbated by negative life experiences. If his childhood had been a more positive one then he may have been able to adapt better to his personal limitations and dysfunctions, but there is no way of knowing the extent of the damage his upbringing had on him.

It was evident from his own admissions that he felt predestined to live a peculiar and unorthodox lifestyle due to his innately bizarre persona. The conventional joys of life simply didn't float Jeffrey's boat.

I rarely, if ever, feel sorry for multiple murderers, especially ones who commit such heinous and sickening crimes as Dahmer. But I have to admit that I found his story to be tragically sad.

My usual take away from accounts of serial killers is wondering how and why someone could do that to another human being over and over again!? In Dahmer's case, I am left feeling conflicted with a strange understanding of, and empathy for, his actions. Of course I'm not condoning what he did, but I can appreciate how and why the sequence of events transpired.

In his televised interviews he was so open, frank and forthcoming which is exceptionally rare for someone in his situation. He came across as a gentle, thoughtful and articulate person who was genuinely tormented by his inner demons throughout his life. He freely admitted to his crimes in detail, demonstrated that he knew what he had done was evil and offered honest explanations for his actions. He wanted to pay the ultimate price for his sins, resisting advice to make a plea of insanity, and took personal responsibility for the choices he made.

The good part of him wanted to change and stop what the bad part had started, but he required external intervention to do so. The urges and compulsions that controlled him became an obsession and his psychosis led him down a progressively irreversible path that was impossible to resist. The dark side had an unrelenting grip on him.

My personal opinion is that he was clinically insane, due to a combination of psychiatric disorders, but at the same time I feel a legal judgement of insanity would have been an insult to the families of Dahmer's victims and an inadequate penalty for such a fiendish series of killings.

If you listen to him describe how he felt during his childhood and adolescence, it's clear that he should have been under the watchful eye of mental health professionals from an early age. His mother was so wrapped up in her own mental illness and his father preoccupied by work that he didn't receive the emotional support, medication and therapy he desperately needed. This was inexcusable given that both parents were acutely aware of their own emotional problems and the likelihood that these had been passed onto their son.

I can't help but feel pity for Dahmer, and also that the casualties of his maniacal way of life were preventable.

Between his mid-teens and early twenties he was basically a "walking cry for help" but nobody seemed to pay attention, try to understand him or find out what was wrong. In any case, because of the appalling and unspeakable nature of Dahmer's fantasies, it's unlikely that he would have felt able to share them with anyone, even those in a medical capacity. This would've made him feel trapped and that he might as well turn his fantasies into a reality because there was nobody to confide in and no way out of his spiralling mental condition. Like a lost cause.

I mean here was a guy who felt completely alone in the world. A total and utter misfit. So reckless and uncaring about what other people thought of him, making absolutely no attempts whatsoever to conform to social norms. A loner without even a rudimentary inclination or understanding of how to make friends, relate to others or find a romantic partner. He didn't seem to know what to look for or what he wanted in a partner. His perverted version of attachment and sexual arousal didn't allow him to.

I suppose all he had experienced was watching his parents at constant loggerheads and in a loveless marriage. This would have left him detached, emotionally stunted and unaware of how to express love and affection. I suspect realising that you're homosexual is a troubling and confusing time for anyone. But for someone like Dahmer, who was mentally unhinged and devoid of emotional support, it was a major dilemma and yet another psychological obstacle to contend with.

He was given such an unstable start to life by bickering, neglectful parents who appeared to be unwilling to put their children's welfare first. This obviously had a massively detrimental impact on his self-esteem and sense of security, leading to an intense fear of abandonment. Hence his preference for duping his victims into spending time with him and then incapacitating them so he could enjoy their company without that fear of rejection. That way he could exercise total control over their lifeless bodies and indulge in his fetishes to his heart's content without contest.

I expect he sank to unimaginable depths of depravity during those private moments, searching for the unachievable, ever-fleeting sense of fulfilment and satisfaction that he desperately wished to hold on to and savour.

I've read quite a lot about Dahmer online, watched a number of interviews and the brilliant film 'My Friend Dahmer'. Evan Peters portrays him with a seemingly effortless and convincing performance that is heavily nuanced and intensely creepy. He absolutely nails the flat affect, monotone voice and distinct lack of emotional expression typical of most psychopaths.

He really conveys the emptiness Dahmer had in his soul; the numbness, subdued anger and sexual frustration which engulfed him. He truly embodies Dahmer and was perfectly cast in this role.

Technically speaking this series is very well researched, skilfully put together and held my undivided attention throughout. The acting by the whole cast, especially Richard Jenkins as Lionel, is first class. The tone is pitched perfectly for such a grim and sordid story. The directors create numerous moments of highly suspenseful and tense drama including some horrifying, darkly-intimate and cringe-inducing scenes, but these are needed to tell the story of Dahmer's debauchery in full.

Episode 6 "Silenced" in particular is an exceptional and highly original piece of screenwriting with some of the most absorbing television I've seen for a long time. It was like a mini-masterpiece of melodrama.

I really feel the writers got inside the mind of Dahmer, not only giving us the facts of what happened but allowing us to feel what it was like to see things the way he did. There are a number of minor adjustments or expansions to the narrative, but equally some omissions in order to make the content more palatable for the viewer. None of this affects the credibility of the series in my opinion as we are given ample opportunity to form a mental image of what happened from the point of view of all parties concerned.

Despite having read up on the subject matter beforehand, and knowing how the events of his life unfolded, this excellent series has a real edginess and provides a fresh, unflinching and comprehensive account of the disturbing life of Jeffrey Dahmer.

If like me you're fascinated by how a monster like Dahmer is formed, you're in for a real treat.

I ate up seasons 1 and 2, they were really well done and with intriguing plots and character studies.

Season 3, however... The first episode showed a lot of promise, and I was actually looking forward to the following episodes. However, as soon as the myriad of sub plots started I quickly lost interest and almost stopped after episode 4, but I pushed through (so you won't have to).

It seems to me like the show wanted to do a general study of infamous serial killers but needed a key character for the hook, and choosing Ed Gein makes sense, seeing as he was prolific and went on to inspire many other serial killers. But the balance is way off. There's too much fluff and non-factual plots and characters in the majority of the season compared to the actual Gein aspects.

There's characters we see a few times or even just once and then never again, some only mentioned in passing, but in a way that makes them seem important, like the son of the woman teaching "Domesticated Husbandry" is mentioned as someone we're supposed to know, but I could not for the life of me remember who he was, if we'd even seen or heard of him previously.

Of course there's a lot of gratuitous scenes as well, whether they be of the sexual/sensual or gory nature, classic Murphy.

The last episode especially was atrocious, as many others have attested, particularly ripping off Mindhunter, even with Happy Anderson reprising his role as Jerry Brudos, and at first I thought they had cast Holt McCallany as well, but it was just a look-a-like.

The season seems to practically celebrate Ed Gein as well as painting him as someone we should feel sorry for. Very little time is spent on the repercussions surrounding the victims and their families, as if they are just an afterthought or even entirely irrelevant.

When it comes to directing and writing, it was just messy, too many too blurred lines between reality and hallucinations to such a degree it was difficult to know how much of Ed's social life was real and how much of it was in his head.

I've had a lot of issues with several of Murphy's productions over the past few years and honestly think he has run out of original creativity and has just gotten used to churning out shows, making money and then moving on to the next. I really miss the earlier days of his stuff, the first four seasons of AHS were amazing for example. I wish the whole Murphy production team would take a break for a few years and come back with, hopefully, renewed creative juices!

I'd probably give seasons 1 and 2 a rating of 7-8 and I can't rate season 3 higher than a 2.

There are two monsters is this heartbreaking and compelling story, but they are not Erik (Cooper Koch) and Lyle (Nicholas Alexander Chavez), they are Jose (Javier Bardem) and Kitty (Chloë Savigny).

I don't want to delve too deeply into the legal aspects of this case, because this is not a documentary, but a dramatic series. However, let me start by saying, if Erik and Lyle had been Erika and Lyla-two daughters-they would never have spent a day in jail. That's not to say that Erik and Lyle were blameless, but the mitigating circumstances were so overwhelming and compelling that they should have been sentenced to voluntary manslaughter with a 10 year sentence.

Then there is Dominic Dunne (Nathan Lane) a despicable man who trafficked in gossip and celebrity cocktail parties. He was sort of a straight Truman Capote.

I want to highlight Episode 5 'The Hurt Man.' There are only two characters in the entire scene: Leslie Abramson (Ari Gaynor) and Erik. Director Michael Upendahl places the camera about 12 feet away from the table where the two are seated. Abramson with her back to the camera (we never see her face) and Lyle facing. Slowly, imperceptibly, the camera pushes in on Erik until it passes Abramson and ends with a close up of Erik as he explains the title of the episode. Riveting!

Cooper Koch does a tremendous job throughout, but especially in that episode. Nicholas Chavez is also terrific as Lyle. Javier Bardem and Chloë Savigny are outstanding as Jose and Kitty.

My 8/10 rating is for the first two seasons (covering Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez Brothers respectively), but my rating for season 3 (covering the life and crimes of Ed Gein) would have to be more like 4/10 - the decline in quality is huge.

The first episode of season 3 is excellent, even if it rushes through numerous aspects of Gein's story (e.g. His brother Henry), but after that point it's like a drop off a massive cliff. Season 3's main problem is the total fabrication of entire characters and plotlines - such as the babysitter storyline, but the biggest one concerns Adeline, who absolutely did not exist. Her inclusion re-writes numerous events and even some of the foundational psychological pillars of Ed Gein himself (e.g. Abject isolation, a lack of female relationships beyond his overbearing mother, and of increasing sexual dysfunction).

The desecration of Bernice Worden's character - as in, who the real victim was - also somes as a shocking embellishment. Quite frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if some sort of legal action was to be taken by the family of Worden for such a scathing depiction of the last person to suffer at the hands of Ed Gein.

Enveloping the various famous films that have been inspired by Gein's story is a neat idea, but the execution is quite sloppy. There is more reliance on recreating scenes from the films (e.g. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) than on understanding what inspired which film and why: in regards to the aforementioned 1974 Tobe Hooper film, the clear inspiration was the 'house of horrors' aspect of Gein's crimes (furniture made out of human remains etc) - and NOT a chainsaw, which has no connection to Gein's story at all. Meanwhile, the time spent looking into Anthony Perkins' experience making Psycho (1960) feels similarly disjointed. The revealing of Gein's crimes to the American public was more of a watershed moment in the post-war crumbling of the national psyche, prefiguring many years of socio-political turmoil and serial murder - but such a thought barely enters into the conversation put forth by Ian Brennan and Ryan Murphy.

I've no idea what on Earth the showmakers were thinking with this third season, moreso when you consider how well-made the previous two seasons were. With plenty of story to tell from the true history of Ed Gein there was no need to add in so much made-up rubbish.

I want to star off by saying Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer story (what a ridiculous title) is a very tough watch. I grew up about 30min from Milwaukee and even though I was a little kid when he was arrested I still remember this story being a huge, especially around here. How he was able to get away with what he did for as long as he did is very troubling. The police dropped the ball time and time again and lots of innocent lives were lost because of it. Evan Peters deserves every bit of recognition he's getting from this series, he was brilliant. The rest of the cast is good too but it's Peters who makes this show what it is.