A Grisly Subject, a Serious Filmmaker

So you want to make a serious movie about one of the nation’s most infamous serial killers that charts the psychological terrain leading to his rampage but avoids grisly exploitation? And release it in the midst of a blockbuster summer?

The making--and selling--of “Dahmer,” which debuted in Los Angeles on Friday, is virtually a how-to of independent filmmaking today, in both the obstacles it presented and how they were overcome.

In 1998, writer-director David Jacobson read Lionel Dahmer’s “A Father’s Story,” which explored his relationship with his son, Jeffrey, who was convicted of the torture and murder of 17 young men in Milwaukee, most of them Asian or African American. Dahmer’s trail of murders extended through the 1980s until his capture in the early ‘90s. He was convicted of 17 murders in 1991 and sentenced to 957 years. In 1994, he was murdered by another inmate. “I was familiar with who Jeffrey Dahmer was,” says the 40-year-old Jacobson, whose only previous credit was the 1994 black-and-white film “Criminal,” which was well-received at film festivals and subsequently released on video. “I always figured his story wasn’t that different from any other serial killer. But I became fascinated by his father’s approach.”

Like “Criminal,” which charts the exploits of a balding, 40-year-old man who acts out his midlife crisis through criminal behavior, a serious dramatization of Dahmer’s life had little appeal to producers and financiers.

“I can still hear their reactions,” Jacobson says, laughing. “ ‘Oh my God, why would you make a film about that?’ ”

Had he taken the low (exploitation) road, he says, there might have been some interest, because Dahmer’s crimes included dismemberment, necrophilia and cannibalism. (By comparison, Hannibal Lecter seems like a Noel Coward character.) But Jacobson’s script was a character study. “In a peculiar way, if I’d made a gory film, that would have been more distancing [from the audience]. I was after something more emotional and more involving.”

Almost no one wanted to be involved with that approach. Jacobson decided to finance the movie himself, shooting it in suburban L.A., including his childhood home, over four weeks, mostly with unknowns. The only “name” in the cast is Oscar-nominated actor Bruce Davison, who portrays Lionel Dahmer. Some exteriors were shot in Dahmer’s hometown of Milwaukee.

The original budget was well below $1 million (it wound up at about $1 million)and with the help of independent producer Larry Rattner, Jacobson was able to secure some cost-efficient equipment and post-production deals. “At the time we were shooting the film last summer,” Rattner says, “the threat of a strike had slowed production down so much that we were able to negotiate very favorable terms.”

Jacobson was adamant about shooting on film, rather than the less expensive digital video, which has become the rage in independent filmmaking in the past few years. “I like some of the films I’ve seen on digital, but I didn’t think it would work well cinematically for this subject,” he says. “The story itself is so gritty, I wanted to give people some pleasure in watching the film.”

With the film’s director of photography, American Film Institute graduate Chris Manley, Jacobson alternated two distinct film stocks, using a smoother, more lush grain for flashback sequences dealing with Dahmer’s adolescence and a more high-contrast stock for the intense later years, using a combination of sets and industrial locations. After principal photography was completed, Rattner shopped a rough cut of the movie. The initial response was predictable, but once distributors viewed the film, the reaction was largely favorable. Still, there were few offers.

Most of the interested parties wanted Jacobson to push the more exploitative aspects of the movie, says the director. Then came an offer from DEJ Productions, or “my Medicis,” as Jacobson calls them.

“DEJ was looking for quality films of this nature,” Rattner said. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Blockbuster Home Video, which since 1999 has buoyed the independent film arena, releasing about 270 titles on video and DVD, according to Dean Wilson, executive vice president of content for Blockbuster. “Dahmer” was a perfect fit for Blockbuster because it downplayed the gore elements and was able to secure an R-rating. The chain doesn’t carry NC-17 titles.

The video deal also included further funding to enhance the film’s post-production budget. Along with foreign sales, that covered most of the film’s expenses, Rattner says.

Given the title’s high recognition values--the press notes assert that the American public is more familiar with the name Jeffrey Dahmer than most past presidents--the filmmakers decided to attempt a limited theatrical release in major cities. That would give “Dahmer” higher visibility and secure reviews from major newspapers, which rarely critique direct-to-video titles. With the video release set for late summer, however, the only window of opportunity was mid-summer, the most competitive period for film bookings.

Again, exhibitors were initially reticent, particularly theaters that book art-house fare, just the kind of venue that would give “Dahmer” cachet with the more sophisticated moviegoing patron. “Again, our biggest challenge was overcoming people’s perceptions,” says Doug Freed, a distribution consultant on the film. “But the exhibitors I showed it to have responded.” The movie was booked at the Showcase on La Brea in Los Angeles and Manhattan’s Angelika, two highly sought-after venues for specialized fare.

Tim Swain, executive producer of the film, who is in charge of theatrical release, hopes to eventually secure release dates in the top 20 U.S. cities. Given the sensational nature of the title, he emphasizes that word-of-mouth will be essential. “People who have seen it like the movie because it has style and honesty, and even those who go in with expectations that it’s an exploitation film are nicely surprised. They come out even more disturbed because the film is so real and because you get a true sense of who Dahmer was.”

If the New York and Los Angeles engagements attract good reviews and solid business, bookings in the rest of the country may follow--even in Milwaukee, where there is an entrenched resistance. “Theaters in Milwaukee have been averse to booking the film so far because it happened there,” Swain says. “But audiences have a fascination with this subject. They just need a good reason to see it. If people realize that [Jacobson] took a tough, challenging subject and did something unique with it, that [resistance] could be overcome.”

Jacobson is enthusiastic about the film’s theatrical potential and the opportunity “to prove that everyone else was wrong. It’s exciting to make a film that no one would want to watch and have them find it interesting.”

But even if it doesn’t work, he shrugs, “at least I made my money back.” And in the independent world, where most movies never see any kind of release, that alone is an accomplishment.

Richard Natale is a regular contributor to Calendar.