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Toronto After Dark Review: ‘My Friend Dahmer’ is a Dark, Troubled Tale

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My Friend Dahmer

My Friend Dahmer is probably the scariest non-horror film you’ll see all year. It’s the story of Jeffrey before Dahmer, and it weaves a stunning cautionary tale of a youth in peril.

I had the chance to see My Friend Dahmer as part of this year’s Toronto After Dark lineup, so naturally I jumped at the chance. We’ve been eagerly anticipating this film for quite some time here at iHorror, and it certainly did not disappoint.

via Ain’t It Cool News

A friend of mine has a theory that whenever a scene in shown in a school classroom, the topic of the lesson acts as a general theme or thesis of the film. Director/writer Marc Meyers includes such a scene in a history class, where the teacher pointedly asks “why is history so important?”.

He calls on young Jeffrey Dahmer who avoids the question by what is later referred to as “doing a Dahmer” – a class clown act of putting on a voice or making disruptive noises. His classmates respond with laughter, and the camera focuses on Jeffrey’s surprised, secret smile as he discovers the rare approval of his peers.

The teacher continues on to explain that history is important because we will never truly know ourselves until we study our past. This, truly, is the point of the film. To study Dahmer as he was, the person behind the monster, and the painfully present signs that hid in plain sight.

via z103.5

Jeffrey’s bouts of disruption gain him a group of friends who revel in his oddity, but their relationship quickly grows stale. Like they’ve adopted a pet that grew too fast, or chewed on the furniture a bit too much. Jeffrey’s actions in the film are that of a troubled teen screaming for help, but he is simply pushed further into isolation.

You’re shown a side of teenage vulnerability that makes you begin to empathize with Jeffrey, but there’s still the constant reminders of the darkness that was always there and the terror of what he will become.

via Filmrise

Former Disney star Ross Lynch knocks it out of the park with his performance as the titular Dahmer. His dead-eyed expression, hunched shoulders, and stiff shuffle convey the guarded physicality of a young man who struggles with his own existence.

My Friend Dahmer is a well-balanced meal; there are side portions of humor and horror that compliment the bloody, meaty steak of the character’s future. It will remind you of a story you’ve seen before – the potential danger in a troubled teen – but with a harrowing reality you can’t avoid.

 

Featured image via Filmrise

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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