By Geno McGahee
John Wayne Gacy is one of the most infamous serial killers in history, murdering 33 young males. He was a clown at parties for children and was highly regarded in his community before his dirty secret was exposed. I have seen two Gacy films and both I really enjoyed. One was GACY with Mark Holton, a very decent straight to video, and the best being TO CATCH A KILLER, a TV movie featuring Brian Dennehy. This time around, in DEAR MR. GACY, we have the very talented William Forsythe taking on the role as the infamous killer.
This is based on a true story about a college kid named “Jason Moss” (Jesse Moss) that wants to write a term paper about Gacy and plans to make it like no other. He begins writing Gacy and tries to play on the weaknesses that he sees, including his love of young males. He has his younger brother take pictures of him oiled up and topless and he sends them to the killer, prompting Gacy to respond and it soon becomes a nightly phone call between the two.
Gacy, even behind bars, proves manipulative, and the Jason soon becomes a pawn in his game. Everything in Jason’s life falls apart. He nearly kills a prostitute in a hotel room before realizing that he was being controlled, but the term paper and Gacy correspondence have become more than he could handle. At one point, Gacy threatens Moss, prompting him to get a gun and become very paranoid. Gacy convinces him of his power.
With Gacy 6 days away from execution, Jason accepts an invite to meet up with him. The warden assures him that it will be safe, but a former victim warned Jason not to meet up with the killer and tells him his story of survival with Gacy, but he ignores it and goes to see him. Amazingly, the cozy relationship that Gacy has with the guards puts Jason into a room with him without anything in between and he nearly rapes him. Forsythe is incredibly disturbing in this role. The flashback scenes where he tortures his victim are very scary.
DEAR MR. GACY is a great movie and is actually based on a true story. Jason Moss wrote a book about his experience and would go on to commit suicide, perhaps related to his encounters with Gacy and other serial killers that he became consumed with. The problem with the movie is that there are no likable characters, but since it was a true story, perhaps it is close to reality. I highly recommend it.
Scared Stiff Rating: 8/10. Another great Gacy movie
