As I am writing this review of a film about one of the most notorious serial killers of all time; just a few miles from my home, police have discovered four bodies right near my family’s beach house. They think it’s the work of a serial killer, a very smart one. This seems to be the week of all things serial killer in my life, and it started with this film; Dead Mr. Gacy, one of the best serial killer docudramas I have ever seen.
In 1980 John Wayne Gacy was convicted of murdering 33 young men and burying their bodies in the crawl space under his home. A young man named Jason Moss, while studying at UNLV for his honors thesis corresponded with John Wayne Gacy to try and get into the mind of the serial killer. As an experiment, he played victim to Gacy and made himself look vulnerable. Gacy picked up on this and their relationship with one another began. Gacy would, write, call and even send him money. Gacy became a mentor all while being the focus of an experiment by Jason Moss. However, Jason took his thesis a bit father than he should of and in doing so, he lost step with Gacy. Gacy started to become the game player, and weeks before his scheduled execution even coaxed Jason to come and visit him. This movie is loosely based on the real life relationship between John Wayne Gacy and the person many people have called his last victim Jason Moss.
A few years ago there were so many serial killer films being released about the famous murders like John Wayne Gacy, Richard Ramirez, Henry Lee Lucas, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Charles Manson; that they all started to be a mirror image of one another. I really lost my taste for any kind of serial killer film after this barrage of low budget features. The last few years although there have been a few here and there, the genre has slowed down. However, now with Anchor Bay Entertainment on the rise as one of the top distributors of horror and thrillers, Dear Mr. Gacy seems to be the first of two films that the company plans to release by the end of the year. With this film they have themselves a winner.
Dear Mr. Gacy has an almost perfect script, combining great character development with a thrilling story that brings the viewer into the life of Jason Moss as you go on this dark journey with him. The story grabs you right away; you get this fear in your stomach like the devil himself might get in contact you and once he does the evil around you starts to close in. Besides its story the performances are great. This has got to be one of the best roles I have ever seen William Forsythe in. Usually when I see him in a film I expect his performance to be the one we always expect from him, in this film I didn’t see William Forsythe, I saw John Wayne Gacy. He was that good in the role. Credit must also be given to Jesse Moss for his role as ironic as it may be as Jason Moss, the man that made this story possible.
The Blu-ray disc has a few special features such as the featurette The Gacy Files: Portrait of a Serial Killer. The featurette takes the facts and turns them into this film with interviews with the cast, crew and real life friends of John Wayne Gacy. The films teaser and theatrical trailers for the film as well.
I really enjoyed this docudrama about the man who called himself John Wayne Gacy’s last victim, Jason Moss. Unfortunately as life would have it, the real life Jason Moss took his life in 2006, no one really knows why, but he spent part of his life studying serial killers and later became a defense attorney. At the end of the film there are some real life facts about the relationship he had with John Wayne Gacy and there is even a picture of the both of them during the films credits. This is one film that is well worth the time and effort to watch. It’s a real life story based on the book of the man that lived it. If you’re into the history of American’s most notorious serial killers or just need a good docudrama to check out this is well worth it. I highly recommend it.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
