dworldeater
Great true crime thriller about a college kid who is obsessed with John Wayne Gacy and does his college thesis on him . Based on The Last Victim book by Jason Moss. Jason writes and befriends Gacy in an attempt to 'get in the mind of a serial killer '. Very dark stuff . William Forsythe does an excellent job playing one of the most notorious serial killers in American history . I did not sympathise much with Jason Moss . His obsession with Gacy and the lengths he went to complete his term paper made him nothing but a giant loser . He , however is not unaffected by his dealings with Gacy . The film explores these themes and is well done. Dear Mr.Gacy is excellent and from what I know about Gacy , Forsythe played him fairly truthful and authentic . Great movie.
scoup
Well paced thriller with a good amount of creepy.I like it when there's a character who transforms in a movie. Moss becomes involved with Gacy who gets inside his head and stirs up some trouble. We see his character sink lower and lower as a result of his obsession. The fact that this is based on a true story where the student becomes successful but still succumbs to something dark and commits suicide brings layers to this movie; and a yearning to know many more details of what really happened between these two men.Forsythe and Moss have good chemistry and depth.I recommend. I will be very surprised if you do not google this story after viewing - I did.
Scarecrow-88
Just remember who I am. William Forsythe goes into a really dark place and accomplishes in his characterization of notorious psychopath John Wayne Gacy to make your skin crawl, in this rather unsettling depiction of a young college student doing his thesis on the inner working of the sick, perverted mind of the infamous serial killer.Jason Moss believed he could manipulate Gacy into giving up information, even a confession, in regards to the murder of those boys covered with Lyme and buried in his house's basement crawlspace. What happens instead is that Gacy begins to manipulate the kid, interested in private sexual conversations with Moss on topics of homosexuality, control and power. Moss tries to break free from the grip of Gacy (who has attained a small measure of power within the correctional facility holding him for future lethal injection execution, having befriended security officers on the inside, getting perks like art tools and other luxuries, somehow moving cash in and out and given permission to phone call Moss at his own leisure), finding it especially hard to do so, understanding that he had bitten off more than he could chew. Moss was just a cocksure kid with plenty of knowledge on criminal psychology and criminalistics, yet dealing with a real human monster, to chat it up and get personal with such a man, to stare into that abyss and eventually confront him face to face, he isn't prepared for that kind of experience (Gacy threatens him and his family, claiming to have connections on the outside). A particularly chilling scene has Gacy trying to convince Moss to molest his younger brother (Moss does attempt to get his brother to either talk or write to Gacy!), getting turned on by the sheer thought of the incestuous fantasy. We see the psychological toll on Jason, how his "involvement" with Gacy is ruining everyday life, his relationships with mother and girlfriend. Forsythe certainly provokes a response with his performance, it's so authentic and menacing, unnerving and unpleasant, and he works his spell over you with mostly his voice, demeanor, and presence, from inside his cell, cut off from the outside world, the camera often right in his face, a bit uncomfortably close which almost has you moving backward because of the repulsion for his personality and twisted state of mind. This is the kind of performance I imagine many viewers will not soon forget. Sweat-inducing meeting between the two(not sure how accurate this is but it is sure hair raising) with the guards outside allowing Gacy the privilege of confronting Moss without a glass partition often used to separate inmate from visitor. You kind of build up a dread because there's an expected physical confrontation, it is horrifyingly inevitable. During this meeting Forsythe is awfully intimidating..it's quite a performance. Young actor, Jesse Moss, does a fine job of relating to us the torment and turmoil his Jason Moss suffers—the devastating consequences of the real-life person he portrays is truly haunting because perhaps it shows just what kind of indelible mark Gacy had on the kid, knowing the true tragedy which accompanies the conclusion of the film.
Vivekmaru45
This is one of the best films I have seen in 2010. The direction and acting is very professional. The film is about serial killer John Wayne Gacy who committed the rape and murder of 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978. Twenty-six of Gacy's victims were buried in the crawlspace of his home, three others elsewhere on his property and four victims were discarded in a nearby river.Having already seen To Catch A Killer (TV 1992) starring Brian Dennehy as the serial killer John Wayne Gacy, I was expecting more of the same.I was very happy to find that the film lived up to my expectations.Veteran actor William Forsythe needs no introduction. He is brilliant in the role of Gacy. The way he acts in the film makes me think that he studied the character of John Wayne Gacy very carefully. The other brilliant star of the film is Jesse Moss who plays university student Jason Moss who interviews Gacy for his thesis.In the film Moss tries to get into the mind of Gacy by sending semi-nude photos of himself, hoping to get Gacy excited and talk more. What Moss didn't realize is that Gacy is cleverer than he thinks. What started of as a college thesis turns into an obsession between the two. Gacy starts making phone calls to Moss. During those calls he often talked about obscene sexual acts which disturbed Moss. Eventually Moss stopped conversing with Gacy for some days until he is threatened by Gacy.Eventually Gacy, who is to be executed within six days, requests Moss to visit him face-to-face for the last time....Conclusion: 10/10 for a superb psychological drama and a journey into the mind of Gacy. Buy this superb film on DVD - you won't regret it.
