Dear Mr. Gacy

Dear Mr. Gacy
Directed by	Svetozar Ristovski
Produced by	Clark Peterson Tom Berry Gordon Yang
Written by	Kellie Madison Jason Moss (memoir)
Starring	Jesse Moss William Forsythe Emma Lahana Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman Patrick Gilmore
Music by	Terry Frewer
Cinematography	Larry Lynn
Editing by	Scott Belyea
Country	Canada
Language	English
Release date	May 11, 2010 (2010-05-11)

Dear Mr. Gacy is a 2010 Canadian drama thriller film directed by Svetozar Ristovski, starring William Forsythe and Jesse Moss. The film is based on Jason Moss's memoir, The Last Victim.

Plot

As part of his college thesis, Jason Moss (Jesse Moss) decides to write to serial killers and attempt to gain their trust through impersonating a typical victim or admirer. He reasoned that gaining their trust, possibly learning more about their stated crimes or unsolved murders, was a way to distinguish himself as a job candidate.^[1]

He sends a carefully crafted letter to John Wayne Gacy (William Forsythe) in prison, portraying himself as a vulnerable, sexually confused boy. The film unfolds as Gacy, suspicious at first, puts Moss through intense emotional tests via letters and collect calls, and an eventual face-to-face visit in prison.

The story opens with Moss' fascination in Gacy's case as Gacy, having spent 13 years on death row, awaits the court's decision regarding his appeal. Moss, a criminology student, forms a plan to get inside Gacy's head, hoping to uncover new information regarding his murders and write a standout term paper on Gacy in the process.

He sends Gacy his first letter, and is at first untruthful, telling him he has no girlfriend and a bad relationship with his supposedly abusive parents. He also states that his little brother, who is being bullied at school, sees him as a hero and would do anything for him. Gacy's first response is to send a questionnaire regarding Moss' personal and sex life. Moss, seeing an interview in which Gacy admits to engaging in sodomy, adopts a different tack. He begins working out, taking pictures of himself posing shirtless, and portraying himself as increasingly vulnerable and lonely in his letters. He informs Gacy that he has considered hustling or nude dancing in order to earn extra money. Gacy, beginning to open up, acts understanding and supportive in his letters, encouraging Moss to take up hustling and even giving him advice on technique and safety precautions, asking Moss to "tell me all about it...don't hold back."

Moss improvises, not wanting to lose the connection he has made with Gacy, but unwilling to go quite so far as to sell himself on the street. He pays a male prostitute to be interviewed so as to provide Gacy with the information he wants. The hustler takes him to a bar, buys him a drink and answers several of his questions before telling Moss to follow him. Standing up, Moss realizes he has been drugged. Fleeing the bar, he manages to get to his car before passing out.

The next day, Gacy calls, asking how it went. Moss tells him he was approached by a buyer who drugged him before attempting to rape him. Enraged, Gacy offers to have the man "taken care of", and tells Moss that he is very protective of the people he is close to.

Over the next few days, Moss and Gacy correspond over the phone. Gacy sends him money, shares his beliefs on power and control, and tells Moss that he is his only friend, and that he and Moss "are more alike than you know". Gacy then encourages him to commit incest with his brother. A visibly shaken Moss hangs up and ignores Gacy's calls for several days. When Moss finally answers Gacy's insistent nightly calls, Gacy is furious with him, warning him to "remember who I am" and even goes so far as to threaten to send people to his house.

The next few days see Moss' performance in class and his relationship with his girlfriend rapidly deteriorating. He becomes paranoid, arming himself with his father's pistol when at home, and beating up a bully who is terrorizing his brother. He refuses to go with his family to visit his grandmother and remains home alone, on edge and drinking heavily. When the doorbell rings late at night, he answers the door with the gun, only to find it is his girlfriend. They are interrupted by a call from a distraught Gacy, who tearfully informs Moss that his appeal has been turned down and he is to be executed in six days. Moss' girlfriend reacts furiously to Moss' accepting the call, as does Gacy upon hearing her voice in the background. She leaves and Gacy hangs up. Moss, on the point of losing control, goes out and rents a prostitute, taking the woman to a motel. He forces her onto her stomach, attempts to restrain her when she protests, nearly suffocating her. When she screams for help, he suddenly realizes what he is doing, and leaves, horrified with himself.

Gacy calls him again, acting sympathetic and apologetic, and invites Moss to come meet him in person before he dies. Moss, while considering this, contacts one of Gacy's victims, who escaped by jumping from a car. His harrowing story is told in a flashback where Gacy taunts, rapes and tortures him before he escapes.

Moss ultimately accepts Gacy's invitation, travelling to the prison where they finally meet face to face. The guards, with whom Gacy has formed a friendship, photograph them together at Gacy's request, then leave them alone. They are amicable at first, eating and joking together, Gacy showing him letters and requests he has received, and also shows him his case file. Upon Moss asking him about his first murder, however, Gacy becomes hostile and aggressive, telling him how much power he has over Moss and how easy it would be to kill him. He becomes more and more physical, starting with flirtatious contact and eventually threatening to rape and kill him. Moss fights back, abusing Gacy physically and verbally before the guards pull him off. Gacy appears delighted by this, reminding him forcibly once again that they are alike.

Moss, traumatised, goes home and reunites with his concerned parents. When Gacy calls again, he tells Gacy that he was "playing him from the start", and informs him of his college thesis, mocking him for failing to figure it out. Gacy hangs up silently and prepares to die.

Moss does not watch the news report on Gacy's execution, and becomes withdrawn and reticent. Several days later, he receives a final letter from Gacy, telling him that although he was fooled by Moss' letters, it has proved to him irrevocably that they are very alike, and ends with "it's time to die now. See you on the other side, buddy".

The film ends with a real-life interview with the real Jason Moss, and shows the real photo taken of Moss and Gacy several days before the execution, stating that Moss went on to graduate and write a book on his relationship with Gacy before committing suicide in June 2006.

Cast

• Jesse Moss as Jason Moss
• William Forsythe as John Wayne Gacy
• Emma Lahana as Alyssa
• Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman as Diego
• Patrick Gilmore as Glen Phillips
• Andrew Airlie as Professor Harris
• Cole Heppell as Alex Moss
• Belinda Metz as Valerie
• Michaela Mann as Autumn
• Michael Kopsa as FBI Agent
• Eric Keenleyside as Stan
• Daryl Shuttleworth as Thompson
• Brett Dier as Marcus
• Jaren Brandt-Bartlett as Mike
• Hunter Elliott as Tim Carsey
• Kai Kennedy as Bobby

Production

The film based on the real life story of Jason Moss, who as a college student attending UNLV, corresponded with five prominent serial killers on death row in an attempt to determine if there was more to be learned if one was to impersonate their typical victims or act as an ardent admirer.^[2]

The focus of the film is Moss' interaction with John Wayne Gacy (convicted of murdering 33 young men and boys), with whom he developed the strongest relationship.

Screenwriter Kellie Madison approached Clark Peterson, executive producer of Monster, to attempt to bring the story to life. It was during the course of their discussions with Moss, who was thrilled at the prospect of developing his novel The Last Victim into a film, that they learned of his suicide on June 6, 2006.^[3] After an appropriate period of time had passed, they approached Moss’ widow and ultimately were able to gain acceptance of the proposal, and Dear Mr. Gacy was developed. This is Kellie Madison’s first adaptation to the big screen. The film was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia.^[4]

Release

Dear Mr. Gacy premiered on Canadian TV on May 11, 2010, and was released on video later in the year.

See also

• Serial killers
• True crime
• The Last Victim

References

1. ^ Moss, J: The Last Victim: A True-Life Journey into the Mind of the Serial Killer, chapter 3. Grand Central Publishing, 1999.
2. ^ Katherine Ramsland. "Serial Killer Groupies". truTV.com Crime Library. http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/psychology/s_k_groupies/9.html. Retrieved 2009-10-26. 
3. ^ Mike Kalil. "Best-selling author of book on serial killers kills himself". Las Vegas Review-Journal. http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jun-13-Tue-2006/news/7920651.html. Retrieved 2009-10-28. 
4. ^ Dear Mr. Gacy Teaser, Clip, and Q&A with William Forsythe

External links

• Official website
• Dear Mr. Gacy at AllRovi
• Dear Mr. Gacy at the Internet Movie Database
• Dear Mr. Gacy at Rotten Tomatoes
• Fox Chicago News Story on the 30th anniversary of the John Wayne Gacy trial. Interviews with actor William Forsythe and producer Clark Peterson on the film, Dear Mr. Gacy.