''Dear Mr. Gacy'' is a 2010 Canadian drama

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

directed by

Svetozar Ristovski Svetozar Ristovski (born January 26, 1972) is a Macedonian film director who now resides in Canada. His first film was the 2000 short ''Hunter'' about the psychological study of a wartime sniper. He marked his English language debut with 2010's ...

, and 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), a

criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

student, decides to write to

John Wayne Gacy John Wayne Gacy (March 17, 1942 – May 10, 1994) was an American serial killer and sex offender who raped, tortured, and murdered at least 33 young men and boys. Gacy regularly performed at children's hospitals and charitable events as " ...

and attempt to gain his trust through impersonating a typical victim or admirer. Moss sends a carefully crafted letter to Gacy ( William Forsythe) in prison, portraying himself as a vulnerable, sexually confused boy. The letter is an intricate plan to get inside Gacy's head in hopes of uncovering new information regarding his murders that will aid Moss in writing a standout term paper. The film unfolds as Gacy, suspicious at first, puts Moss through intense emotional tests via letters and collect calls, all of which leads to strained relationships with his girlfriend and family. Gacy tries to convince Moss to become a

hustler Hustler or hustlers may also refer to: Professions * Hustler, an American slang word, e.g., for a: ** Con man, a practitioner of confidence tricks ** Drug dealer, seller of illegal drugs ** Male prostitute ** Pimp ** Business man, more gener ...

, and Moss lies about having his wallet stolen by a client. After hearing that, Gacy offers to have the man's penis cut off, saying he's very protective of people he's close to. Gacy even asks Moss to convince his younger brother, Alex, to send Gacy a letter, and suggests that Moss molest the boy after hearing he gets beat up a lot. That makes Jason avoid Gacy's calls for a few days, making Gacy angry and suspicious that he is writing to another inmate. Meanwhile, Jason grows increasingly paranoid and aggressive under Gacy's influence; he inflicts a savage beating on a classmate who had been bullying his younger brother, and hires a prostitute with the intent of assaulting her, stopping himself only at the last moment. Once Gacy hears that his last appeal failed and he will be executed soon, he offers to pay for Jason to visit him in prison. Jason agrees after getting a call from the warden, who says the two will not be in the same room and there will be guards. Jason also speaks to a victim of Gacy's who escaped, who doesn't want him to go. After Jason arrives, he finds out he will be in the same room with Gacy and the guard leaves. Gacy shows Jason piles of letters he received from the media and admirers. Gacy gets angry when Moss refuses the strawberry shortcake Gacy ordered for him. Gacy begins threatening Jason and then sits back down and starts acting like the two are friends again. After more conversation, Gacy says he is going to rape and kill Jason, and shoves him against the wall. The guards watching the security cameras see this, but think the pair are simply kissing, and turn away because they don't want to watch them having sex. The guards finally arrive a few minutes after Jason yells for them. Gacy calls Jason again, and threatens to tell everyone that he molested his brother. Jason then tells Gacy he was just studying him for school. Gacy is executed soon afterwards and Jason speaks to the faculty at the college he attends about his relationship with Gacy. The film ends with a real-life interview with the real Jason Moss, and shows the real photo taken of Jason 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 Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

in June 2006.

Cast

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 Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...

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. 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 Clark Peterson (born February 7, 1966) is an American film producer and entertainment executive. He produced the Academy Award-winning film '' Monster'', starring Charlize Theron, and has created and produced a wide variety of award-winning fil ...

, executive producer of ''

Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

'', 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

on June 6, 2006. 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 Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

.Dear Mr. Gacy Teaser, Clip, and Q&A with William Forsythe
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Release

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

References

External links