Dear Mr. Gacy

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.

Jason Moss (Jesse Moss) is a normal college kid. Serial killer John Wayne Gacy is appealing his conviction, and Jason wants to do a paper on him. Jason starts to do research. Then he exchange letters and phone calls. He begins to change and becomes more than just a pen pal. More and more he's becoming a protégé and his next victim. Jesse Moss is a reasonable actor who could be an everyday college student. The pace is slow due to the fact that the kid and Gacy don't go face to face until close to the end. When that meeting occurs, the intensity goes off the charts. William Forsythe is incredibly creepy and threatening. That one scene makes up for the rest of the movie.

First, I am not a professional movie reviewer. So with that in mind: I am an expert at spotting a really great, dark, disturbing movie that removes the layers of the onion in 119 minutes and not only reveals the really Dark Side of EVIL, but also the effects it can have on any of us. That is what is the most disturbing and scary about this film. I have learned after 60 years of human experience, that there is more evil than good out there and the only way to survive EVIL is either to kill it or stay away from it. If you can learn this in the outside and unsafe world of ours, then you can have a long and pleasurable life with your own safe family and friends. Jason thinks he can survive EVIL by not staying away from it, but as we see at the end credits, he loses the psychological battle of sustaining his own identity, which ultimately destroys him. The best comparison to this movie is "In Cold Blood", where Truman Capote crosses over the psychological boundary into the "Heart of Darkness" of Perry's mind. Capote losses his fragile identity under the pretense of trying to write a book about Perry and Dick, but just as in Jason's journey, he too loses to the Evil from within himself by exposing himself to the EVIL manipulations of John Wayne Gacy, expertly acted by William Forsythe. A must see, but only for those who are really sharp enough to know what the real world is like and the stomach enough too survive what a real Human Monster looks like.

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-* 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.

A film based on the book 'the last victim' co-authored by Jason Moss who had an obsession with and was the pen pal of the killer clown John Gacy. It is a slow, well timed, minimalist, almost art house type film, think it is also directed quite well. It captures the emotional conflicts and feelings of both characters well I thought. Both leads are competent professional character actors. It is quite an interesting subject matter, the film delves into what it would be like for a teenager to correspond with a disturbed sociopath who is incarcerated and finally visit them. It is quite a tragic story that deserved to be told, Sadly Jason took his own life on June 6, 2006, the film states at the end. Anyway I recommend this film

I was afraid for this flick for two reasons, is is said to be based on a true event, the John Wayne Gacy story and it was made by the producers of "Monster (2003)" another flick based on a true event (serial killer Aileen Wuornos). Monster did follow how it all happened so there it couldn't go wrong but on the part op Gacy there are so many flicks about him that aren't correct. Some did exploit his part as Pogo The Clown and let him do killings dressed as a clown, it never happened that way. But still the best flick about Gacy is To Catch A Killer (1992) and let the performance of Brian Dennehy in that particular flick being the best Gacy so far. So with some prejudice I watched it. And I must say that I really enjoyed this flick. The title says Dear Mr Gacy but isn't really about Gacy. This flick is more about Jason Moss, a student who gets in contact with Gacy and gets obsessed with him. What happens with Jason is shown in this flick. To be honest, only two actors are in this flick and made this flick. First is Jesse Moss who plays Jason Moss and he did it in a perfect way. But he surely knew his stuff been in Final Destination 3, Ginger Snaps and the gem Tucker And Dale vs Evil. What he did here is really well done. Gacy is played by another famous horror actor William Forsythe. I have met the guy and yes he has that look in his eyes as seen in Halloween the remake and The Devils Reject. Both carry this flick. It is filed under horror but I shouldn't say that it fits there. It's more a drama especially due what happened to Jason's life. But Svetozar Ristovski as director did well to keep you attracted to the screen. Naturally the whole true event is pure horror but I recommend this to everyone. It do has some news reel in the beginning and at the end some news reel about Jason. It really got into me, a sad story but one to watch. No special effects pure talking and still it gets you...as Gacy did. And William gets really close to Brian's Gacy performance. Gore 0/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 0/5 Story 5/5 Comedy 0/5

It's surprising that the substantial bulk of serial killer movies has yet to render anything really compelling about one of its most complex and twisted subjects --- John Wayne Gacy. The sheer number of accredited murders combined with the episodic series of cat and mouse plays throughout the convicted child killer/rapist's life would seem to be quite juicy fodder. And yet, all we really have to show for it are two sub-par outings (a passable TV procedural starring Brian Dennehy and a really awful feature with hammy unknown Mark Holton). And then comes "Dear Mr. Gacy" which --- if you're not aware of its extremely factual basis --- almost sounds like a bad joke. Crime student Jason Moss (Jesse Moss) embarks on an almost masochistic journey into fear and loathing by establishing a communication with the killer during his last months on earth at Illinois' Menard prison. His idea (and it IS a clever one) is to establish himself as a textbook victim that Gacy will have no choice but to lure into his web, granting Moss a first-hand look into the delusional self-aggrandizing psychopath's mind for his college Criminology term paper. It's a scenario almost tailor made for a movie script because, as we all know by now in films, if you want something that badly, the worst thing that can happen is that you get it, and Moss does. He also finds himself playing a little too perfectly into Gacy's hypnotic spell, which is complemented by all the right situational elements of his own life --- boredom with his girlfriend, resentment of his controlling mother, subtle contempt for his passive brother's victim-hood at the hands of the school bully. The weakest link here is Jesse Moss, and that's only very rarely. Mostly his performance is very good, though there are a few times it's hard to believe his reactions wouldn't be a bit more emotional after some of Gacy's truly threatening phone tirades. William Forsythe is a great actor and never more disturbing than in this role...he's the creepiest Gacy by far, expertly channeling his voyeurism with subtle bullying and manipulation, then morphing it into the "caring" love of a protective father figure, shifting on a dime. It's hard to know if his self-proclaimed stance as "king of the roost" at Menard is reality or in his head. His paintings were fetching a handsome sum near the end of his life, he had a cell with a view, TV, plants, and he could paint and smoke Cuban cigars smuggled in by guards who addressed him half-jokingly as "boss." Forsythe is a virtual cypher in the role, disappearing effortlessly into it, and leaving you very queasy in the process. All in all, DMG is an intense, fun ride you won't forget. If it had a broader scope, it might just be the definitive Gacy biopic, but it probably wouldn't be as outright compelling, either. What's probably most disturbing about this particular story is what happened to the real Jason Moss, in the end. Be careful what you wish for, indeed.

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.

Based on the true story of 18 year old college student Jason Moss (Jesse Moss), who finds himself in way over his head when he begins a relationship with notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy (William Forsythe). As part of a term paper for his criminology class, Moss sends a letter to Gacy on death row, portraying himself as vulnerable with the hopes of eventually gaining his trust and getting inside the mind of this killer to possibly learn more about his crimes. A relationship between the two begins through letters and eventually phone calls, as Jason tries not to lose his own identity while being brought into Gacy's world. Jesse Moss, whom I'd only seen previously in smaller roles, most notably "Ginger Snaps", shows he can hold his own as a lead. The real stand out, however, was William Forsythe. Remarkably intense and creepy, he seemed to embody John Wayne Gacy. It was one of the best portrayals I've seen of Gacy to date and rivaled that of Brian Dennehy's.

This is a difficult movie to watch. I rented it over the holiday week for entertainment. I felt the movie draws the viewer into the emotional sea of conflict and any flick that can do that, in my estimation is superior. Certain parts are very difficult because they deal with sexuality , ciminiality and morals all at once. The flick should not be rejected simply because it might to thought to be anti-gay. There were parts that I thought could pander to homophobic people. I would recommend it and advise imagine you are 18 years old and dealing with a psychological experiment where you become the bait for the vampire.