True stories make for interesting movies. Some tend to go overboard on the melodrama, usually ending up on Lifetime network. Others are depicted as documentaries. And then there is the real life story that is turned into drama, sometimes bad and others good. DEAR MR. GACY lands in between.
The story revolves around Jason Moss (Jesse Moss), a young law student not performing up to his potential in college who is searching for a centerpiece for his thesis. He finds it while watching the news as he becomes fascinated with serial killer John Wayne Gacy (William Forsythe). Gacy is soon to be executed, coming down to his last attempt at a stay of execution and Jason’s chance to speak to him is slipping by fast.
Jason realizes that he has to find an in, a way to get Gacy’s attention, realizing that chances are he receives tons of letters on a daily basis. To do so, he attempts to get into the psyche of Gacy, playing off of the information that Gacy tended to pick up on young boys. He sends Gacy a letter that is in ways flirtatious. To seal the deal he ends up sending Gacy photos of himself shirtless and describing how he’s considering hustling himself on the streets.
Its all done in an attempt to gain Gacy’s trust so that he’ll open up to him, speak to him and perhaps give him the chance to discover why Gacy did the things he did. But as their correspondence continues, Jason finds himself drawn into the dark world of Gacy’s mind, falling prey to the things Gacy encourages him to do, including a trip to the world of street hustlers where he is drugged and almost raped.
Jason is perhaps Gacy’s last victim. His life changes and those around him see it happening though they don’t know why. He spends time bodybuilding, argues with his parents and brother and goes so far as to dump his girlfriend. The letters lead to phone calls that Gacy places to Jason which he accepts. The lies he tells to paint the portrait of himself that he knows Gacy expects build one on top of the other until he finally gets the chance to meet Gacy in prison. It is here that Jason is witness to the true monster that was John Wayne Gacy.
The movie is terribly depressing, but not so much in a bad way. The slow decent into a form of madness that overtakes Jason is well played by Moss as we see the changes develop over time. Forsythe, a totally underappreciated actor who has starred in everything from OUT FOR JUSTICE, THE ROCK and THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU’RE DEAD, does a truly menacing portrayal of Gacy, showing the manipulative side of him that convinces Jason to do the things he does while at the same time show the animalistic frenzy that fills Gacy when he confronts the obsessive fan alone in a prison cell.
Gacy was an unusual killer. Well respected in the community, known for his dressing as a clown for children’s parties and celebrated for his paintings of clowns while in prison, he was not what most people expected when thinking of a serial killer. But the acts he committed, not just to the boys he killed but to Jason Moss as well, were some of the most brutal imagined. This movie is on the low budget scale but it tells the story well and holds your interest. While there are moments you want to look away, there are others that keep you watching from beginning to end. Here’s hoping that the number of potential serial killers like Gacy dwindle rather than grow.
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