Dear Mr. Gacy

Jason Moss (Jesse Moss) is a seemingly normal first-year university student; he is an avid participator in his courses and a diligent student all around. However, it's quickly revealed that Moss has an interest in mass murderers. His criminology professor assigns the class a research paper and Moss sees this as an opportunity to enter into the mind of one of the most heinous serial killers known to North America: John Wayne Gacy (William Forsythe). Gacy was charged with the rape and murder of 33 boys in Illinois in the '70s. He pretended to hire the young men for summer jobs, after which he would trick them into submission by dressing as a clown and playing games with them, including breaking out of handcuffs. He buried all of his victims under his house. What ensues is a quick downward spiral into obsession and homicidal tendencies. Moss develops an unexpected rapport with Gacy via mail correspondence. He gains Gacy's trust by presenting himself as a potential victim Gacy. Moss takes homoerotic photos of himself and writes fabricated letters about his abusive home life and his desire to be a male hustler. Gacy is immediately intrigued and begins calling Moss collect every night. Moss believes he can uncover information about Gacy that no psychologist can. The tables are turned on Moss when he enters into an extreme state of paranoia, nearly murdering a prostitute, and finds himself alone in a cold cell with the real Mr. Gacy. The film is based upon the true memoirs of Jason Moss and it is a disturbing, yet shallow, adaptation. Gacy's character depth is well built and William Forsythe is brilliantly sinister, delivering a glut of sexually repulsive lines without flinching; he's a very believable Gacy. Moss, on the other hand, doesn't have any genuine motivation for his unhealthy fixation on the killer. But despite its shortcomings, the film is a thrilling examination of two sociopaths. Further, the realistic dimension heightens the drama. The DVD includes "The Gacy Files: Portrait of a Serial Killer," a series of interviews with friends, police and lawyers all well acquainted with Gacy. One of the policemen featured gives a terrifyingly detailed account of the investigation scene where they dug up all of the dismembered bodies. If the film isn't grisly enough, these shocking interviews provide the true horror behind the legend.