Happy Face Killer (2014 TV Movie) User Reviews (9)

The Jesperson Temper.

[hitchcockthelegend · 6/10 · 23 September 2014]

Happy Face Killer is directed by Rick Bota and written by Richard Christian Matheson. It stars David Arquette, Gloria Reuben, Daryl Shuttleworth, Stefanie von Pfetten and Josh Blacker. Music is by Hal Foxton Beckett and Marc Baril and cinematography by Adam Sliwinski.

This is an interpretation of the real life events surrounding the workings – hunt for – and capture of Canadian serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson.

It's one of those bone of contentions with adaptations to screen of real life serial killers, with poetic license etc, that invariably many feel cheated of not getting the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The story of Keith Hunter Jesperson, who would become known as the Happy Face Killer, was not known to me, but when it caught my eye in the TV listings, with Arquette in a serious dramatic role, I had to take a look. Crucially for someone like me who was unaware of the case, it helped me to get more from the viewing experience by reading up on Jesperson after the viewing. I would urge any potential first time viewers to do the same.

The core essence of Jesperson's crimes and his mindset is correct, but motives and means, and crucially childhood traumas, are sketchy at best. If able to accept the poetic license factor, this is still a very detailed and skin itching take on a man who it is confirmed killed 8 women. The murders are staged expertly by the makers to get the required impact to stun the viewers, the procedural aspects of the investigation, led by FBI Agent Melinda Gand (an excellent Reuben) are insightful and gripping, and Arquette, in spite of not remotely fitting the physique or profile of the real Jesperson, works very hard to convince as a man who could turn murderous by the slightest provocation.

In the pantheon of serial killer movies this is hardly essential stuff, but it is well worth a look and worthy of inspection by those interested in the topic to hand. 6.5/10

Not good not bad, just not very memorable

[SusieSalmonLikeTheFish · 5/10 · 22 March 2015]

This is one of your run-of-the-mill Lifetime movies, with decent but not very great acting, a plot that sort of drags on and some rather annoying soundtrack. I think the most disturbing part of the film was where the younger Keith Jesperson put the kitten in the microwave, that was something I'd expect in a horror film, not a Lifetime movie.

The Mountie thing, where Jesperson was fantasizing about joining the Royal Canadian Mounted Police... I don't know when this film takes place, but Mounties haven't worn red uniforms or rode horses in over half a century. They look, for the most part, exactly like American cops. And since Jesperson was a former Canadian resident, I'm surprised he wouldn't have known that.

The Happy-Face Killer is incredibly similar to countless other Lifetime films, so if you haven't seen it, you're not missing much. But it's good for passing the time with, and it made me aware of the real story behind the film; I looked up the real Happy-Face Killer case and it was incredibly shocking but interesting to read about (I'm a big fan of true crime stories).

Routine.

[rmax304823 · 5/10 · 1 March 2014]

I don't know how long-distance truck drivers can stand it. Hours and hours on bleak interstate highways punctuated by mazes of lanes through cities like Norfolk and New York. And you must be sharp at all times. I hitched a ride with one driver who misestimated the height of his rig and the clearance of the Triborough Bridge and, pow, my head went through the windshield.

The boredom and stress are enough to drive you crazy. That may be what happened to David Arquette as Keith Hunter Jesperson, aka The Happy Face Killer. Probably not, though. Nobody knows why someone would deliberately set out to kill a number of people seriatim, including total strangers. We can all put ourselves in the place of the person who murders a friend or a spouse. Those are people who are in a position to hurt us, whose opinions we care about.

But a couple of hookers at truck stops? And then bragging about it later to the police and the FBI? The movie gives us the reliable child-abuse excuse, which can be dismissed with a wave of the hand. He grew up in a dysfunctional family. Ho hum. So did you and I. Furthermore I had a wicked hangnail when I was only five. Is it any wonder that I have all these bodies buried in my back yard? Spring turns the garden into a gay panorama of canary yellow Forsythia. In the end, when a rough-hewn answer is finally uncovered, it's more likely to be due to a neurological confluence centered somewhere in the neighborhood of the amygdala, which governs the fight-or-flight response.

Well, I'm rambling a little, I know, but the film doesn't really call for much treatment. The two performers-in-chief are David Arquette, who does a credible job as the serial murderer, and Gloria Reuben as the FBI investigator, Mellinda Gand, who intrudes into what the Oregon cops consider a local affair. She's smooth, understated, and pixyish, and the fact that she's a woman allows the writers to get it some digs at the patriarchal society we're suffered to live under. Both Arquette and Reuben have a couple of good moments on screen but neither has a chance to stretch his or her acting chops. The formula is too strictly adhered to. It's as if they were actually aiming at mediocrity.

There are a horde of movies about serial killers, perhaps more movies than killers. They almost form a genre of their own. As these things go, this is strictly routine, filmed in gray under the lowering skies of Vancouver, B.C.

courtesy of the Canadian tax system..

[A_Different_Drummer · 3/10 · 12 June 2015]

Flagged on the IMDb as "American," this is yet another in the long (too long) line of Canadian knockoffs posing as something they are not.

Produced by a Vancouver production house specializing in projects with "strong female characters," starring Canadian actress Gloria Reuben (as the lead FBI investigator) and also starring "token" American David Arquette (the killer), this film pretty much is the poster child for 100% forgettable "poseur" films from the Frozen North.

As far as this reviewer can tell, Reuben has never carried an entire film on her back before. And this may be the last time she gets the chance.

Arquette has played baddies before, but is lost here with weak writing and direction. He struggles in the role.

One single example if I may be permitted: when Reuben's character receives a hand-written letter from the Happy Face killer -- with a happy face as the return address -- you might expect her (if you are a regular film goer) to wear gloves and call a CSI before opening it...? You would be wrong. In this script, in this sloppy production, she opens it with the gusto and abandon a 12 year old would reserve for a Big Mac.

Prints? Forensics? That is something you see only in "real" movies.

Which this is not.

Not so happy

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 3 January 2021]

The movie is deeply flawed. There are story and character omissions and it relies on the "pretending" this is real premise that most likely will backfire for most viewers. Having said all that, there is also David Arquette who has the most obvious fun with his character - no pun intended.

So if you can dig his performance you may be able to ... well enjoy is the wrong word, especially considering some mildly violent but deeply disturbing scenes that we get served. Overall the tone holds up, even if it almost gets sidelined into ridiculous areas ... suspend your disbelief ... a lot!

A Dumb FBI

[ronfox-64389 · 2/10 · 25 April 2020]

This film if at all faithful to the facts show the FBI in a very poor light. I have not finished watching the film, but so far the FBI failed to ask for a description of the person that left the bar with the first victim, failed to match the killer's handwriting, failed to get and test for DNA/Trace evidence from the bodies, failed to check the killer's truck for forensic evidence. It is foolish and totally unrealistic to depict the FBI as being so derelict. I am always willing to suspend belief to enjoy a film, but this is just ridiculous.

More fiction than fact

[Originator1994 · 1/10 · 29 June 2014]

First of all, Arquette does not look at all like Jesperson, who was a very large guy. Names of real victims not used.Cell phone used in one scene in movie not available back then , a much more advanced model than what was available back then. We lived thru this back then , agency I worked for investigated this case... Movie more fiction than reality.Too bad Lifetime jumped the gun on making this movie as it could have been dealt with more facts than fiction. Again, casting of main character (s) way off.Very weak acting. Next time when making a movie about a real case, get it factual. This was a big disappointment .

If everything in life fails, put on your happy face.

[Coventry · 5/10 · 3 February 2022]

Some of my favorite movies of all times are horror/thrillers based on the lives and crimes of real-life serial killers, and this for the simple reason that truth is often far more disturbing and petrifying than fiction. Of course, I didn't expect for "Happy Face Killer" to become a new favorite, although based on the factual case of Canadian American serial killer Keith Jesperson.

There are a number of reasons why "Happy Face Killer" isn't a very good, nor memorable film. For starters, it's a TV-production, meaning the murders and perversities are never as grimly or shockingly depicted as in the greatest masterpieces like, say, "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" or "10, Rillington Place". Secondly, there's a large amount of error and inconsistencies in the script. I won't bother to list them all, but some of my fellow reviewers did.

And finally, it simply is rather dull and formulaic. Even though the tragic story of every victim of every real-life serial killer deserves to be told, some serial killers just aren't very interesting. The facts in the case of Keith Jesperson, or at least as told here in "Happy Face Killer", very much feels like serial-killing 101. The man had a traumatic childhood, he tortured small animals as a kid, he goes after prostitutes and lewd women, he records himself bragging about his crimes, he deliberately leaves clues and seeks media attention, etc. Even when the script doesn't exclusively revolve around Jesperson it's full of clichés, like the FBI woman with a personal vendetta, or the local sheriff who thinks he's Dirty Harry. David Arquette does his best, but he's not very convincing. I'll admit that his grimaces look reasonably psychotic, but most of the time you can't help seeing Deputy Dewey from "Scream". The actresses portraying his victims are beautiful and seem talented, but their roles are too brief.

I normally wouldn't rate this higher than 3 or 4, but I'm giving it one extra point for the eerie version of the famous song "Happy Together" by The Turtles. It's one of those songs I always considered to be a feel-good classic, but the version playing here - during the strangulation of a prostitute - is truly shivering.

seriously? most of this movie is fabricated!

[megan_d74 · 1/10 · 2 September 2016]

seriously? i only watched this movie because i am really interested in Keith Jespersons case. but wtf is this? i understand changing the victim and family names but he never painted a smiley face on his victims, the fbi didn't even know there was a serial killer at large, and they didn't even mention his infamous death game torture as he strangled the victims! they took the very basic story and transformed and altered it into something that would attract more audience when the original story would be so much better. it didn't do anyone any justice David arquette was a good actor but wasn't the best. he didn't put enough effort in the role. they skimmed over everything and just got to the kills, and the music was just too much