TV MovieCrimeDramaThriller

Happy Face Killer

Serial killer Keith Jesperson murders at least eight women over a five-year span and taunts authorities with disturbing letters and scribbled confessions signed with a happy face.

Release Date : 2014-03-01

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Front Street Pictures

Production Country : CanadaUnited States of America

Alternative Titles : El asesino de la cara feliz

Cast

Character Name : Keith Hunter Jesperson

Original Name : David Arquette

Gender : Male

Character Name : Melinda Gand

Original Name : Gloria Reuben

Gender : Female

Character Name : Diane Loftin

Original Name : Stefanie von Pfetten

Gender : Female

Character Name : Felicia Boones

Original Name : Melissa M. Montgomery

Gender : Female

Character Name : Sissy Peyton

Original Name : Em Haine

Gender : Female

Character Name : Candy

Original Name : Jordana Largy

Gender : Female

Character Name : Summer

Original Name : Mittita Barber

Gender : Female

Character Name : Peter

Original Name : Josh Blacker

Gender : Male

Character Name : Redhead

Original Name : Crystal Mudry

Gender : Female

Character Name : Delores Pavlinac

Original Name : Kelly-Ruth Mercier

Gender : Female

Character Name : Dez

Original Name : David Allan Pearson

Gender : Male

Character Name : Taffy

Original Name : Vanessa Walsh

Gender : Female

Character Name : John

Original Name : Peter Flemming

Gender : Male

Character Name : Levi

Original Name : Kurt Evans

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cotton

Original Name : Daryl Shuttleworth

Gender : Male

Character Name : Young Keith

Original Name : Spencer Drever

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cora Jesperson

Original Name : Jody Thompson

Gender : Female

Character Name : Becky Sue Balling

Original Name : Karyn Mott

Gender : Male

Character Name : Agent Phillip Kuttner

Original Name : Peter Bryant

Gender : Male

Character Name : Bud Skinner

Original Name : Darren Moore

Gender : Male

Character Name : Wanda

Original Name : April Telek

Gender : Female

Character Name : Jo Peyton

Original Name : Chilton Crane

Gender : Female

Character Name : Dr. Yanine Tirrell

Original Name : Valerie Sing Turner

Gender : Female

Character Name : Keith's Daughter

Original Name : Eliza Faria

Gender : Female

Character Name : Keith's Son

Original Name : Hunter Dillon

Gender : Male

Character Name : Keith's Father

Original Name : Todd Daulby

Gender : Male

Character Name : Cora Jesperson

Original Name : Jody Thompson

Gender : Male

Reviews

John Chard

@John Chard

2024-05-16

Happy Face Killer (2014) The Jesperson Temper. 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