Happy Face Killer is a 2014 Canadian-American television film inspired by real-life events of the hunt and capture of serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson. The film premiered on March 1, 2014, on the Lifetime network and starred David Arquette as Jesperson. Gloria Reuben played Melinda Gand, the lead FBI case investigator.
Plot
Over the course of two years, Keith Jesperson, a long-haul truck driver, kills at least eight women, following his failed marriage and an injury which prevented him from joining the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He meets his first victim in a Portland, Oregon bar and kills her after an argument in his rented home. When Delores Parnicke falsely confesses to committing the murder with her boyfriend, Jesperson sends disturbing letters to the press and even writes confessions on the wall of a highway rest stop and at the body dumps. He signs his notes with a smiley face, earning himself the nickname, "Happy Face Killer", as he resumes his killing spree. Jesperson is being tracked by FBI Agent Melinda Gand and Ruskin County Sheriff, with little help from the district attorney after Parnicke confesses to the first murder. It is not until a young mother comes forward to say Jesperson assaulted her, and his new fiancée Diane Loftin disappears, that he can finally be apprehended.
Cast
Main
David Arquette as Keith Jesperson
Gloria Reuben as FBI agent-in-charge Melinda Gand
Daryl Shuttleworth as Sheriff J. D. Cotton, the Ruskin County, Washington, sheriff
Karyn Mott as Becky Sue Bailing, Keith's fourth victim
Darren McGee as Bud Skinner, Delores's boyfriend
Jodi Thompson as Cora Jesperson, Keith's ex-wife and mother of his children
April Telek as Wanda, Dez's administrative assistant
Production
The film is produced by Happy Face Productions/Front Street Pictures, executive produced by Tom Patricia and produced by Harvey Kahn. The script was written by Richard Christian Matheson and directed by Rick Bota. In October 2013, David Arquette was cast in the lead role of serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson. Filming began in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in November 2013. In a Lifetime interview, Arquette spoke about getting into character to portray Jesperson: "I got into character by researching of course but also by tapping into that dark side of mankind. It's all around us so it's easy to see and feel. I would try to understand why he did certain things the way he would. For instance, if someone is rude or belittles you, most people would get upset or yell back at them, Keith would lash out. There were times while filming when something like that would happen and I could picture what he would have done and that becomes very scary to know that people like that are out there and think in those terms".
Reception
Ratings
In its original airing on March 1, 2014, Happy Face Killer was watched by 2.02 million viewers and received a 0.46 rating in the 18-49 age demographic.
Critical reception
Jean Bentley of Zap2it's "From Inside the Box" called Happy Face Killer "truly disturbing". She added, "As far as Lifetime movies go, this one was pretty middle-of-the-road. No performances were outrageously campy — though all low-budget thrillers on this network seem to have some level of cheesiness to them. Gloria Reuben was certainly believable as a tough FBI investigator chasing after Jesperson, and the scenes of David Arquette strangling women were truly terrifying".
