Not the first serial killer yarn that focuses more on the perp's family than on the perp himself--and likely not the last--but certainly a very good one. Annaleigh Ashford stars as a TV make-up artist whose father is in prison for a long-ago string of murders; when he reaches out to her unexpectedly via a birthday card to her daughter, she pays him a visit, opening up the proverbial can of worms and unleashing a tidal wave of unwanted publicity for herself and her family. "Happy Face" (which is based on a true story) is dark, grim, and altogether unsettling--Dad's matter-of-fact explanation of the best way to strangle defenseless young women (the type of victims he favored) comes to mind--with a pair of excellent performances in the leads: Ashford's, of course, as a haunted woman who thought she'd put the trauma of her past behind her for good (cast against type--she's long been getting laughs in Broadway comedies--she underplays it here to great dramatic effect), and--as her Dad--a bespectacled and quietly unnerving Dennis Quaid, who may look and act like the perfect father (especially in the occasional flashback sequence), but we know is anything but. The questions pile up quickly: what will become of Ashford and Quaid's horribly fractured relationship? How will her kids (there's also a little boy) ever be able to cope with the frightening knowledge that Grandpa is a psycho? And what about the murder that Ashford's character is investigating on her own, one that her Dad claims he never committed, but she is convinced he did? (An innocent man sits on Death Row for it, and she has to find proof of her father's involvement before time runs out.) Intriguing questions, all. Bottom line: "Happy Face" is a thriller well worth watching.

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