Review by Peter Syslo
GACY (2003) is another one of the horror films that is based upon a real-life serial killer. It is similar in style to DAHMER and ED GEIN; the movie is pretty much an abridged biography of the killer. As far as these real-life-killer or killer-bio films go, GACY was a decent film; ED GEIN is still at the top of my list for these films but GACY isn’t too far behind it. Though, I will say that ED GEIN was a little easier to watch because Gein’s story has sort of that "boogeyman" quality which is almost (these days) like a "campfire" story. GACY turned out to be a little grittier and was a little intense at times - I liked it, but it was a very dark film.
GACY is directed by Clive Saunders and is written by David Birke and Saunders.The film stars Mark Holton, Adam Baldwin, Tom Waldman, Charlie Weber, Allison Lange, Edith Jefferson, Joleen Lutz, and Scott Allen Henry.
The film is about serial killer John Wayne Gacy; it mainly focuses upon his childhood and the events leading up to his eventual capture. The film opens with a camping scene that explains a lot about why Gacy became a killer; it shows the abusive nature of his father. From that point, the film forwards to 1970s Chicago where Gacy had taken up residence with his second wife and two daughters. All is not well though, because Gacy had previously spent time in prison for sexually assaulting a young male and it appears that he has fallen back into old habits. Gacy pretends to be a family man, he is a clown-entertainer, is involved in local politics, and he owns a contracting business but he has a hidden knack for sexually abusing and killing young men. Gacy also has the nasty habit of burying the bodies under his house, in a crawlspace. After his wife leaves him, Gacy becomes more prolific, the local authorities start to become suspicious of him, and it is a waiting game until Gacy makes that one flaw which finally gets him caught.
GACY wasn’t bad; actually, I was just reading up on him and checking my facts - the movie really does stick pretty close to his life story. It is a pretty dark story and it may seem a little depressing to some, but I feel that the movie is a good representation of Gacy’s nature and the way that he carried out his killings. It is also a nice, non-judgmental depiction of his story; it’s not a "feel-good" film which tries to make you feel sorry for him and it is not a film that "glorifies" the life of a ruthless killer. The film just presents the facts and it weaves the story together in a pretty smooth fashion (sometimes it’s okay for a film to not have an agenda).
However, I wish that more of the clown aspect was included in the picture. There are a lot of shots of Gacy’s room where he had various pictures of clowns and that was a nice bit of creepy atmosphere but there was only one real instance where he was dressed as "Pogo the Clown". I wanted to see a little more of him doing his clown bit - not necessarily killing in clown makeup, but seeing him entertaining at a party would have been a chilling component to the story. I will say that the one scene where he does kill a victim, while he is in clown make-up, is pretty good - you get one satisfying scene out of it. Also, the clown scene is a very effective break from the "darkness" of the whole story - it adds that surreal/insane splash of color which adequately describes Gacy’s mental state.
Cutting to the chase: I liked GACY, it was a little "heavy" to watch but it told his story well and it was faithful to the details. The constantly interspersed scenes of maggots and insects feeding on the bodies in his crawlspace really kept the tension up and the scenes almost conveyed that horrible smell of decay, by the way they kept popping up throughout the film. Other than that, Holton’s performance as Gacy was one of the best parts of the film; he played "Chubby" in TEEN WOLF and was "Francis" in PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE. He was great as John Wayne Gacy because he skillfully played "the normal guy who appears harmless but also has an unnerving psychotic quality". He brought out the "charm" of Gacy, where he could talk anyone into anything and again, he looked pretty scary in the clown make-up. Also, the other actors were prett y good and created a believable supporting cast. The only downside is that I wished there was more of the clown aspect included and that the film had a bit more contrast to break the "heaviness" of it all. In conclusion, if you like the killer-bio movies, slasher films, or forensic horror then you might like it. I give GACY a 6/10.