8213: Gacy House (2010)

Review by David Rupp



John Wayne Gacy murdered 33 young men and boys between 1972 and 1978 in suburban Chicago. 26 bodies were found in a crawl space beneath his house and 3 others were buried in the backyard. Although the house was completely demolished during the exhumation of the bodies, on May 15, 2004 a group of paranormal investigators wired the home that was built in its place with paranormal detection and surveillance equipment. The outcome of the investigation was grisly, terrifying and disturbing.

Written & Directed by Anthony Fankhauser
Starring: Jim Lewis, Matthew Temple, Michael Gaglio, Brett A. Newton, Sylvia Panacione, Rachel Riley & Diana Terranova.

This is a perfect case of style over substance, I'll explain. Picture a nice friday evening returning home from work to find a new offering in the mailbox, Gacy House emblazoned on the front with some very promising stills on the back. Now I have always found the history, antics and demise of serial killer fascinating, I don't endorse them or condone what they do, I just have a morbid interest into their thoughts. Great, I thought I had a winner to rival the new horror tedium that has been in place lately. Sigh!!!

Allow me if you will to speak first in defense of the film, It has some genuinely eerie moments and a tention throughout that is almost palpable. Characters you can almost relate to, and come close to feeling for. Shrug!!!

The first thing one will notice is the packaging contains warning, that this is actual footage from the Des Plaines PD, that should of been a warning. You will encounter a multi camera switch that seems very Ghost Hunters at first, but gets extremely overdone which succeeds in annoying the viewer. This movie has been paralleled to Paranormal Activity but with the "found footage" angle, the shaky cam and other gags it leans more towards Blair With Project, it even has a scene suspiciously similar to Heather in the tent, but I do not see this one kickstarting the genre back into action.

Unoriginal and shapeless, this is one for background noise at a halloween party. Enter Gacy House at your own risk....3/10.

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