GACY (2003)

Based on a true story, GACY is a straight to video/cable release that tries show the persona of John Wayne Gacy. At times, this is a well-constructed movie and better than it has any right to be. It even aims for poignancy and induces sadness for the lost souls that came his way. But what really makes the movie involving is its lead actor, Mark Holton. “You’ll be sorry Pee Wee Herman!” That’s right! Francis from PEE WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE portrays this coveted part. And you know what? He is pretty damn convincing. His connection to Paul Rubens (Pee Wee) only confounds this movie. It’s given a presence that wouldn’t be there otherwise.

Considering its subject matter (pedophilia, murder, clowns etc) GACY almost does perform a service by not concentrating on the grisly details. The goriest sequences are resided to the crawlspace and the worms in it. Violent? Yes but quite not as gory as you might expect. Alas, there is so way to get around it. There is no way right way to explore the mind of a thing like this. It is still a depressing and gruesome affair and will always be so. Perhaps the only way to do so would be to compare the life lead by investigators to the life of Gacy. But it’s not that kind of movie. Remember it uses Mark Holton and when straight to video.

A fictionalized account, the movie was helmed in L.A. (I recognize those red curbs anywhere!). Gacy’s stomping grounds was in and near Chicago. Shocking and grizzly moments are inserted and diluted with insets shots of props, tools, and clown paintings. The movie abounds in black humor. Examples include the discussing of his clown license”, excuses for his porn collection (“just business”), and his construction work (“gotta put some concrete on the crawlspace”). The androgynous imagery is also a bit too much to bear. A potential victim is referred to as “Mrs. Gacy”.

Years ago, I plowed through the writing of John Douglas and Colin Wilson. There writing is effective for this type of True Crime sub-genre. I still wonder why I read those books. I sure have had my fill. Watching GACY reminded me why HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIEL KILLER or MAN BITS DOG should be left to the margins. Nowadays, I’d rather watch a “police procedure” such THE DELIBERT STRANGER or HELTER SKELTER.

Thanks for the review Jon. I saw GACY when it came out and thought it was okay. Probably the worst of the serial killer films (DAHMER, BUNDY, THE NIGHT STALKER) hitting shelves back then. Holton, who should also be recognized for his work in the TEEN WOLF series and as Jennifer Aniston's retarded brother in LEPRECHAUN, is quite a revelation in this film. Hopefully it will lead to more dramatic work for him. If anyone is desiring more cinematic Gacy, Brian Dennehy also played him in the 1992 TV movie TO CATCH A KILLER, which is much more of a procedural film.

And on a side note, I have a funny GACY story (don't we all?). My ex-girlfriend told me about how she went to rent THE HOURS and GACY one night (she has great taste). Anyway, she took them up to the counter and handed them to the clerk. The clerk looked at the titles and said, "This movie is reallllly good" and Teisha said, "GACY?" The clerk said, "THE HOURS." We used to laugh about that all the time.

I thought DAHMER and especially BUNDY were WAY better than GACY, which I thought was pretty much a POS through and through. I'd rather watch TO CATCH A KILLER with its terrific Brian Dennehy performance any day of the week, even if the main focus is on the police who caught Gacy rather than Gacy and his horrific crimes.

Vincent

Gah! I can't believe I wrote "best" instead of "worst" in my original post. Of that bunch I thought BUNDY was the best.

I'm still convinced STARKWEATHER is the worst of that sorry cycle, not that there's anything to recommend the others above it. The only exception is DAHMER, which is witty (it opens in the chocolate factory where Dahmer worked), intelligent and insightful about serial killers, and has a couple good suspense setpieces. DAHMER's also blessed by a great lead, Jeremy Renner, who I wish had moved on to bigger, even better things. It's really a creepy, fairly tasteful character study, and it's unfortunate DAHMER has to sit on the shelf next to its GACYBUNDYGEIN imitators.

When it comes to adapting fact based subjects, TV movies are usally the way to with this genra.