GACY
PLOT-The true story of John Wayne Gacy, one of America's most notorious serial killers.
VIOLENCE-Very little bloodshed considering what this movie is about. Several beatings occur, some fights, and a drowning.
SEX/NUDITY-Sex is implied but no actual nudity is shown.
WHY I WATCHED IT-Everybody's a little curious about real-life murderers. Gacy seemed interesting because of the whole clown makeup thing. Plus, I've seen a bunch of these dramatized true crime films in the past year. Why not go for another?
THE DOPE-At the beginning of this film, it states that what you're about to see is based on real events, but that some characters and events have been "fictionalized". That's because even though Gacy was a real person, his story has to be made into a movie that has a plot, and that has some kind of arc to it. For those unfamiliar with the crime, Gacy killed over 30 people in the mid to late 1970s, mostly teenage boys and young men. He'd been convicted for sexual abuse of a boy, but only served 18 months. Amazingly, he was able to hide most all the bodies of his victims under his house. The stench of the corpses was so strong that neighbors complained all the time, yet the bodies kept piling up as Gacy kept killing. The film doesn't spend much time showing us Gacy's childhood. There's a brief scene in the beginning that shows his dad hitting him and being a total asshole. A black screen notifies us about his sodomy conviction. No mention is made of his first marriage or his son and daughter. When we catch up with Gacy, he's living with his mother, his new wife and her two young daughters. The movie details the period of Gacy's life where he ran a contracting business and employed several young men, using them for cheap labor and sometimes sex. Most of the focus is put on how Gacy covered up his crimes, and his interactions with his workers. He's only seen in his infamous "Pogo The Clown" makeup in 2 scenes, and not much time is devoted to showing Pogo at childrens' parties. The guy who plays Gacy is really really good. The whole cast is, in fact. Although the films skips over a lot in the beginning, the rest of it is a very solid account of the last years of Gacy's crime spree, including his eventual capture. Anyone curious about the man will definitely find this engaging viewing. The subject is treated seriously, much like a "movie of the week" or something, less like a horror film or a documentary.
MEMORABLE SCENES-Gacy, in full clown makeup, is trying to drown one of his victims in a bathtub. When the phone rings, Gacy yells for his elderly mother to pick it up. Luckily, this movie doesn't show the 18-inch dildo Gacy ended up using on the poor guy.
DVD NOTES-The disc contains a trailer and features a director/actor commentary track. Go to www.gacymovie.com to learn more about the production.
(May 2003)