Gacy

Gacy (2003) - is sort of a biographical film of family man, model citizen, and serial killer/rapist  John Wayne Gacy.  Actor Mark Holton does a fantastic job playing Gacy, the portrayal showed many of the different sides of Gacy.  Although it did take me a little while to get used to him in the role because I mostly recognize Mark Holton as Chub from the Teenwolf films and as Francis from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.  

Gacy is portrayed in a variety of ways. A friendly fast talker in one scene to terrifying in the next.  One particular scene in the film even portrayed him as seemingly remorseful and vulnerable.   The film highlights pieces of Gacy’s life, but doesn’t really tell a life story.  Each scene is pretty interesting, yet all of the scenes together didn’t make a very confluent story.  This film might be more enjoyable for those who already know a lot about Gacy, and I didn’t really know anything about him except for his crimes.  The film left me with lots of questions.  Why did Gacy always owe people money?  If he was known all over as a great family man why did his wife and children look so miserable in every scene?  Why did Gacy keep 30 bodies under his house even though the horrific smell drew everyone’s attention?  Why did he torture and kill some of his victims but let others go?  What is with all the damn clown stuff?  If all of this happened in Chicago, why are their palm trees in some of the scenes?  Maybe the film would have been more of an insight into Gacy’s life and his mind if it had been narrated and the scenes were used as a dramatic addition to the story.  Overall I was mostly  impressed with Mark Holton’s performance.  Playing a world famous serial killer in any film must be an incredible challenge and he was certainly up to the task. 

Mark Holton as John Wayne Gacy

Gacy dressed as Pogo the clown for children's charity events