Mark Holton gives nothing less than the performance of a lifetime in this excruciatingly intense study of the infamous serial killer. Director Clive Saunders, working from his own insightfully stunning script, creates a true atmosphere of foreboding and dread and does not flinch from the true horror of the story he has to tell. Shot on location in Altadena, California, this is a technically superior low budget film and there is nary a sign that money was a problem at any point in the film. The incredible, disgusting, and repellent nature of one man's monstrousness is depicted beautifully. Holton seems to inhabit Gacy, become him, and expose him in all his unholy ugliness. It is hard to imagine anyone doing what he does in this motion picture. Certainly, others have attempted to portray this dark creature but no one has inhabited Gacy's very soul and made us stare helplessly into the abyss the way this incredible actor does in this overwhelming portrait of John Wayne Gacy. The Academy once again should be ashamed that Holton didn't receive the nomination he deserved, for this is beyond Oscar caliber work. This is total brilliance and so true to life it's disturbing and haunting in its sheer raw power.

These serial killer films are really hit or miss, most of them are misses, for a variety of reasons. They are usually cheaply made, direct-to-video films, with an inexperienced cast, trying to profiteer on the infamy of these evil men. That being said, I decided to watch Gacy anyway, because of all the insane people who became infamous, John Wayne Gacy, may have been the craziest. This married man with kids, ran a construction business, that only employed young boys, and on the weekends, he made extra money by dressing up as a clown for children's birthday parties. This man was seen as a wimpy, harmless, closeted guy, no one would have ever thought they'd find 27 bodies underneath his house. The producers of the film, Gacy, decided to take it in a different direction than similar films by introducing Gacy as this lovable loser. If you didn't know the story and just popped in the film for the hell of it, I'd have thought this was some kind of comedy....until it wasn't. Veteran character actor, Mark Holton, stars as Gacy and was terrific, he was honestly the only reason to watch the film, especially after it turned. The story is horrific and the rest of the cast amounts to little more than eye candy, but Holton really pulls everything together, takes you inside Gacy's tortured mind, and makes this movie more than just another slasher film. After watching Gacy, I did what everyone else would do and Wiki'ed John Wayne Gacy. I wasn't surprised to see that the film is considered to be wildly inaccurate. Obviously five people aren't going to live in a house with 27 rotting bodies underneath and be almost completely oblivious to it, so I knew the film probably had a lot of bull in it. The film does have a talented star that really makes this film much more interesting then the other serial killer bio-pics.

When you read the true stories of these horrible serial killers such as Gacy, Dahmer, and Bundy, its easy to think that those stories would make great and terrifying films. However time after time these serial killer bio flicks just fall flat and don't seem to capture the horror of these killers, and "Gacy" is definitely not the exception.My first complaint is just the whole tone of the movie. It never seems very serious, I felt as if I was watching a comedic made for T.V movie with all the funny parts ripped out. The story was flat and moved at an unusual and unappealing pace. I can't say I am very familiar with the true story of John Wayne Gacy (I know the basics, just not everything there is to know) but I doubt this movie followed it to a tee, some things just seemed out of place.Overall "Gacy" just doesn't do a very good job of telling the story of John Wayne Gacy. Its rather boring and just not very interesting.3/10

Having a low budget doesn't always mean having a bad movie, but in this case it does. While other directors use their minimal budget to produce the best film they can, Clive Saunders seems to have blown it all on something, because this film looks like it could have easily been made on $1,000. I found it to be dull, poorly written/acted/directed, and an insult to the intelligence of viewers who have actually done the research on Gacy that these film makers neglected to do.The setting is horrible. The movie is supposed to be taking place in Chicago, but the Southern California architecture, mountains and palm trees make it clear that the production never left Los Angeles. The film is supposed to take place in the seventies, but it doesn't give off the authentic feel at all. The script gives one the feeling that it was a first draft whipped up in one weekend and put to film without so much as one editing session. The dialogue is weak and unbelievable in many scenes, and there seemed no basic plot whatsoever. With directing, editing and shoddy camera work such as appears in this film, these people should be banned from ever making films again. Seriously, I could do better with a bunch of friends and a camcorder.Now, I want to start right off by saying that I did not go into this hoping for blood and guts and gore...what I wanted was to learn a little background on the man himself. Although I love those aspects of horror films, I wanted more of a psychological view of Gacy, and that is what the film failed to deliver. All it managed to do was show scenes of bugs in his crawl space, him going to and from work, him being harassed and beaten up for the money he owes, and the overwhelming emphasis placed on the stench of the decomposing bodies hidden under the house.Worst of all, Gacy is portrayed as somewhat of a bumbling idiot rather than the scarily intelligent being he was. All of the deaths that are shown seem to have been committed on accident - such as the boy he was drowning in the bathtub when he was interrupted. When the boy fell down dead, he looked like he'd "made a boo-boo."- Not to mention the fact that he would leave dead bodies lying around the house and his roommates wouldn't take any notice. I realize that some people don't make it their business to report suspicious crimes or get involved, but that is just ridiculous.Yes, I will admit that I wanted at least one scene of brutal violence from the film, but only for it to give me a full perspective of Gacy's crimes. I wanted a true story that did the story of the killer justice as well as creep me out, but instead I received this boring mess. Don't do like I did. Spare your intelligence and read up on Gacy instead, I guarantee you that what you read will entertain and scare you more than this film ever could.