Gacy (2003)

Model citizen, devoted father, loving husband and serial killer John Wayne Gacy - a man with over 30 dead men and boys entombed in the crawl space underneath his family house. Based on a true story.

Director:

Clive Saunders

Writers:

Clive Saunders (story), Clive Saunders (screenplay)

Stars:

Mark Holton, Adam Baldwin, Tom Waldman

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mark Holton	...	John Wayne Gacy
Adam Baldwin	...	John Gacy, Sr.
Tom Waldman	...	Hal
Charlie Weber	...	Tom
Allison Lange	...	Gretchen
Edith Jefferson	...	Mother Gacy
Joleen Lutz	...	Kara Gacy
Scott Alan Henry	...	Young Gacy
Kenneth Swartz	...	Dave
Matt Farnsworth	...	Stu
Jer Adrianne Lelliott	...	Little Stevie (as Jeremy Lelliot)
Joseph Sikora	...	Roger (as Joe Sikora)
Oren Skoog	...	Jimmy
Joe Roncetti	...	Peter
Eddie Adams	...	Duane

Storyline

Wisconsin, 1953. John Gacy, Sr. verbally and physically abuses his son during a fishing trip. Iowa, 1968. The adult John Wayne Gacy Jr. is convicted of sodomy and after 18 months he is released and settles in Des Plaines near Chicago. From 1972, John Wayne Gacy, Jr. grows up as a respected family father and businessman, even tipped for a political career with the Democrats. Alas, while he loudly abhors homosexuality, the monster uses the crawl space under his home for the vice of his abusive father: over 30 innocent boys and teenagers end up buried there, after horrible abuse ending in torturous death, causing it to reek unspeakably, being full of insects decomposing the stream of young corpses. Some victims worked for him, others he just picked up 'for fun' or lured in under various pretenses.

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | body in a trunk | crawl space | victim | serial killer | 

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Taglines:

Friend. Neighbor. Killer.

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong grisly violence, language, some sexuality and drug use

Did You Know?

Trivia

The pictures of clowns in the final sequences are supposed to suggest that they were images painted by John Wayne Gacy. Actually, they are copyrighted collotype reproductions of the work of Cydney Grossman published in 1954.

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Goofs

The gas station shows a vapor recovery system, but that was not in place until 1994, which is after Gacy was already executed.

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Quotes

Det. Ritzik: We'd like to search your house.
John Wayne Gacy, Jr.: You got a warrant?
Det. Ritzik: Well, no.
John Wayne Gacy, Jr.: Fuck off, douchebag!

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Connections

Version of To Catch a Killer (1992)

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Soundtracks

Everythings Big in Texas
Written by Kevin Kiner and Mike Himelstein
Courtesy of Kay and Em Music and Avodah Music

User Reviews

more comedy than horror...

I was pretty disappointed with this one. The primary reason this film was even remotely disturbing was due to the fact it was based on a true story. The direction and acting was quite terrible. Really, really bad. Thankfully, the bad acting is so much so that it turns from bad to kind of funny. I haven't seen the other film based on the same situation, but can't image it to be much worse than this. It's worth seeing for the sake of it being an interesting true story...well, that and John Gacy is played by none other than Mark Holton (Francis from Pee Wee's Big Adventure). Somehow, the relation between the two films makes them both that much scarier.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 May 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Gacy

Filming Locations:

Altadena, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$250,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Beartooth Productions, DEJ Productions, Peninsula Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1