The latest ‘based on a true story’ serial killer thriller is equally as
disturbing as the recent ‘Dahmer’ and ‘Ted Bundy’.
Based on the notorious true life crimes of serial killer John Wayne Gacy,
who was convicted for the murders of men and sentenced to death, the
film paints a truly repugnant picture of what actually happened before
Gacy was finally caught.
The fact that the film begins AFTER Gacy has already served months
imprisonment for sodomising a young boy, brings an instant dislike to the
character, especially as the first scene shows the family man at the
dinner table with his wife and kids!!
What follows is an assault on the senses as the filthy,
letcherous,sadistic torturing rapist pig pillages his way through the cast
of twentysomething males, and even a female!!
For those of you who don’t know, Gacy buried his victims under the
crawlspace of his home which causes all manner of bug problems that do
nothing to relieve the viewer’s tension.
By far the worst scenes however are the ones where the viewer knows the
victim’s fate before they do, as these are very tense moments.
The film works purely because Mark Holton became Gacy. You know an actor
has done his job when the sight of him repulses you and you struggle to
differentiate between character and actor.
The supporting cast which included ‘Buffy’s’ Charlie Weber and ‘Roswell’s’
Allison Lange are very good, and British Director Clive Saunders
successfully unsettles the viewer with his competent direction, refusing
to substitute substance for style and showcasing one wonderful moment of
misdirection that actually made me jump (which I haven’t done for a long
time).
OVERALL SUMMARY
In all, probably the most repulsive of the recent serial killer films,
although ‘Ted Bundy’ comes a close second.
