To Catch a Killer

Rating:
Summary: Gacy the Evil Clown
Review: An absolutely fantastic movie portraying the life of John Gacy, a simple man who runs a building contractor company. In his spare time, he loves entertaining sick children in hospital, dressing up as Pongo the clown. But what John does in his spare time is both inconcievable and terrifying. This film is based on a true story - that of John Gacy, and how in his spare time he sexually assaulted, tortured, and murdered thirty-three young men, making him America's single-most brutal serial killer of all time. "To Catch a Killer" begins as yet another young man goes missing, Gacy having lured him into his house and taken it from there. When his mother notices him gone, she calls the police. And in steps Michael Riley, who plays Lieutenant Packer, a man struggling to balance his job with his family, much to his son's dislike. Packer spends every waking moment pursuing Gacy, uncovering vital and astonishing clues along the way, revealling more and more about Gacy's twisted actions, bringing the movie to a terrifying ending where at last the boy's body is found. An excellent movie, with Dennehy's best performance ever, and a one even as good by Riley. It revealls the horrifying truth about "stranger-danger", and portrays that, like a breakdown on a lost and lonely highway late at night, it could happen to you. One memorable and terrifying scene has Gacy doing his performance as a clown at the children's hospital. Riley and his men track him down and watch him as he entertains away, showing off tricks and telling jokes. Then as Gacy notices Riley is watching, he performs a cunning trick in which he borrows Riley's handcuffs and demonstrates on a young boy a trick, to see if the boy can get himself out of the handcuffs without the key. Riley watches intently, and Dennehy's role is highlighted with the terror and fear he gives us.

Rating:
Summary: Dennehy at his best - a chilling, cold and gritty movie
Review: An absolutely fantastic movie portraying the life of John Gacy, a simple man who runs a building contractor company. In his spare time, he loves entertaining sick children in hospital, dressing up as Pongo the clown. But what John does in his spare time is both inconcievable and terrifying. This film is based on a true story - that of John Gacy, and how in his spare time he sexually assaulted, tortured, and murdered thirty-three young men, making him America's single-most brutal serial killer of all time. "To Catch a Killer" begins as yet another young man goes missing, Gacy having lured him into his house and taken it from there. When his mother notices him gone, she calls the police. And in steps Michael Riley, who plays Lieutenant Packer, a man struggling to balance his job with his family, much to his son's dislike. Packer spends every waking moment pursuing Gacy, uncovering vital and astonishing clues along the way, revealling more and more about Gacy's twisted actions, bringing the movie to a terrifying ending where at last the boy's body is found. An excellent movie, with Dennehy's best performance ever, and a one even as good by Riley. It revealls the horrifying truth about "stranger-danger", and portrays that, like a breakdown on a lost and lonely highway late at night, it could happen to you. One memorable and terrifying scene has Gacy doing his performance as a clown at the children's hospital. Riley and his men track him down and watch him as he entertains away, showing off tricks and telling jokes. Then as Gacy notices Riley is watching, he performs a cunning trick in which he borrows Riley's handcuffs and demonstrates on a young boy a trick, to see if the boy can get himself out of the handcuffs without the key. Riley watches intently, and Dennehy's role is highlighted with the terror and fear he gives us.

Rating:
Summary: Gacy the Evil Clown
Review: Having lived in Chicago when the actual Gacy horror story was first disclosed, I thought that this film (which I think was first made for TV) captured the eerie personality of a serial killer who dressed up as a clown to entertain kids. Dennehey is great.

Rating:
Summary: Brian Denehy at his-evil-best
Review: I first saw this movie years ago and still pick it every now and then because first it's a true crime story, and then Brian Denehy's acting is so extraordinary accurate. If you want to start a collection on thrillers or if you're interested in true crime, and more specifically about the cat and mouse game that Gacy played to the very end, buy this movie, you won't regret it.

Rating:
Summary: This movie needed more about Gacy and less about the cops!
Review: I know this is based on the cop's perspective of things, but Brian Dennehy (as Gacy) was only in this movie 40% of the time! And only 5% of that showed what the guy was actually about and what motivated the police in the first place!! Instead of giving a gritty, real life portrayal of what a serial killer did (in order to invoke sympathy for the victims and strong repulsion of the character) we are treated to long, boring scenes of investigative ho-hum and the top cop's family life (??!!) I walked away thinking that Gacy was silly rather than evil, and something tells me that wasn't that wasn't the moviemakers' goal...

Rating:
Summary: Excellent acting
Review: This is one of my alltime favourite movies. Brian Dennehy is really scary as Gacy. If you want to watch a great movie, watch this one, but not alone. You really get the feeling that Mr Gacy must have been one sick man, but quite clever, until he got caught, that is. Thank God for Kozenzyk and his team and that they were so persistent catching him, otherwise, who knows how many more men he would have killed unnoticed.....

Rating:
Summary: great movie!
Review: This is the best movie ever made about the crimes of a serial killer. From the beginning to the end it's a chilling movie! Great actors, Brian Dennahy in one of his best roles!

Rating:
Summary: Sickening but fascinating
Review: When i saw this movie my jaw hit the floor. Not only is it a sickening movie, it's a true story: All those boys were really tortured and murdered.

I cannot believe there was once somebody so sickening and evil in this world. John Gacy was a nasty, sadistic person that pretended to be a model class citizen and entertained sick children as "Pogo the clown".

But in this fascinating movie, he wasn't clowning around when he murdered 33 innocent young boys.

This movie is spine-chilling, sickening and not recommended for anyone who scares easily.