With most drama shows or even documentaries on Netflix, they can be rather hit or miss, but generally one thing that a viewer can always bank on is that Netflix delivers the goods with regards to documentaries concerning serial killers. The reason is perhaps society's morbid fascination behind the minds of the worst killers of the past century. The John Wayne Gacy tapes were fascinating to watch, I never heard of this case before watching this documentary. Perhaps due to the fact of my age as I was only a baby when he finally was executed much less caught earlier in the late 70s.
The documentary is spanned over 3 episodes, the first looks into the victim that opened then case and also into John Gacy's background as a young man, all very informative and you think of this killer as a person, not one you are empathetic towards but perhaps understanding towards how his sociopathy came to be. One thing of note. I have to say and perhaps the documentary could have been a little stronger at pointing out. Across the United States, sodomy was a criminal offence as was buggery. So homosexuality was unfortunately looked upon very negatively by many people in the United States. Which of course has much changed since. The second episode focuses on the case and the building of it. The third episode looks at conclusion of the case, the trial, the execution. Spread throughout the 3 part documentary you have interviews with people from all angles of the case. People who were almost victims, relatives of victims. The cops, prosecuters, defence attorny and indeed John Gacy via tapes from beyond the grave
Eventually in the modern era with the advancement of DNA technology, bodies that just had numbers attached to their names were identified years after being buried. All in all, one of the beat serial killer documentaries out there. You'll not be disappointed if you enjoy watching them.
