January 24, 1989 saw the execution of serial killer Ted Bundy in Florida’s electric chair. Bundy’s brutal crimes are something of legend in the annals of infamy, and 30 years after his death, we’re seeing a resurgence of interest in his story.
Netflix released “Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes” on January 24, and now follows up with a biographical crime thriller “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.” While the Bundy Tapes was an excellent documentary piece, something seems off with this current dramatization, from the casting of heartthrob Zac Efron as Ted Bundy, to the odd Tarantino-like chronological order of the story. It’s as if the filmmakers are making a fiction movie that glorifies the evil doings of a real person. When is the last time you saw a biographical picture with an ‘R’ rating?
The movie is told through the perspective of Bundy’s longtime girlfriend, single mother Liz (Lily Collins). We all know Bundy is guilty, so the red herrings and claims of innocence as he interacts with Liz and her young daughter are somewhat moot. The movie opens in 1969 Seattle, but we are never offered a true feeling of the period. Instead, Director Joe Berlinger presents the story with a back and forth jump of time that covers the 20 years between the start and Bundy’s death in 1989. Zac Efron has received gratuitous praise for his performance, but I found it somewhat lackluster.
While there’s no denying the horrific nature of Bundy’s crimes, the production of the movie takes a somewhat ghoulish turn midway through. During the infamous escape scene (Bundy escaped custody by jumping from a Colorado courthouse window) the song “The Letter” plays as Efron turns and mugs for the camera like a Guess model. Its fictionalized in a way that completely diminishes the severity of the situation. Ted Bundy is not Michael Myers or Hannibal Lector. He’s a real guy who raped and murdered 3 dozen real women in the not too distant past.
The aloof tones continue to plague the entire second half of the movie. John Malkovich is one of the best actors out there – and as a heinous villain he can’t be beat. In fact, I would love to see him cast as a devious murderer (like Bundy but, you know, not real), but as the trial judge overseeing Bundy’s case, it misses the mark completely. And throw in Sheldon Cooper (I mean Jim Parsons) as the District Attorney and you’ve got a complete implosion. Seriously, I kept waiting for him to turn around in the court room and scold Penny for sitting in his seat.
There’s a fascination with the crimes of Ted Bundy that started with swooning groupies at his televised trial in 1979 and continues to this day. But why watch a recreation with actors when the real thing is far more compelling. “The Ted Bundy Tapes” does an excellent job of providing historical context and offering the drama of the courtroom confrontation. “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” serves no point at all, and quite possibly, has the most stupid title of any movie in history.
