Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile

"Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile."

6 words used by Judge Edward Cowart when he was sentencing the notorious serial killer Ted Bundy to death for the murder of numerous women back in 1979. 6 words that just about captured the enormity of Bundy's evil deeds. 

In the late 60's a woman named Liz Kendall met and fell for a man named Ted. As the 70's progressed she came to believe that the man she now called her husband was kidnapping and murdering women all around Washington state, Utah and Oregon. Ted of course denied it all and used his charm to change her mind while the net closed in around him. The rest is well recorded history.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile seemingly exists for the sole reason of showing how far teen idol Zac Efron has come from his early days in the High School Musical films. He's one of those actors you really want to hate. Great singer, hell of a dancer, a torso that looks like it was sculpted from marble and to top it off he's a handsome bastard too. Now he's proving he can act with the best of them. It's annoying but there's no denying the fecker can do it all now. Like the real killer he's an absolute charmer, capturing what attracted women to him while an evil glint constantly flickers in his eyes. It's unsettling to watch. You can see the gears ticking over in his head as he plans out his every move. It's like watching a good looking great white shark who's got a degree in gaslighting.

But there's just no real point to it all. Bundy's story has been told in numerous films and the recent netflix documentary (also from director Joe Berlinger) was an extensive and traumatic look at exactly how much damage he caused, and importantly the doc did it all without glamourising the man. Something that the casting of Efron has done no matter how hard Berlinger tries to avoid it. For one the film starts off from the POV of Liz. By focusing on her you assume the film will show us something we haven't seen but soon enough she's just a teary onlooker in the Ted show and spends the latter part of the film staring in shock at tv screens. In fairness it's a realistic reaction but it's not a very cinematic one. And speaking of cinematic, Berlinger has given the whole thing a flat drab soap opera look which combined with the pointed lack of violence does go far towards desensationalising (is that a word) things.

It's the Zac show but there's plenty of talent in around him. Lily Collins is convincing as a spouse trapped in a nightmare. Kaya Scodelario as a serial killer groupie plays a genuinely unsettling part and Sheldon Cooper...I mean Jim Parsons is surprisingly convincing in a small role as a prosecutor. It's always nice when someone so tied to one genre gets to show a bit of range. Just like Efron actually. The great John Malkovich turns up as the judge who eventually ended Bundy's life and he brings a welcome sprinkle of humour to proceedings. Just a sprinkle mind. This is a story that doesn't deserve levity. The 2002 film about Bundy's actions played out like a comedy in places and 17 years later even thinking about it would leave a vile taste in your mouth. 

It's not a bad film at all but it just doesn't do anything new apart from allow a few familiar faces to stretch their dramatic skills. If you're interested it's on netflix now. There's far worse ways to spend a couple of hours.