There are many disturbing things about Ted Bundy. Most people likely think that what happened in the courtroom wasn’t what happened, but when you compare it to what the actual video recordings are, it isn’t far off. Spoiler warning not necessary but below is an in-depth review of Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.
Ted seems to be a fairly nice man who takes great care of Liz Kendall and her daughter Molly. If the audience was expecting a movie showing Ted mutilating women, they will be sorely disappointed. The movie mostly follows Liz and the inner turmoil she faces when Ted is being charged in multiple states for the murder of countless women.
Zac Efron pulls off a flawless performance as Ted Bundy as you can tell there is something not quite right about him but you can’t tell what. Ted Bundy was known to be charismatic and charming to most of the people around him. I thought of Ted Bundy as a lot of things, attractive or charming wasn’t one of them. It all depends on the person though. This movie puts the attention on the cases in the various states Ted was being charged in and the events that unfolded.
Ted’s first trial in the movie was for the almost-kidnapping of Carol Daronch. She had picked Bundy out of the line-up, he plead not guilty. Regardless of his counsel, he was still found guilty of aggravated assault and would spend 15 years in a Utah prison.
Not too long after, Utah extradites him to Aspen, Colorado for the murder of Caryn Campbell. Liz tries to maintain that he isn’t guilty of the crimes he is being tried for. During the trial, he escapes custody by jumping from a second-story window. He led cops on a 6 day manhunt before he came down from mountains. That marks his first escape out of the two he has done.
Ted escapes a second time from his cell by sawing open a vent in his room. According to sources, Ted had been missing for almost two months before being arrested in Florida. This time, his kill count had gone up significantly.
Ted was facing the death penalty in Florida for the murder of two women part of the Chi Omega Sorority: Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman. This is where things get very interesting. He was determined to prove his innocence no matter how many plea deals were thrown at him. He ended up firing his chief counsel and posed as his own defense lead. The weird stuff that unfolded in that courtroom appear like works of fiction; shaking his finger at the judge, smiling/laughing during the proceedings and making jokes. He made himself appear like he had no reason to be tried for murder and had wooed the women who watched his creepy antics.
There were only two people who were vocal about whether he did the crimes or not in the movie: his mother and Carole Ann Boone (whom appeared earlier in the film). Carole Ann appeared to have an infatuation with him and would hang on his every word. Later in the film, Carole and Ted conceive a child in the waiting area. Whether this is true or not isn’t known but Ted did have a daughter while imprisoned in Florida.
Regardless of how many times Ted feigns innocence, the jury of his peers find him guilty of murder and would be sentenced to death by electric chair. The judge is the one who delivers the line of what Ted was accused of as Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.
He spends at least 10 years waiting for death row before he decides he would confess to killing as many as 30 women. Liz comes to see Ted one last time in prison after having looked at a confidential file given to her by a detective so many years ago. What is shown is a headless, naked body. Liz was confident he did the murders but wasn’t sure if he would admit to it. She asks what happened to the head, he doesn’t say anything but had drawn on the glass between them the word HACKSAW. Proving to her that he had done all of those horrible things he was accused of.
Final Thoughts
I thoroughly enjoyed the film as it told the story from the point of view of the woman who was closest to him. It wasn’t a blood-filled fantasy of a mad man. It showed how someone who appears so charming can be so evil.
My Score: 8/10
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile premiered on Netflix May 3.
