Chrys Weedon | Entertainment Editor
Ted Bundy is one of the most notorious serial killers in the United States according to history.com. Aside from his trial being the first televised in history, Bundy’s trial was unique in many ways. Bundy acted as one of his own defense attorneys, escaped twice and even gained an immense fan-base.
Released on Netflix on May 3, “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile” was released not long after the docu-series “Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes” was strategically made public by the same streaming site on January 24.
While “Extremely Wicked,” whose title is too long to say naturally in conversation and is therefore always referred to as “that new Zac Efron movie,” could be seen as a complementary fictionalization of “The Ted Bundy Tapes,” it watches as a slightly fuzzier iteration of the same show. It seems as though nothing much happens that watchers familiar with the case wouldn’t have already known about the Bundy case.
Every event was predictable, and the liberties that were included weren’t shocking — to me, this film really didn’t shine a new light on the case or the characters involved. The film often flip-flops between painting Bundy in a sympathetic light and trying to make him out to be the manic killer that he was. In my opinion, we really didn’t need another “slightly-sympathetic serial killer” story in the world.
I did appreciate a look at the ways in which Liz Kendall, played by Lily Collins, was affected by her long-term relationship with Bundy, but it all felt like a glorification of Bundy thinly veiled through a “different” perspective. I would’ve been more intrigued with a story from the point of view of Carol Daronch, the woman who successfully escaped Bundy’s attempted kidnapping.
Arguably the most disappointing aspect of the movie was Zac Efron’s performance. Efron, I believe, embodied Bundy in an extremely believable way, but “Extremely Wicked” overall was an underwhelming film and I feel like Efron’s performance was wasted. I was honestly surprised at how effectively creeped out I was at the actor whose breakout role was Troy from the “High School Musical” franchise. I believe this could’ve been a breakout role for Efron, if only it wasn’t an overrated, over-told story.
Overall Rating: I would not recommend this film.
Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu
Photo courtesy of voltagepictures.com
