Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

What is this recent fascination with Ted Bundy that we are seeing on the net over the past year!?! 

It seems that Joe Berlinger is at it again Now as many of you may be aware is that I am a fan of Berlinger and you are all ranting about his two past flicks Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes and the more recent Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile which are both available on Netflix. 

First off I have to do a disclaimer. 

The truth is that I don’t often do true crime as I have had my fair shares of runs ins with those on the net and it is often when I talk about this subgenre. I have received many not so friendly comments due to my support of the Death Penalty as well as my desire to bring back the Electric Chair. 

Ted Bundy is a firm reason for this belief. That and I am a Texan, What can I say. 

In contrast to that statement I am also a huge supporter of The West Memphis Three and in Joe Berlinger’ trilogy of documentaries that led to their freedom and my support of them has led to many backlashes on the internet as well. You can find my review of these documentaries in the archives.

Now on to the flicks. 

You see everyone is going on about these flicks because apparently they are trying to “Make us have Sympathy for Bundy” and to “Make Bundy appealing”. Okay I have a question...WHAT FLICKS ARE YOU PEOPLE WATCHING!!!

 Now first off Ted Bundy was a lying peace of work that got his jollies; and I mean that in the literal sense by bashing women’s skulls in and strangling them and then returning to them so he can perform some necrophilia on their corpses. He was also a thief and con-man who thought he was smarter than the every lawyer in judge that he came across and truly believed he would get away with it all.

In the end was so afraid of being taken to “Old Sparky” down there in Florida that he tried every trick in his book of con jobs that he was able to stay his execution for a decade. 

He even tried to help them find The Green River Killer to No avail. 

 Well the reason that I am asking What movie did everyone see is that when I saw these flicks myself I did not get the impression that everyone says that they got. 

Let’s start out with Conversations with a Killer, this documentary follows the format of the men sent to interview Bundy in regards to his crimes and his origin. Well the reactions from the journalists that were forced to work with him. They pretty much admitted that they despised him and that they were glad to see him get the chair. 

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile which I feel the need to point out that this flick is only Berlinger’s second foray into narrative film after Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows and features appearances from many of his past collaborators such as Jeffrey Donovan and Metallica frontman James Hetfield among others. 

Here is what everyone is going on about with this flick is that it makes Bundy look like a romantic figure as it is told primarily from the point of view from his girlfriend Liz Kendall who was in a real relationship with Bundy, and had no idea that while they were together and he was even a father figure to her young daughter he was killing his victims. 

The movie is based on on Kendall’s (whose real name is  Kloepfer) memoir The Phantom Prince about her life with the sadistic killer. 


The film begins at the moment where Liz first meets Ted and follows their relationship

It  does deviate from this primary narrative because, well let’s face it we all already know the story of Ted Bundy. That being said As a result the film focuses less on the actual murders and more emphasis is given to the characters that define The story, There is constant shifts in pointo of view primarily following Bundy in his escapes, recaptures and the trial. 


While all of this is going on Bundy relentlessly calls Liz driving her to dring and have trouble at work which leads to a relationship with her coworker  Jerry played by Haley Joel Osment.

For the record Haley Joel Osment’s character does not really exist as he is a combination of multiple people in Kendall’s life who tries to help her deal with the facts about her former lover. I personally like the scene where he tries to get tough with Bundy over the phone.

There are other fictional elements in the film that were added for artistic purposes such as the growling dog.

I admit that I don’t know too much about Zac Efron as I have only seen one of the flicks he is in but I feel that he was a good pick for Ted Bundy. 

Efron plays the character with the charm that was Bundy’s M.O. and how he was able to lure his victims and to avoid detection for so long. The depiction is quite accurate, especially in the way many “groupies” were going to the trial and Bundy even later got married and conceived a child while on death row. 

John Malkovich was great in the role of Judge Edward Cowart. 

As a fan of Joe Berlinger I would recommend this flick as well as for fans of True crime I recommend seeing flick along side The Stranger Beside based on the memoir from the late Ann Rule. 

Now due to the circumstances of this story there will be no totals out of respect for the victims in this horrific case. 

That being said please check this movie out.