Zac Efron IS Ted Bundy! (Upcoming movie)

it seemed to focus on his personal life more than the brutal killings of which we were still informed of...I liked this take on the monster...

 

I agree..so far I have no complaints with the movie he's been in...
I especially enjoyed: Charlie St. Cloud
Charlie St. Cloud (2010) - IMDb

 

Yeah, I liked that. Watching him kill multiple women shouldn’t be the focus at all. I just felt his escapes weren’t given enough depth. But, as I said, I thought it wasn’t bad.

 

I enjoyed it. It was a different take, with little focus on his crimes up to the end. Efron really sold the charisma that allowed Bundy to almost get away with it.

Up until recently the Seattle bar where the film starts and where he picked up local victims was still operating.

 

fair enough...yes, there's always "more" that could have been done...

 

Watched it on Saturday, Enjoyed it for what it was and though Efron was pretty good. Was a kick seeing Hetfield as a cop though I did find it a bit weird they used a small clip from The Four Horsemen when he was in prison in Florida. Probably wouldn't have watched it had I not watched The Bundy Tapes earlier this year. This was a nice companion to that.

 

I recall seeing that a long time ago.

If you really want to see a chilling portrayal of someone check out Mindhunter on Netflix. The actor who plays serial killer Edmund Kemper is downright scary.

 

It was interesting but Efron’s Performance lacked shading.

 

Ive always been fascinated with the minds of criminals. Whether it be mafia hitmen or the ted bundy's of the world. Is it some innate evil? Are we all capable somewhere deep inside? Environment? etc etc.

So Ive always "enjoyed", for lack of better word, the study of what makes them tic. Watched the Bundy Tapes. Very good. And placed the monster right before us in his own words.

On the hand, there is also the disturbing thought that passes through my mind in which I wonder if some of this rehashing is placing Ted Bundy as some sort of "legend". I wouldnt call it glorifying him. Im not sure what Id call it.

This movie left me with that feeling. That it may have crossed the line in bringing the wrong sort of attention to this very very evil person. I think also that there is a bunch of artistic license taken. Did he really write hacksaw on the protective window to his old girlfriend? It just had this Hannibal Lector suductiveness to it.

I cant say that I got much from this movie. It didnt show another angle to the story imo. It simple edged Ted Bundy into some sort of anti-hero stance. Again, Im not sure what to call it, but it just seemed to hyped up.

 

Watched it last night B'Jeepers Zac Efron looked like Mr Bundy.

 

The recent Netflix thing was so compelling...way more than I expected given how familiar the story was. But it really was and I feel like I got my fill of Bundy. So I'm not really interested in this.

 

I recommend watching The Riverman Movie.. it really goes into detail too much
Carey Elwes was as perfect as Bundy.

 

I thought both Lily Collins and Zac Efron did a good job here. Also agree the Riverman is a good movie.

 

We watched it Friday. Efron looked him and his girlfriend was stronger than she's been portrayed in the past. Mark Harmon didn't look like
him but "Deliberate Stranger" was much better.

 

Interesting. Based on some of his other roles, Efron does fit the slacker mold...

 

Yeah. I appreciated the film, felt it was a compelling watch. But in other hands (or a more impressionable mind) the film's approach could be entirely misinterpreted. I myself appreciated that it did not focus on or even show the murders. I don't want to watch those horrible, real-life moments re-enacted, and I'm not a fan of gory films. It's the personality study of the sociopath/psychopath that interests me, so I found that approach perfect for me.

However, on paper, what the film did by not showing his crimes, was (possibly for some viewers) to make Bundy look like just a tall good-looking guy who is intelligent and resourceful, and also well-loved, worshipped even it seemed by some women. And all of that was presented without showing (for the most part) his evil side. He could almost come off more as a rebellious anti-hero (or for much of the film, a possibly wrongly accused man) than literally one of the worst people known to exist in the twentieth century. We are even spared of seeing his death - the end result of all his deeds; instead he just sort of slips away from the viewer's mind at the end looking like a mastermind who just happened to get caught.

 

This is a very good post. The wife and I watched this film tonight. I got a bit of a different feel from the movie, which is why I wanted to highlight what a good post it is, but also how my viewing experience was different.

What I saw was that the film often came close (even dangerously close at times) to portraying Ted Bundy as this "rebellious anti-hero at times," but just when Bundy would amp up his charm the filmmakers reeled the viewer back in with telling, or showing, something heinous, or even his erratic behavior, or how the trials were having an affect on Liz. In other words there was balance, as I don't think the filmmakers shied away showing what a complete animal he was.

Particularly haunting are the scenes where he's "normal" Ted, yet he is in bed with Liz, playfully biting at her, his hands sliding down close to her neck. These bits were amplified in the last montage of flashbacks, as Liz crumbles to the ground, replaying to herself all of the clues from the past, as Mozart's "Queen of the Night" aria, from Die Zauberflöte, played on.

It's true, though, the filmmakers could have ratcheted up our disgust of the man by showing what's been reported as Ted going to the chair a coward. He gave no mercy, yet he wished for mercy at in the end.

That said, I think that Efron did a great job, though ultimately the film was fairly pedestrian. I'm glad I watched it. It wasn't terrible by any means; nevertheless, it didn't exactly impress. I merely liked the lead acting and the balance I thought the film pulled off.

 

I just watched it the other night. I'm glad they didn't get into detailed information or reenactments of the murders. That's just my preference I'm easily grossed out.

But, I think they did that on purpose. I think they were trying to show us Bundy from the angle the public and people in his life knew him. They didn't witness his crimes, they don't have our benefit of hindsight.

I thought the one word answer he gave her at the end was chilling. Just the violence of the word itself, coupled with the image of him using it for what it was used for. The mental picture of it. It removes any possibility of his humanity in one stroke.

There is some evidence being studied that psychopaths are born with a dysfunction in the part of the brain that controls emotions. They may feel nothing, including compassion, primarily because of biology.

 

I have just watched this film and was surprised by how much the actor looks like the real person... or are there special effects involved?
Anyway, is it documented that he did write that word on the glass or was that scene created in order to provide some sort of resolution, so that the viewer would not leave the theatre in doubt about what really happened?

 

I’m done forever with anything to do with Bundy. It’s too disturbing. Only lasted a few minutes of this movie after watching the Netflix series and reading the Anne Rule book.

I didn’t realize it took place in Seattle. We used to go there every summer to visit my Aunt while this was going on. And to go camping. My mom was telling me how scary it was to be a parent with young kids back then with Bundy, the Green River Killer, and the Beast of British Columbia Clifford Olson on the loose. My dad’s overprotective behaviour makes a lot more sense now.

 

Yeah, I think Seattle is where he worked with Rule on the suicide hotline thing.

The movie isn't really that great so if you're Bundy'd out, I'd say you're good to skip it. There really isn't anything in it you wouldn't know after watching the Netflix documentary and reading the Ann Rule book. I will say that Efron and Lily Collins both do good jobs of acting in this.

 

There is no evidence that he wrote the word on the glass when talking to Liz Kendall. I think that whole thing was done for dramatic effect.

 

I thought so. If he had written that word on the glass, the agents behind her would have read it as well.

It's interesting how his story is told: first you watch him interacting with family and friends like a regular person, then he gets arrested and you watch him trying to prove that he's innocent. No violent acts are shown for most of the film, so if you don't know the real story you naturally wonder "is he innocent?"

Then the final act comes and you learn the truth.