Review of Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019) by Rebecca31 — 04 May 2019

The rising obsession with true crime stories continues, now in the form of a movie starring none other than Zac Efron as the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile is told from the point of view of Ted’s long term girlfriend Liz Kendall (Lily Collins). You’ve seen the documentary and maybe you even read one of the many books on America’s most notorious serial killer. Well I have anyway so I had a certain expectation for Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile and other than the title being unnecessarily long (it’s a direct quote from the judge but honestly it would have been easier to just call it Bundy) I felt this told the story in the best way possible.

It’s no secret that I would not have rated Efron much as an actor, The Greatest Showman and High School Musical was enough for me to steer clear of his movies so when he was initially cast as Bundy I had more than a few doubts. Yet when the set photos started emerging I felt hey not only does he look the part but he might just surprise us all and that’s exactly what happened. Bundy was a monster and Efron became that monster before our very eyes, his performance is so accurate it’s scary. I forgot I was even watching Zac Efron to be honest so Zac I’m sorry I doubted your acting abilities, I was wrong. He has received a bit of grief for taking on this role but the real Ted Bundy was charismatic, a charmer and well liked guy. So many people, particularly women just couldn’t imagine him committing these horrific crimes because you expect a killer to look like a killer, you imagine a monster and to a lot of people Bundy didn’t fit. Efron does bare an uncanny resemblance to Bundy and he went all in, and I’m sure it wasn’t an easy decision to take on this role, most actors wouldn’t be rushing out to play a role like this. Credit where it’s due, his portrayal of Bundy is chilling.

It would have been very easy for this film to fall into the trap of a typical serial killer movie, but it doesn’t. In fact there’s very little graphic violence, there’s references particularly during the court case but we’re not seeing it which was the right decision. The crimes themselves are enough to give anyone nightmares and seeing it on the big screen would be insensitive to all his victims. I don’t feel Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile could have been told any better than this. It follows Liz, when she first meets Ted, falls in love with him, and becomes caught up and blindsided by his lies. We only start to learn the details of his crimes as she learns them. Though considering a lot of this is condensed for a film length if you’re looking for something with more content then the documentary might be more suited to your tastes, that is if you haven’t watched it already. Recommended for all you true crime fans out there.