I’m not quite sure the tone of the trailer for Joe Berlinger’s Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile makes much sense to me. The movie, after all, stars Zac Efron as Ted Bundy, a man who raped, mutilated, sodomized, dismembered, and killed more than 30 people, and yet the trailer seems to almost idolize him or at least paint this in whole thing in an odd comic light. Maybe it’s because the movie is from the perspective of his long term live-in girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer (Lily Collins), but I don’t see why that would be the take.
Bundy, by all accounts, was a super charming person, but this trailer makes the entire story out to be one of those “so ridiculous it has to be true” style films when really it’s nothing of the sort. Berlinger has made a career of directing true crime style shows, movies, and documentaries so I guess we can kind of trust his judgment here. Still, it just feels kind of off to me. With the film premiering soon at Sundance I guess we won’t’ have to wait long to know for sure.
On the other hand, Zac Efron looks absolutely fantastic. He’s just the right level of ridiculously handsome and charming while still being edgy. I’ve been waiting for him to finally get a role he can sink his teeth into and this looks to be it. He’s rocking the oversized bow tie too, though, I doubt Bundy was ever that jacked.
