TED BUNDY
PLOT-The true story of Ted Bundy, one of America's most notorious serial killers.
VIOLENCE-Quite a bit. Ted beats women up, rapes them, kills them, and not always in that order. The scenes are not overly gory, but are brutal and effective nonetheless. A few decayed bodies and parts are shown, and a few people are bloody from being assaulted too.
SEX/NUDITY-Some fairly graphic sex scenes are shown, mainly because Bundy was a sexual deviant and that's part of his story. You see a decent amount of sex and nudity, but none of it is really done to be "sexy" due to the subject matter.
WH Y I LIKED IT-The #1 reason I picked this up was because it was directed by Matthew Bright, the mad genius behind two of my favorite films: the classic FREEWAY and its 1999 direct-to-video sequel. I thought it would be interesting to see how Bright would handle "normal" subject matter (so to speak) with a real-life subject...serial killer Ted Bundy. This wasn't the first dramatic film about Bundy (that credit goes to THE DELIBERATE STRANGER) but it is the best. In fact, it's one of the best films of its kind because of the way it treats its subject. Let's face it, we're all somewhat curious about people like Bundy, and this movie does a great job of telling the story in a short time. If you're looking for just the cold hard facts, watch the (very detailed) A&E Biography on Bundy. However, if you want something a bit more exploitational, look for Bright's TED BUNDY. The acting is superb, for one thing. From the first frames, you know the guy playing Bundy is gonna do a great job. He's nuts, he has energy, and yet maintains the charisma Bundy was known to have posessed. This guy looks eerily like Christopher Reeve and that just makes him more believable. Bright uses ridiculously happy vegas-type music to accompany some of the more brutal scenes, which only adds to the atmosphere of the already twisted subject matter. Nobody wants to see an overly dramatic or sympathetic retelling of the Bundy story. Bright also cleverly inserts actual news footage of Bundy and the trial throughout the movie, but not in such a way that would conflict with his lead actor's appearance. This movie is very cool, and reminds us why the death penalty may not always be such an inhumane thing.
DOWNSIDE-The only drawbacks to this movie are all relate d to its low budget. I know a good bit about the Bundy case, and it did cover everything fairly well. However, like last year's ED GEIN, something feels very "made-for-TV" about TED BUNDY. A lot of details are skipped over, and the last 20 minutes seem very rushed. Plus, given the subject, there is no additional info about Bundy or interviews with the filmmakers included on the DVD.
MEMORABLE SCENES-Perhaps inspired by Spike Lee's MALCOLM X, small children at the end of this film say, "I am Ted Bundy!" repeatedly. Although this is a movie, it teaches us a valuable lesson. Anybody could grow up to be a murderer, and there is no typical profile either.
WORTH NOTING-80's splatter FX king Tom Savini supplied the gore for this film, and also plays the first detective to interrogate Bundy. Also, Troma's very own Tiffany Shepis plays one of the few women to actually escape Bundy. She kicks his ass and gets away. Shepis rocks.
DVD DETAILS-Thankfully, this disc does have one decent extra feature: director commentary from Matthew Bright. While spotty and dead in places, when Bright does speak it is to say something worth hearing.
(October 2002)