If you haven’t heard it already, Netflix recently released the film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile, which is the chilling story of the serial killer Ted Bundy. The film stars Disney sweetheart Zac Efron playing Ted Bundy (Shocking and Extreme Indeed!) and the beautiful Lily Collins playing his former girlfriend, Liz Kendall. The cast alone should tell you how interesting this film is. However, if that didn’t convince you, here are a few other little facts that just might:
(WARNING: The last two facts do contain SPOILERS. Read with caution my friends)
- The Unique Perspective
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The trial of Ted Bundy was widely publicized primarily because it was the first televised criminal trial in history. That being said, many people already have a lot of prior knowledge of the trials and Ted Bundy himself. However, what makes this movie unique and new is that it is told from the perspective of Ted Bundy’s long term girlfriend before and for a short period after his arrest, Liz Kloepfer (referred to by her pseudonym Liz Kendall). Because of this, the film does not focus on Bundy’s killings (only really discussing the act of them once). Rather, the movie focuses on the unbelievability of the situation and Bundy himself. With his charisma, good appearance and the overall act he put on in the public eye, Bundy was able to deceive everyone, and this was very apparent when looking through the eyes of Liz Kendall.
- The Drawings
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In the scene in the Kendall home where the young daughter of Liz Kendall, who they call Molly, is coloring a picture of a shark on the table, there are several other pictures seen on the wall. According to an interview with Zac Efron and Lily Collins, many of those pictures were done by the crew’s kids, and the rest were done by Morgan, who plays Molly Kendall in the film. So if you haven’t seen the film already or are going to see it again, keep a look out for those pictures!
- The Metallica Man
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In the first scene where Bundy is being questioned by the police, the sheriff who is speaking to him and throws his bag down is actually played by Metallica’s James Hetfield. The musician appears almost unidentifiable in his sheriff attire and with all of his tattoos covered up. Apparently, Hetfield mentioned how interested he was in doing voiceover work to the film to director Joe Berlinger at a wedding they both attended years prior. When Berlinger decided to pick up the movie much later, he immediately thought of Hetfield’s large figure and demanding voice. The day he was on set, it was his wife’s birthday, so he was joined by his entire family. It is safe to say everyone was very impressed by his first-time acting abilities.
- The Experienced Director
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Prior to Netflix’s release of the film, they had released Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, which is a tape collection of Bundy’s confessions once he was sentenced and placed on death row. It includes interviews as well as a lot of other historical facts about the trial. This docu-series was created by the same man who directed Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile, Joe Berlinger. Berlinger stated that he became interested in Bundy and retelling his story after he found that his teenage daughters had no idea who he was or what he did.
- The Willing Witness
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As you SHOULD already know if you are reading this article in all its full glory, the film is told from the unique perspective of Bundy’s long term girlfriend, Liz. Because of this, it may not surprise you to know (but hopefully it does a little because being surprised is always fun!) that the real Liz Kendall, whose real name is Elizabeth Kloepfer, had a big hand in the film. She was excited to be in the film and suggested that she and Collins, who portrays her in the film, meet. When meeting her, Kloepfer was more than happy to share her life with Bundy and many momentos from their time together to better help the film. The film is actually based on Kloepfer’s 1981 memoir, which she wrote under the name Kendall, The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy.
- The Great Escape
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One light-hearted fun fact about the film is that in order to lighten the tension and darkness associated with the material on set, the cast spent a weekend in an escape room together where they bonded and shared some wholesome laughs!
- The Fame
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A fact which I only lightly mentioned earlier is that the Ted Bundy trial was the first televised criminal trial in history. Because of that and Ted Bundy’s general charisma, good looks and theatrics, the case gained a large following. Many girls traveled to go witness the trial themselves, to see Bundy and have him sign printed pictures of his mugshot. It was a dark and twisted phenomenon that gathered many “fans” who became obsessed, some even claiming to be in love with Bundy. Some credit the televised event for the later rise of true crime.
- SPOILER: The Confessions
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If you are reading this, I fully expect you have already seen the film because this is a major spoiler! So proceed with caution! At the end of the film, after Bundy had already been sentenced to death and was on death row, Liz visits him. She asks him for a confession for her sake and for him to tell her if he ever wanted to hurt her. After some more tears and convincing, Bundy eventually breathes on the glass between the two and spells out “Hacksaw,” which answers Liz’s questions about what happened to one of the victims’ head and, as a result, is also a confession that he did it all. This is the only real and relevant scene where the film takes artistic liberty for the sake of the film. And, as an audience member, I have to admit that it was VERY chilling and served as a great ending. However, in reality, between being sentenced to death and confessing on tapes while on death row to all the murders, Bundy did call Liz and imply a confession. He told her that he had a “sickness,” warned her that what he was going to say next was going to be bad, and asked that she be prepared for what she was going to hear about him in the coming days.
- SPOILER: The Weight Watcher
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One last little fact! In reality, when Bundy broke out of prison for the second time by cutting out a whole and crawling out through some overhead space, he had spent months losing 35 pounds in order to fit in the space. However, in the film, I think we can all agree that Efron’s body did not change A BIT.
If you have not seen the movie, please do! As a self-proclaimed movie buff, I can truly say that though the reality of the film is dark and disturbing, the film itself is done very well. From the beginning until the end, I was fully captivated, and knowing all these fun facts will only make it better! (Unless you read the spoilers. In that case, shame on you)