Something about serial killers and true crime has really captured the attention of today's society. Maybe it has to do with the popularity of Criminal Minds and shows of the like, but you can't go a week without hearing about a new movie or docu-series about a serial killer or unsolved mystery. Currently, Ted Bundy is the one getting a lot of the attention, include a series on Netflix called Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes.
Another Bundy-centric movie that just came out is called Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, starring Zac Efron as the notorious serial killer. Efron admitted that even though he was playing the role of Bundy, he hates him. He also said getting into character was challenging.
"Ted Bundy is a vile, vile human being," he said. "I can't express enough how much I loathe the man that this movie is about. The fact is this really happened ... the fact is that the whole world "” literally all the media, everybody "” was capable of believing that this guy was innocent. Talk about white privilege...Every major topic in this movie is bent on showing you how evil this person is."
Efron's co-star, Lily Collins, praised his work in the movie, despite him finding it challenging.
"I'm so proud of him and I think he did an amazing job," she said. "[He was] very, very collaborative."
Something that Efron wants to get across is that the point of this movie is to show how awful Bundy was as a person.
"When you see the movie, if you don't think either me or Ted Bundy is the biggest piece of s"”t in the world and don't want to be like him, then something is wrong," Efron explained. "This was a very challenging and trepidatious role."
People glorifying Bundy for his good looks is something that has become a little concerning in the recent months, especially after the release of Conversations With a Killer. It got to the point where Netflix actually sent a note out about how people need to raise their standards.
"I've seen a lot of talk about Ted Bundy's alleged hotness and would like to gently remind everyone that there are literally THOUSANDS of hot men on the service "” almost all of whom are not convicted serial murderers."
For those who worry that this movie is going to "glorify" Bundy and his horrific crimes, Efron says otherwise.
"He wasn't a person to be glorified," Efron told Entertainment Tonight. "[The movie] simply tells a story and sort of how the world was able to be charmed over by this guy who was notoriously evil and the vexing position that so many people were put in, the world was put in. It was fun to go and experiment in that realm of reality. I didn't take it home. I didn't go full method and I didn't have to like do any weird stuff to anybody to get into character. It's a different type of film."
So far, the movie has gotten mixed reviews, but it's only been on Netflix for a day. I'm sure more opinions will filter out as more people see it. Personally, I'm interested to see if Efron can pull of a such a serious role.