True Crime: Ted Bundy and The Movie That Got Us All Talking Again

It hasn’t been a year since the release of the Sundance Film Festival movie Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, the movie that depicted the cruel ways of serial killer Ted Bundy. But what did the movie get right about the terrible crimes of Bundy? What was left out? 

The movie aside from a few likenesses of the characters could have almost mirrored the events of what took place during the trial and Bundy’s prison stay. The film stars Zac Efron as Ted Bundy and follows Bundy through the events that took place where he would murder 30 women who spanned across the US. 

Where did he meet Elizabeth? 

In the movie and real-life Bundy met Elizabeth Kloepfer in a bar. The film was closely based around the book called The Phantom Prince: My Life With Ted Bundy, which was written by Kloepfer. Kloepher had it published under her pseudo name Kendall. As depicted, the couple met each other in a bar in 1969 and hit it off almost instantly. Her friend Mary Lynn Shilha described Bundy from when he and Liz met, stating that he didn’t look evil, but while sitting at the bar, he continued to stare at her and Liz while he nursed a beer. 

The Dependency

Liz was very much dependent on Ted as depicted in both the film and the true-life events. Liz was both divorced and was a single mother to her daughter from her previous marriage. She often described Ted as hitting the jackpot. In the movie, it depicts the platonic night that they spent together where Bundy becomes closer to Liz and also her daughter. In her book, she talks about how this led her to imagine starting a family with Ted and what the names of their future children would be. 

A detail that was not mentioned in the movie was that during this time, Ted and Liz both dated other people for quite some time. They omitted this fact to help in portraying the “love story” aspect between Ted and Liz. Liz and Ted were both in a serious relationship for quite a few years, and the two were said to have almost gotten married. Liz gave Ted her life and wanted nothing more than for him to take care of her. 

The Co-Worker 

In the movie, Liz’s co-worker Jerry helps her to get over the events that happened with Ted. This is after Ted has been arrested in the film. This was a falsehood as the character was fictionalized and never existed. It was stated by Joe Berlinger, the director, that Jerry’s style was a compilation of several people that were in Liz’s life at the time that tried to help pull her out of the depression she fell into after Ted. He stated that it was easier to compile them into one character rather than have several characters for the storyline. The character of Joanna, Liz’s friend, was also a compilation of a few real-life people from Liz’s life. 

The Refusal to Plead Guilty 

This fact was done remarkably well. As both the director and actor Efron studied the televised tapings of these events and portrayed them back so accurately that it was almost eerie how similar the two were side by side.