Movie Name/Year: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)
Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
Length: 110 minutes
Rating: R
Production/Distribution: Ninjas Runnin' Wild Productions, Voltage Pictures, COTA Films, Netflix
Director: Joe Berlinger
Writers: Elizabeth Kendall, Michael Werwie
Actors: Zac Efron, Lily Collins, Haley Joel Osment, Kaya Scodelario, John Malkovich, Jim Parsons, Angela Sarafyan, James Hetfield
Blurb from IMDb: A courtroom frenzy ensues and sweeps 1970s America when a young single mother meets Ted Bundy.
Cat’s Point of View:
The topic of serial killers is one that many ponder with morbid
curiosity. I can’t say that I’ve delved too far into that realm of trivia, to be
honest. Part of me is curious how the mind of someone capable of so many
depraved things works – the rest of me would rather not get into the graphic
details.
Most shocking may be the duality that such criminals likely
counted on to save them – because they were so normal-seeming to everyone
around them. Surely average Joe next door couldn’t be responsible for the
horrifying events. Wednesday Addams summarized it rather well in the
explanation she gave for her Halloween costume in The Addams Family (1991) – serial killers look like everyone else.
Zac Efron (The
Disaster Artist, The Greatest Showman, Beach Bum) gave a wonderful
performance portraying the infamous Ted Bundy. His resemblance to the real-life killer was eerie and uncanny at times. He captured the dangerous charisma, intelligence, and sociopathic chameleon nature of Bundy rather well.
While there are many other well-known actors among this
cast, and I couldn’t find fault with any of them, Lily Collins (Mirror Mirror, To The Bone, Tolkien)
must be acknowledged for her stand-out performance. She depicts well the
emotional torture of her character in the wake of Bundy’s discovery and
unfolding legal ramifications.
Unfortunately, aside from the solid cast, this film didn’t
have much to offer to hold my attention. I guess it’s not entirely my cup of
tea. I enjoy the occasional biopic drama, or even the occasional crime
procedural – this one just didn’t entirely float my boat.
I am curious as to why Netflix released this movie so
closely on the heels of Conversations
with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes (2019). The documentary featuring death
row interviews with the convicted killer was released in January 2019. Only
days later, this film began its movie festival run. While this film seemed to
model quite a lot of its scenes post-capture on such recordings, I have to
wonder if some of the mixed reviews are due to viewers drawing comparisons
between the two.
All told, if this sort of true-crime drama is your ‘thing,'
then Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil
and Vile might be right up your
alley.
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 60%
Metascore – 52/100
Metacritic User Score – 6.5/10
IMDB Score – 6.7/10
CinemaScore – None
Trust the Dice: Cat's Rating – 3/5
Movie Trailer:
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