Ted Bundy committed a series of horrific assaults and murders in various parts of America in the late 1960s through to the mid 1970s. His killing spree continued as he was arrested and escaped numerous times before finally standing trial in Florida in 1979. The rather cumbersome title of this film is, in fact, a direct quote by the judge presiding over the trial.
The film is based on a book by Bundys long time girlfriend Liz Kendall and therefore concentrates more on the impact his crimes have on other people. We see almost nothing of the horrendous acts themselves but do get to see how the charming Bundy managed to ingratiate himself with all sorts of women. I have seen some criticism that the film goes too easy on Bundy, but I don’t think that’s really fair.
It is made very clear how heinous his crimes were, but it also successfully shows how he got away with it for so long. Both Zac Efron as Bundy and Lily Collins as Kendall are very convincing in their roles, and are particularly ably supported by Haley Joel Osment as Liz’s colleague who offers her a new life. This is pretty engrossing stuff. I probably would like to have gained more of an understanding as to why he did what he did, but I’m not sure anyone could really provide that.
Rating: 8 out of 10