Ted Bundy (2002)

Memorable, crazy movie

Good movie but grossly overrated

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Really what such a laughable movie as it is poorly acted and poorly written. As though it is not funny of what the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy did. Still, the poor acting and poor writing makes it really funny.It shows Michael Reilly Burke as the leader title character. Who is bright and intelligent. Then he is stealing in addition to murdering. With bad music and really a cheesy storyline. And how his girlfriend Lea did not suspect at all, her boyfriend was doing these things to these young women.Despite joking about them. Still, you would think she would be suspicious. It leads up to his two CO prison escapes, his downfall in Miami and execution in the end. And kids saying his name in the end. Which is very funny there.One messed up movie and one badly cheesy movie.

First off, Michael Reilly Burke really pulls off a fine performance as the sick and twisted iconic American serial killer Theodore R. Bundy. Next, Matthew Bright goes for a colorful retro-seventies look and focuses mostly on the sheer brutality of his killings, leaving the background story of Bundy's youth in the shadows. This is the director's choice, giving way to a startling point of view: we ride along for his tour of death throughout America and that is pretty much it. Well, in the end we get to see him getting his comeuppance as well...In another way, this feels like a cautionary tale, especially considering the kids at the end saying 'I am Ted Bundy' (one of them holding a dead cat up to the camera). It is normal for children to be experimental and on the prowl for adventure, which often leads to misbehavior, but most of the time it does not escalate as it did with Bundy. He became thé American icon for evil, and still... he was a human being - and received about 200 love letters in jail!Bundy's 'accomplishments' are mind-boggling - it doesn't matter how ugly you want to portray them (I think one must). Even if you attribute some of it to luck, there is still a big part of his 'work' that leans heavily on sheer dedication, wit and persistence, there's no way around it.Unfortunately quite a few facts weren't correct (I must admit I don't know them all myself, and many facts are uncertain due to different statements by Bundy himself) and I would have liked the story to have started much earlier in Bundy's life ánd be more elaborate around the time it does begin, but 'Ted Bundy' does offer a visceral view of an almost unbelievable one-man rampage, leaving you with a few things to think about...8 out of 10.

THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS and MAY BE EDITED FOR LANGUAGE. MAY BE OFFENSIVE TO SOME READERS.I'm not going to put a lot into this review, but suffice it to say, that though I enjoyed FREEWAY by this director, I found this movie based on the horrific story of Ted Bundy far too violent with too much gratuitous nudity and lingering on violent rape scenes. If I was the family of one of his victims, I would feel like I'd been slapped in the face. The playing of some old R&B song over the countless rapes, murders and dumpings of bodies really offended me. We know Bundy was the epitome of a monster, a calculating and deceptive charmer who raped and murdered over and over again. Must we see scene after scene of him screaming, "F*CK YOU, BITCH!"over and over again?!The ending made me angry. I'm not saying it wasn't enormously gratifying to see Bundy get cotton stuffed up his arse or the guards treating his obvious fear with indifference and even scorn. The POS didn't deserve any kindness or mercy. He was never "sorry" about anything he did. He was only sorry he was caught. He was never remorseful about his crimes, only terrified at the end that now it was his turn to die. Why did the ending ultimately offend me? Because while his innocent victims were reduced to naked victims, suddenly Bundy was this "poor, scared guy" who was gonna die. Boo friggin hoo! While I'm sure Michael Reilly Burke is a good actor, he was miscast in this role. He looks nothing like the real Bundy, and honestly, he was given very little to do except act out the profanity of this script.Boti Bliss gave a pretty good performance, but she was just one in a supporting cast of clueless people in Bundy's social circle. Her comments at the end of the film, "Who was Ted Bundy?" were spoken with unconvincing dispassion. If I had let that freak touch me, I'd take a bath in bleach. She seemed very composed given the situation.I recommend THE DELIBERATE STRANGER instead. It tells the story without resorting to graphic gratuity.

The events surrounding Ted Bundy are fascinating and captivating for true crime fanatics. There are books that are just riveting on the psychotic killer. Unfortunately if you're looking for any depth to a film about the circumstances you won't even find a little bit of what you're looking for with this film. I mean as a stand alone creepy 'fictional' movie about a serial killer it does okay but there is no reason to think they any intention of telling anything even remotely based on real life. That being said there are a few moments in the film that are generically slapped in there that even if you only know a minute amount about Bundy you'll recognize from the stories. The victims names are all changed...not sure why considering how many serial killer films have been made with real victims' names. The acting is downright cheesy and the most important role in the film of Bundy is literally nearly laughable. He is more of a slasher flick killer that you'll find morbidly humorous. You won't for a minute believe that this interpretation of Bundy could be a cold and calculated killer.TV character actor Michael Reilly Burke plays the twisted Bundy. You won't for a minute believe he could be charismatic to fool people and he literally comes across as more of a buffoon than a killer and that is unfortunate. He isn't right for the part and he doesn't have the chops to pull it off but the sub standard script and direction certainly doesn't help. His love interest is played better by Boti Bliss. She actually does decently playing the woman he is fascinated with him and can't seem to break free no matter what. Everyone else in the cast are supporting characters without any substance other than to serve their purpose.One thing that shocked me in this film was the gratuitous violence and sex in the film. It isn't normal for a film with such a taboo subject based on real life to show such graphic scenes of torture, rape and killing and yet they do. So this leads me to believe that the film makers wanted nothing more than to make this some sort of entertainment sludge. Director and co-writer Matthew Bright can take the brunt of the film on his shoulders. His credits include Freeway 1 and 2, Shrunken Heads, and Forbidden Zone 2. He is B-movie through and through and not even sure where he is trying to go with this. If I had to guess I think he probably got this made himself and just wanted to do some sort of horror twist on the usual slasher flick. This is the furthest thing from fact or bio-pic.