Starring: Zac Efron, Lily Collins, Kaya Scodelario, Jeffrey Donovan, Angela Sarafyan, Dylan Baker, Haley Joel Osment, Brian Geraghty, Jim Parsons, John Malkovich
OUR RATING: ★★★☆☆
Story:
Bio-crime thriller directed by Joe Berlinger chronicling the crimes of Ted Bundy (Zac Efron). Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile is told through the perspective of Bundy’s longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer (Lily Collins), who struggled to accept the reality of Bundy’s nature and went years denying the accusations against him, but ultimately turned him in to the police. Only nearing his execution, when Bundy began talking about his extensive and heinous murders, did Kloepfer, and the rest of the world, learn the true scope of his crimes.
Best Quotes
Liz Kendall: Why did you bring me to a college bar? I feel invisible here.
Joanna: Because it’s about time you get over that loser you were with.
Liz Kendall: No guy is going to want to go with a single mom who works as a secretary.
Joanna: Tonight, you are not a single mom, you’re single. You’re not a secretary, you have a secretary. And how can you be invisible when that guy has been staring at you all night?
[Liz looks over her shoulder to see Ted staring at her]
Ted Bundy: [Liz slaps him] Oh! What the, was that for?
Liz Kendall: [holds up the newspaper showing Ted’s arrest in Utah] How many stop signs did you run?
Ted Bundy: [referring to arrest being covered in the newspaper] You don’t actually believe this garbage, do you?
Liz Kendall: It’s in all the papers, Ted!
Ted Bundy: You fell in love with a weirdo.
Liz Kendall: I did. I fell in love with a weirdo.
Ted Bundy: That makes you weird, just by association.
Judge Stewart Hanson: Will the defendant please rise. By the power vested in me as both judge and jury, I hereby find the defendant guilty of aggravated kidnapping beyond a reasonable doubt. You will be remanded to the Utah State Prison to await sentencing. This court is adjourned.
Liz Kendall: Ted!
Ted Bundy: Everything’s going to be fine. Listen, everything’s going to be fine, alright?
Liz Kendall: I’m sorry.
Ted Bundy: Just don’t give up on me, alright?
Liz Kendall: I won’t.
Ted Bundy: I’m going to fix this.
Liz Kendall: I’m sorry.
Liz Kendall: [over phone] Is it scary?
Ted Bundy: [in prison] No. No, it’s not scary. It’s, let’s just say that men convicted of crimes against women have a short shelf life in here. Listen, Liz. This whole thing is going to be overturned. Okay? I’ve already filed an appeal and I’ve been working on it day and night. I’m going to be out of here as soon. Everything is going to be okay.
Liz Kendall: I want to come see you.
Ted Bundy: I was really hoping you’d say that.
Detective Mike Fisher: [visiting Ted in prison] Ever been to Colorado, Ted?
Ted Bundy: Mister, I’m a full-time law student. I barely have time to set foot off campus.
Detective Mike Fisher: Is that a no?
Ted Bundy: Let me get back to plotting my escape here.
Detective Mike Fisher: You were.
Ted Bundy: I’m sorry?
Detective Mike Fisher: You were a full-time law student. For the record, my game is homicide. Catch you later.
Liz Kendall: Ted’s been sent to Colorado.
Joanna: Colorado? I thought he was being held in Utah. It’s about another missing girl, isn’t it?
Liz Kendall: It’s a mistake, Jo.
Joanna: The news said King County is looking at him in connection to the two girls that disappeared from Lake Sammamish that one summer. You remember that sketch that we saw? It looked just like him.
Liz Kendall: That sketch looked like everybody.
Joanna: Well, his name is on the suspect list.
Liz Kendall: There were over thirty thousand names at one point. Every brown haired guy with a Volkswagen Bug. It’s a mistake. The police said he was cleared.
Joanna: How do you even know that? And why is he in jail? And how did his name get on that suspect list?
Liz Kendall: I think you should leave. I think you should leave.
Joanna: Okay.
Liz Kendall: [over phone] University Medical Division, this is Liz.
Ted Bundy: Hey, I want to tell you about this book. Have you ever heard of Papillon?
Liz Kendall: A book?
Ted Bundy: Yeah, it’s about this guy who’s wrongfully convicted of a terrible, terrible crime and get sentenced to life, but he didn’t do it and…
Liz Kendall: Goodbye, Ted.
Ted Bundy: Wait, Liz!
Liz Kendall: [Ted calls her again] What?
Ted Bundy: Please, please, please, just don’t hang up. He obsesses over the day that he’ll be free again. He spends years hatching escapes, getting caught, punished, beaten, betrayed, but he never loses hope. And that’s my wish for us, Liz. That we never lose hope.
Liz Kendall: Does he make it out?
Ted Bundy: Well, I’m not going to give away the ending.
Liz Kendall: Call me tonight.
Ted Bundy: Okay, I’ll call you tonight.
Joanna: Liz, this is crazy. He will never come here. The cops are probably on a round the clock stakeout.
Liz Kendall: I need a drink.
Joanna: You already had one.
Liz Kendall: Since when is it a crime to take the edge off every once in a while?
Joanna: Since your little girl started asking why her mommy is so sad. And it’s not just once in a while. So don’t soft-pedal this and make me out to be the bad guy. You do this every day. You read those letters from Ted, you drink, you cry…
Liz Kendall: I take care of myself. I’m a good mother.
Joanna: You are a great mother, but you are in denial. What is it about this guy?
Liz Kendall: When I feel his love, I feel like I’m on top of the world. And when I don’t, I feel like I’m nothing. What if the only thing he’s guilty of is running a stop sign?
Joanna: He’s been convicted of attempted abduction in Utah, accused of murder in Colorado, his name is being tossed around in connection to other murders in other states. Liz, you know this didn’t start with a stop sign.
Detective Mike Fisher: Okay, well, I’m assuming that you know that Ted escaped.
Liz Kendall: Well, it’s all over the news.
Detective Mike Fisher: I can’t stress enough how important it is that you notify me if he contacts you. If you do know something that you’re not telling me, you would be guilty of aiding and abetting.
Liz Kendall: You came all the way from Colorado to tell me that?
Detective Mike Fisher: I thought that you should see firsthand just how serious this is. You help us to get him, you can prevent it from happening again.
Liz Kendall: Whatever you think you know about him, it’s all a lie.
Detective Mike Fisher: Ma’am, there are things you don’t know, I can’t tell you right now, that will shock you beyond your worst nightmares. It’s only a matter of time before the cards are on the table, and when they are, they will rack you.
Liz Kendall: Is that it?
Detective Mike Fisher: Sooner or later, you’re going to have to confront the truth. For everyone’s sake, including yours. I hope it’s soon. Good night.
Ted Bundy: [calls Liz after being arrested] I’m in custody. I made a deal with the police. They wouldn’t announce my arrest until I could call you first. They didn’t know who I was. I finally gave them my name for this phone call. It’s going to be bad when it breaks loose. Real bad. I did not do these things. I’m innocent.
Ted Bundy: [to the reporters] My chance to talk to the press. This is it. Well, we have displayed the prisoner now. Yeah, I’ve been kept in isolation. I’ve been kept away from the press. I have been buried by you. You’ve been talking. It’s my turn to talk now.
Sherriff Ken Katsaris: We have a court order. There will be no press interviews.
Ted Bundy: Yeah, of course. That makes perfect sense. Here.
Ted Bundy: [rips the paper to pieces] I’m gagged and you are not. You know what? I will be heard.
Ted Bundy: They’re using me as a ploy for the Sheriff to win points in the next election. I’m being used for political gain.
Carole Ann Boone: My God. Of course.
Ted Bundy: Think about it. He’s been spinning his wheels on this sorority case, and the biggest fish in America lands right in his little pond. Who do you think he’s going to pin it on? I literally just autographed my own wanted poster. I’m more popular than Disney World.
Carole Ann Boone: Is it true? They’re putting news cameras in the courtroom?
Dan Dowd: You’ll be the first nationally televised trial in history. If you make it to trial, that is. The State is offering a deal, Ted. If you plead guilty to the murder charges, they’ve agreed to recommend life sentences instead of the death penalty.
Ted Bundy: That’s a joke, right?
Dan Dowd: We should really go and discuss this with the rest of the team, Ted.
Ted Bundy: If you think there’s a chance in hell I’ll plead guilty to these charges, you’re out of your f***ing mind.
Judge Edward D. Cowart: You look nice, partner.
Ted Bundy: Thank you, Your Honor. I’m disguised as an attorney today.
Judge Edward D. Cowart: Well, then, let’s put on a show.
Larry Simpson: Ladies and gentlemen, this case is so much more than a double murder.
Dan Dowd: [whispers to Ted] Don’t let his opening statement faze you. Show no emotion at all.
Larry Simpson: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this case is about catching a monster.
Bundy Groupie #1: [referring to Ted, being interviewed on TV] Every night, when I go home, I get very scared and shut the door and lock it. But, you know, he’s also really dreamy.
Bundy Groupie #2: I’m not afraid of him. He just doesn’t seem like the type to kill somebody.
Bundy Groupie #3: I try to imagine myself in his place and imagine what he’s feeling, and I wonder whether he did it or not.
Reporter: The young women themselves aren’t too sure what it is that attracts them to the trial.
Carole Ann Boone: [to reporters] Well, it’s obvious the media has already convicted Ted before he’s had his day in court.
Judge Edward D. Cowart: [as the crowd in court cheers for Ted] I feel duty-bound to remind you in the gallery that you are not on spring break. You are not waiting for the “Flipper and Friends” show at SeaWorld. It is a capital murder case. The court has already ruled on this witness’s expertise, counselor. And you are skating on thin ice. And ice does not last long in Florida.
Ted Bundy: Yes, Your Honor.
Carole Ann Boone: [referring to Liz] Do you still love her?
Ted Bundy: What are you talking about? Who?
Carole Ann Boone: Oh, my God.
Ted Bundy: No.
Carole Ann Boone: Oh, my God. I’m so stupid.
Ted Bundy: Carole Ann, just…
Carole Ann Boone: I mean, I just uprooted my entire life for you!
Ted Bundy: She’s not here!
Carole Ann Boone: But you love her!
Ted Bundy: I don’t! I don’t! She abandoned me! She left me. She’s gone.
Carole Ann Boone: What about me? I love you.
Ted Bundy: You’re here. You’re right here. I almost married that girl. And you know what? You’re the one I should’ve married.
Carole Ann Boone: Do you mean that?
Ted Bundy: Yeah.
Liz Kendall: I wish I could take it all back.
Larry Simpson: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you have been witness to the unspeakable horrors of the defendant’s heinous crimes. You’ve seen ghastly injuries, smashed in faces, broken jaws. The bite mark carnage of a predator.
Ted Bundy: [to the jury] Ladies and gentlemen, I am that innocent suspect.
Judge Edward D. Cowart: [to Ted] While I certainly agree it is always a tragedy when any life is taken against one’s will, it is this court’s reasoned judgement you be adjudicated guilty of murder in the first degree that the killings were indeed atrocious and cruel, in that they were extremely wicked, shockingly evil, vile, and with utter indifference to human life, and that you shall be put to death by current of electricity that shall pass through your body until you are dead.
Ted Bundy: I won’t ask for mercy. In fact, I find it absurd to ask for mercy for something that I did not do. I’m not the one responsible for these horrific acts. Although the verdict found in part that these crimes had been committed, it erred in finding who committed them. As a consequence, I do not accept the sentence, because it is not a sentence of me. It is a sentence of someone else who is not standing here today.
Judge Edward D. Cowart: The court is going to sentence the person found guilty of the offense. Your name, sir, was on that verdict. Take care of yourself, young man. I say that to you, sincerely. Take care of yourself. You’re a bright young man. You’d have made a good lawyer. I would’ve loved to have you practice in front of me. But you went to a different way, partner. It has been a tragedy for this court to see the total waste of humanity that we have experienced here. I don’t have any animosity toward you. I want you to know that. Take care of yourself.
Liz Kendall: [visits Ted in prison ten years after he’s been found guilty] Do you remember the night we met? We started with lies, Ted.
Ted Bundy: My love for you was never a lie. I fell in love with you the moment I saw you.
Liz Kendall: I need to hear the truth from you now.
Ted Bundy: Come on, you know that I’m not capable of these crimes. I would never hurt a woman. Have I ever laid a hand on you? Have I ever raised my voice?
Liz Kendall: I’m the one who gave your name to the police.
Ted Bundy: What?
Liz Kendall: It was 1974, when they put that sketch in the paper of the man at Lake Sammamish, who used a fake cast to lure two young women into his Volkswagen Bug.
Liz Kendall: I used to think that I ruined your life because my call to King County made you the suspect in all these other cases. For years I’ve carried this guilt that I’m to blame for everything.
Ted Bundy: Why would you blame yourself?
Liz Kendall: Because I could have helped save some of these girls if only I hadn’t trusted you.
Liz Kendall: I can’t live like this anymore, Ted. It’s not my guilt. It’s yours. Did you do these things, Ted?
Ted Bundy: Of course not.
Liz Kendall: There are detectives from seven states out there lined up with arms of open case files expecting confessions.
Ted Bundy: I didn’t do anything, Liz.
Liz Kendall: Then why are you going to tell them that you did? That’s what you’re doing, right? Trading the truth to buy more time?
Ted Bundy: I have to tell them what they want to hear. They will fry me any day now. It’s the only way to save my own life. So, yes, I’m feeding them information, little bits of bulls**t, but none of it is true. This is all going to end.
Liz Kendall: It’s only going to end with the truth. Did you do it?
Ted Bundy: No.
Ted Bundy: I did not do these things, Liz!
Liz Kendall: Did you ever want to do them to me?
Ted Bundy: I wish that we could be alone, and we could really talk. I can’t tell you anything right now. Liz, there’s people listening.
Liz Kendall: Are you telling me that you’re sick, Ted?
Ted Bundy: Back off!
Liz Kendall: I told you the truth, and now you need to do the same for me. I’ve been suffocating! All these years, I’ve had your hands around my neck. Release me!
Ted Bundy: Not you, Liz. Anyone but you.
Liz Kendall: [shows Ted a photograph of one of his decapitated victims] It took me over a decade to look at this photo. What happened to her head?
Ted Bundy: If she was deposited in the woods, then animals could’ve conceivably done something like…
Liz Kendall: Animals don’t do that!
Ted Bundy: I’m not a bad guy.
Liz Kendall: You need to release me, Ted. What happened to her head?
[as we see flashback of Ted killing the woman, he writes the word “hacksaw” on the glass, shocked, Liz turns and leaves]
Ted Bundy: [dlashback to when Liz and Ted were together] Promise me you’ll never leave me, Liz.
Trailer: