New Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile Trailer Drops

A new trailer has dropped for the much-anticipated Ted Bundy film, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.

Zac Efron stars as the notorious serial killer and was widely praised for his portrayal following the movie's premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. However, his casting has also been criticised by some, who feel the film risks romanticising the killer.

In the trailer, we see numerous clips from Bundy's trial and are given a sense of how he used his charm to deceive people, including his long time girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer, played by Lily Collins.

A synopsis of the film reads: "Ted (Efron): handsome, smart, charismatic, affectionate. Liz (Collins): a single mother, cautious, but smitten. A picture of domestic bliss, the two seem to have it all figured out.

"That is until Ted is arrested and charged with a series of increasingly grisly murders. As concern turns to paranoia, Liz is forced to consider how well she knows the man she shares a life with and, as the evidence piles up, decide if Ted is truly a victim, or actually guilty as charged."

Voltage Pictures

Bundy confessed to killing 30 women during a spree that lasted from 1974 to 1978, however, many believe the actual total could be much higher. He also raped and mutilated some of his victims and performed sex acts on their corpses.

But the director of the film, Joe Berlinger, told Bustle that people who fear the film risks glorifying him are making a 'knee-jerk reaction'.

He said: "I think the idea of this particular story, making a movie about Bundy, equals glorification of him is a very naive and knee-jerk reaction.

"Because if you actually watch the movie, the last thing we're doing is glorifying him. He gets his due at the end, but we're portraying the experience of how one becomes a victim to that kind of psychopathic seduction."

Voltage Pictures

Indeed, following the screening at the Sundance Film Festival, The Guardian's Benjamin Lee described Efron's performance as a 'career-changing moment'.

He said: "As Bundy, he ruthlessly weaponises the boyish charm that's propelled much of his career, slyly convincing us of the spell he cast, not only on Liz (Lily Collins) but the many other women who were fighting his corner, sure of his innocence.

"It's the career-changing moment he was clearly seeking and with an executive producer credit, one can understand his impassioned involvement, a juicy opportunity to break away from his pretty boy shackles and prove that he's deserving of more dramatic work."

The film will be available to watch on Sky Cinema in the UK and Netflix in the US.

Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film, Ted Bundy

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey