Good news true-crime fans, the long-awaited Ted Bundy flick Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile lands in UK cinemas and on Sky Cinema today.
Even prior to its release, the movie, which is based on the book The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy written by Bundy's ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer, attracted controversy with some critics saying it romanticised the killer and slamming the choice of former Disney-star Zac Efron for Bundy.
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However, it's these exact points that make the film so intriguing - viewers will be faced with a Bundy that many saw: charming, funny and charismatic and it was these qualities that made him so deadly.
Director Joe Berlinger - who also directed Netflix's The Bundy Tapes - told LADbible: "Ted Bundy defies all expectation of what we want to think a serial killer is. We want to think a serial killer is a social outcast, a misfit, weird-looking; a person you could spot a mile away and we can therefore take comfort in the idea that we could possibly avoid the fate of being a victim because you could recognise them and stay away from them.
"But in my observations as a true-crime documentarian, the people that do the worst in life are the people you least expect and most often trust.
"This is why Zac Efron was the perfect choice for the role. Some people have criticised and said, 'oh it's a casting stunt, he's a Disney star and now he's going to play a serial killer', but no, Bundy was loved by many, people felt he was a terrific guy.
"The reason he alluded capture so long was because people he felt he was sincere and believable. He not only manipulated Liz [played by Lily Colins] and her daughter, he manipulated the American media that kind of made him into a hero despite his terrible acts.
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"For the most part, Bundy could fool everyone."
Fans of blood and gore will be disappointed by the film, as Berlinger wanted to take the story on a completely different route - instead, viewers will experience the murders as Liz Kloepfer did, by hearing about them in the media.
"I wanted the audience to experience the violence the way people do experience violence in these stories," Joe explained. "Which is that you hear about it, but you don't see it.
"I wanted the audience to intellectually suspend the knowledge that this is a movie about Ted Bundy for the first half, so that you are investing in their relationship.
"Like when Bundy jumps out the window, I want part of the audience to be conflicting and saying to themselves 'oh boy, if he's jumping out the window maybe he can get back to Liz and their relationship can resume'.
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"And the reason that is important is that so by the end of the movie, when she finally confronts him - then the audience can have the same sense of betrayal and revulsion that Liz has experienced."
The movie also stars The Big Bang Theory's Jim Parsons, as the frustrated prosecutor Larry Simpson and John Malkovich as Judge Edward Cowart, the man credited with the line 'extremely wicked, shockingly evil and vile', when sentencing Bundy to the death penalty.
If you want to check out the film - and I strongly suggest you do - it's available on Sky Cinema, through NowTV and in selected cinemas.
Featured Image Credit: Sky Cinema/Voltage PicturesTopics: TV and Film, Netflix