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Ted Bundy (film)

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Wikipedia article




'Ted Bundy' is a 2002 American crime drama film directed and co-written by Matthew Bright. The film is a fictitious dramatization of the crimes of notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, and stars Michael Reilly Burke as Bundy, and Boti Bliss as Bundy's girlfriend, Lee (a character based on Elizabeth Kloepfer, Bundy's real-life girlfriend at the time he committed his killings).

Plot



In Seattle, Washington during the year 1974, law student Theodore Robert Bundy (portrayed by Michael Reilly Burke) appears to be the typical friendly guy who lives next door, but inside this kind gentleman lies a monster. After watching women from their home window while masturbating, Bundy builds the courage to commit his first murder. From there, he always manages to lure a young woman to his car by faking a broken arm or an illness then asking for help or by disguising himself as a police officer. Then he knocks her unconscious with a tool, ties her up and drives her to an arranged location where he rapes and murders her. Driving his yellow VW Beetle, he leaves a bloody trail through the United States. The police are left in the dark, as no one suspects the young man for his reputable character in the community; being a model citizen and ambitious student.

Eventually in 1975, one of his victims, Tina Gabler, escapes him when she throws herself from his moving car. Based on her description of his car, Bundy is stopped by a police officer and arrested. In his trunk, the officers find pantyhose masks, a hand saw, a crowbar, knives, ropes and handcuffs. Even though he is identified by Tina Gabler in a lineup, he denies ever having seen the woman. When he is visited by his girlfriend at the Colorado State Prison, he admits to her that charges are being brought against him for multiple murders but stresses the fact that there is no evidence, however, and that he will never be convicted; at this point she realises he is guilty, and finally breaks up with him.

He asks to represent himself at his trial, and is granted access to the courthouse law library. He promptly escapes by jumping from an upper story window. He is jailed again after an auto theft, but manages to escape yet again months later. Upon settling in Florida, he manages to rent a room under a fake alias, steal a car and continue his murder spree. This time he overpowers four women in their home and brutally murders them. His bloodlust still unsatisfied, he rapes and murders a 12-year-old girl the next day. he becomes heavily intoxicated and is recognized by a police officer and arrested after a short chase.

Ted is convicted in court and sentenced to death. After making an unsuccessful plea for mercy to the governor, Ted makes a final statement before he is executed in the electric chair; the executioner is revealed to be a woman. As Lee watches news coverage of the execution with her husband, she wonders, "Who was Ted Bundy?"

Cast



Reception



Box office

'Ted Bundy' has grossed $6,083 in the United States and Canada, and $62,643 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $68,716.

Critical response

Upon its premiere on 13 September 2002 in New York and in Los Angeles on 20 September 2002, the film received mixed reviews from critics.

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 41% based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "'Ted Bundy' wastes an impressive performance from Michael Reilly Rourke on an exploitative film devoid of any social context or depth." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 37 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally unfavourable reviews".

References




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