Zac Efron, for a time, was best known as one of the co-leads of the High School Musical franchise. In the years since the final installment in this hit family franchise, however, Efron has branched beyond musicals into a range of different genres. He recently appeared, for example, in The Iron Claw (2023) as wrestler Kevin Von Erich, and this is in addition to appearances in The Greatest Beer Run Ever (2022), Firestarter (2022), and The Beach Bum (2019).
It was in 2019, however, that Efron took on his darkest role yet. Efron plays serial killer Ted Bundy in the movie, which features a number of disturbing sequences as it digs into exactly how Bundy murdered his many victims. Bundy ultimately admitted to 30 murders in total, though some estimates put the total far higher, with the killer mostly targeting young women and girls. Bundy was executed in 1989, and he has gone down in history as one of the most notorious serial killers of all time.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile Earns A Perfect Accuracy Score
Zac Efron’s True Crime Drama Gets A Lot Right
A retired homicide detective awards Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile scenes a perfect accuracy score. Directed by Joe Berlinger, the Netflix true crime drama chronicles the crimes and eventual trial of Bundy through the eyes of his girlfriend, Liz, played in the film by Lily Collins. Reviews for Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile were mixed from critics and audiences alike, with criticism aimed at the film’s surface-level exploration of Bundy and its limited point of view, though Efron’s performance was widely praised.
In a recent video for Insider, former homicide detective Pat Postiglione analyzes select scenes from Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, ultimately awarding them a perfect realism grade. In addition to sharing his own experiences with serial killers and their mindset and methodology, Postiglione calls attention to the movie’s depiction of Bundy’s trial. According to the former detective, the depiction of the prosecutor laying out the evidence is highly realistic. Check out Postiglione’s analysis below:
Ted Bundy was a notorious serial killer. He had kidnapped a 12-year-old girl, I believe is what got him eventually caught. Bundy decapitated at least 12 of his victims with a hacksaw. Typically, cutting off the heads or cutting off body parts usually doesn’t happen.
Normally, when a serial killer kills a victim they want to get away from that victim as soon as they can, get separated from the victim. Whether that means dumping the body in the field, dumping it off the highway, they want to put as much space between them and the victim as they possibly can as fast as they can.
Now, some stay with the body. In Bruce Mendenhall’s case, he would keep the body in his truck for a day or two. But in Ted Bundy’s case, for him to take the time to do what he did is just inexplicable to me.
I’ve testified several times at different trials involving serial killers. It was typical of the prosecution to say what he said in his opening statements, talking about the evidence, talking about the bite marks.
He’d walk the jury through the whole scenario, the whole chain of events, and how you were able to, as a detective, figure out this was the guy. Whether it’s fingerprints, whether it’s confessions, whether it’s video, whatever it happens to be. DNA, for example. And you explain how you did it with the help of the crime scene investigators, because if it wasn’t for the crime scene investigators, a lot of times these cases would never be made.
I think I’d give it a 10 because the courtroom scene was accurate, and the prosecutor laid out his case very well, too.
What The Perfect Score Means For Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile
Does It Redeem The Zac Efron True Crime Movie?
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile may have earned a 10 out of 10 for its courtroom scenes, but some of its other scores aren’t as strong. On Rotten Tomatoes, for example, the film has only a 54% critics’ score, and the audience score isn’t much higher at 57%. It’s a similar story on Metacritic, with the Netflix movie scoring a 52 out of 100 from critics. The user score in this case, however, is a notable improvement at 6.8 out of 10.
Unfortunately, Extremely Wicked, Shocking Evil and Vile‘s general reception is mixed at best, and the accuracy of the courtroom scenes doesn’t totally make up for some of the flaws in the storytelling. What remains true, however, is that the movie is proof of Efron’s acting chops when it comes to darker and more disturbing material. Though High School Musical will likely always remain a key part of Efron’s career, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile suggests he could have some especially exciting roles ahead of him.
Source: Insider
