Alptraum des Grauens

Many of the books and movies about Bundy out there often focuses mainly on the serial killer himself. This movie is no exception, but - it also shows us how the victim's family and the detectives are affected by his horrendous acts. Surely not enough is being told about each of the victims (Ann Rule however does a good job of this in her book), but it is the one movie so far that gives some acknowledgement to them. And otherwise it is a good movie, script, casting, acting and staying to the facts. They do not explicitly show the murders - unlike the movie "Bundy", which btw is awful - and this is a good thing as we are capable of realising the monster he was but not having to feed into the misogynistic viewings that often show women being hurt. It does a great job of balancing telling the story of the victims and their killer in a truthful way without being gruesome and disrespectful to the victims.

Mark Harmon gives a chilling performance as Serial killer Ted Bundy in this 1986 TV movie that played over two nights. Harmon at the time was known for his role on the TV series St. Elsewhere and probably relished playing such a dark character. The movie focuses more on the victims families and the police detectives fight to bring him to justice. There is not any details about his childhood and why he became the monster he became except to say he was cold blooded sociopath who could appear as the guy next door. The police detectives must have thought they were chasing a supernatural phantom as Bundy managed to escape from custody twice. Bundy was eventually caught in 1979 and later executed in Florida in 1989. The movie is now available on DVD from Warner Brothers Archive Collection from Amazon.com and it looks great!! Also check out the True crime TV movies A Killer In The Family and The Deadly Tower on Warner DVD.

Forget the fact that this was a TV movie. The only thing which possibly could have prevented this movie from being released in theaters was its time (of nearly three and a half hours). Otherwise, it's probably the best movie about Ted Bundy ever released.

Mark Harmon is surprisingly good in this movie. The reason I say surprising is because he has had comedy roles before this one (e.g. "St. Elsewhere"), so you wouldn't expect him to play a complex serial killer as well as he actually does. What Harmon manages to do is portray Bundy as a complex character, successfully balancing Bundy's outer charm and inner sociopathic ways. I have seen other movies about Bundy, and those actors portray one side of him with inaccurate results. It really takes the person who plays Bundy to carry the entire movie, and when such a complicated serial killer is played the wrong way, the entire movie comes off as an exploitation or a cheap horror film.

This movie also gives detail into the police who are trying to track him down, and that information is equally as fascinating as Bundy's character. The addition of the late Dick Larson (portrayed by George Grizzard), the reporter who wrote the book to which the movie was based, gave a really good outsider's perspective of the Ted Bundy case. It's almost as if Larson was added in to represent the idea of the viewers. After all, it is Larson who wonders towards the end of the movie how a well-educated, ambitious, promising young man (who majored in psychology, no less) could be so ruthless when he could have been much better in life. The movie doesn't admittedly delve into Bundy's thought process, but it doesn't really have to. Plus, many authors have attempted to analyze Bundy, and a movie which does the same could take five hours to even cover the basics.

It's really all the perspectives of Bundy that make this movie great. From Bundy's own perspective to that of the police to Larson, and finally to the victim's families. One especially difficult part of the movie was when one of the victim's fathers goes into the coroner's office to identify the remains of his daughter. His wife stays outside on his insistence, and the shouting that comes from him says it all. I don't know if R-rated freedom to show the victim's true remains would do that scene any more justice. It's one of the movie's many terrifying moments.

I'm also surprised that this two-part series was shown late at night, because I was unable to get to sleep after seeing the Chi Omega scene. The editing in that scene is terrific, and it stays in your mind long after the movie is over. I count myself fortunate to have seen this movie during the daytime when I didn't have to go to bed afterwords.

So simply put, this movie is still a must see, and that's saying a lot for a TV movie that was made in 1986. As of the date I am writing this review, the movie has yet to be released on DVD, and can only be seen either on Lifetime or on its now out-of-print videocassette. It's a great movie about a still-mysterious serial killer that tells us enough to keep us glued to the screen. It's a must see, but it's far more difficult going to sleep after seeing it.

A two-part, made-for-TV movie on the life of serial killer Ted Bundy, this was an intriguing, well-done film. Mark Harmon is excellent as Bundy. He has similar looks and is an underrated actor. I doubt if they could find a better actor to play this particular role.

In this day-and-age, it's nice to see a movie in which the cops are portrayed as tough but fair and likable. In this case, the two main ones are played by Frederick Forest (Apocalypse Now )and John Ashton (Midnight Run). Since it was made for television in the 1980s, the movie has little profanity and blood. Most of the time, the violence is implied. It's still chilling in parts. We don't always need CSI-type blood and guts to get the point.

What they missed, however, was WHY Bundy did the things he did. They had time to develop that angle, but never touched it. Supposedly, violent pornography had something to do with his behavior, but nothing was explored in this film. Overall, it was still an interesting story and amazing how many people he fooled and how he could escape twice after being arrested. Good story.

A note to any wannabe actors: study Mark Harmon's performance heavily here. You will learn all the tricks to being sauve, slick, sinister and charming. Unfortunately, the part had to be inspired by real events, of 70's wacko Ted Bundy. Masquerading as a law student with a talent of attracting girls seemingly in every port, a different man takes over at night as Harmon stalks and kills young women. This element of the film got a bit redundant after awhile, and really isn't the key. Neither is the endless policework that can be seen weekly on every prime-time cop show. It's Harmon's way of double-talking his girlfriends, and especially, the police. Watching Harmon's scenes on the witness stand or in the questioning room of the police station are your chance to watch a total pro at work. And the actors portraying the cops aren't slouches either. Tons of veterans like M. Emmett Walsh, Frederic Forest and John Ashton are featured. And a very effective performance from unknown journeyman actor George Grizzard, as Bundy's only friend through it all. He comes off very likable as the guy who just can't bring himself to condemn this young buck he admires. The two or three actresses featured here and there do ok as well. The only mis-step for the film is the majorly overdone, if still somewhat creepy music score. It gets a bit B-movie at times, but it adds to the eerieness of the film's tone. Though at 3 hours (4 if you're watching with commercials) it grips you from start to finish. But the real draw, most notably for aspiring actors, is to forget classes and watch Mark Harmon put on a clinic for performing.