It’s been a month of Ted Bundy on Murder Made Fiction, but we’re not quite done with the notorious serial killer of women just yet. After kicking things off with a primer (listen), Jenn and I tackled Matthew Bright’s sleazy 2002 entry (listen), as well as former Disney star Zac Efron’s turn in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile (listen).
Now we’re comparing and contrasting as another teen heartthrob takes a walk on the dark side. In director Daniel Farrands‘ film Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman (2021), former One Tree Hill star Chad Michael Murray tries his hand at playing the notorious killer…to mixed results.
In the film, Bundy is in the midst of his 70s killing spree, which ranges from Utah to Florida over the course of several years. Hot on his heels are Detective Kathleen McChesney (Teen Wolf‘s Holland Roden) and FBI profiler Robert Ressler (Jake Hays) – the only man who believes in McChesney’s ability to capture the killer.
It’s a very *youthful* depiction of the crimes, with less than stellar period accuracy and a slightly out of his depth performance by Murray. Still, the film has some moments of visual flair, including a notable nightmare sex scene featuring Bundy being assaulted by living female mannequins, as well as a brief cameo by genre icon Lin Shaye.
The most disturbing and successful sequence, however, is the climax, which features Bundy’s late night attack on a Florida sorority house and sister Carol DaRonch (Olivia DeLaurentis). This dark, scary sequence unites the horror and sexualized violence in a way that truly captures what a monster Bundy was.
Overall American Boogeyman is messy, but there are some noteworthy moments, including our continued discussion about why so many young male stars opt to take on the role of the infamous rapist/killer/necrophiliac.
Episode 21: Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman (2021)
We’re wrapping up our first month of Ted Bundy texts with Daniel Farrands’ Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman (2021) which casts One Tree Hill hunk Chad Michael Murray in the titular role.
Up for discussion: another hot TV actor playing bad, the CW/MTV visual aesthetic, trope-y misogyny in the workplace, removing Liz & the court case, a slasher finale, and Lin Shaye (!).
Next week: We’re pausing our coverage of Bundy to introduce a second serial killer of women who was operating in the same place at the same time as Bundy: the Green River Killer!
Want even more Murder Made Fiction? Be sure to check out the pod’s Patreon feed, where we have ~24 hours of bonus content, including full-length primers on Bundy, Ed Gein, Jeffrey Dahmer and more, as well as individual episodes on Peacock’s new plane hijacking drama Lockerbie, as well as Black Sunday titles like Spielberg’s Munich and September 5.