A second Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile trailer has been released, and Zac Efron chills as notorious serial killer Ted Bundy.
The tone of the new spot is much heavier and darker than what has been released up to this point, focusing heavily on the emotional weight of Bundy’s actions on those around him.
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Additionally, the new trailer gives audiences a better look at Efron’s evolution through the many years of the violent killer, as well as better shots of Lily Collins as Elizabeth Kloepfer, Bundy’s girlfriend who struggled to come to terms with his crimes.
It’s also revealed in the new trailer that the title of the film is taken from a statement made by Judge Edward Cowart, who presided over Bundy’s case. Cowart is played by iconic actor John Malkovich.
Other stars appearing in the film include Jim Parsons (Big Bang Theory), Angela Sarafyan (Westworld), Jeffrey Donovan (Sicario: Day of the Soldado), Kaya Scodelario (The Maze Runner), and Haley Joel Osment (Yoga Hosers).
Making his feature film debut in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile is Metallica guitarist/vocalist James Hedfield.
He plays “Officer Bob Hayward, a Utah highway patrol veteran who was the first law enforcement officer to arrest Bundy in 1975 after pulling the killer over and discovering burglary tools in his car but wisely suspecting much worse,” per a Facebook post by the band regarding Hedfield’s role.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile was written by Michael Werwie, and directed by Joe Berlinger, who is most recognizable from helming crime documentary films such as the Paradise Lost trilogy.
Notably, Berlinger also created the recent Netflix docu-series Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes.
Even before its release to the public, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile has been highly controversial. There are some who have accused the biographical film of glorifying Bundy.
One such accuser is Belva Kent, who is the mother of Debra Jean Kent, a teen that Bundy murdered when she was just 17 years old.
“Why keep rubbing our face in it all the time? It’s very hard to deal with and when they keep bringing it up and putting it up,” Kent said. “It’s very disgusting to me…It’s kind of aggravating to me, but I just try to ignore it and move on.”
“[It] can happen to anybody,” she continued. “You just never know when you can be in that position. You just want to let people know that it’s out there…No one’s immune.”
Netflix users will have a chance to decide for themselves how the feel about the light that the paints Bundy in when it debuts on Netflix on May 3.
