By Bethany Minelle, entertainment reporter
Ted Bundy was one of the world's most notorious serial killers, responsible for the deaths of over 30 women.
It's possible he killed many more.
Now the story of his capture and trial is being brought to the big screen in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.
Zac Efron, who plays Bundy, says there is a stark warning to be taken from the film.
"Friends or more distant family or anyone that knew him at school described him as a fun-loving, very smart, intuitive young Republican.
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"He had every kind of white privilege; he was good looking, he had things going for him. That right there makes this unique.
"A person of colour couldn't have gotten away with any of those things. It's shocking."
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Bundy used his charm to lure his victims to their deaths, and then successfully worked the same trick again to avoid capture.
His clean-cut image allowed him to get away with murder.
Long before reality shows were a thing, Bundy achieved a level of perverse celebrity, thanks to TV.
As his was the first nationally televised criminal trial, his image and words were beamed into living rooms across America night after night.
A trainee lawyer, Bundy chose to represent himself in court.
He dressed in a bow tie and eye-catching suits, exchanging banter with the judge and even proposing to a witness on the stand.
Carole-Ann Boone accepted his proposal and went on to have a daughter with him.
Thanks to the exposure, Bundy quickly amassed a large (mainly female) fan base and became a media sensation.
At one point he even claimed he was "more popular than Disney World".
Efron says there is a moral to this: "We have to be careful who we put on TV, because the day somebody made that trial public Ted Bundy was able to manipulate the masses with his charisma and his charm and his clean-cut white image."
Bundy challenged the public perception of what a serial killer should look like and exploited the fact that many were unable to see beyond his good looks.
One person who was taken in by his charm was his girlfriend Liz Kloepfer, played by Lily Collins in the film.
The story is told from her point of view, based on her memoir The Phantom Prince about the seven yearRead More – Source
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