The Stranger Beside Me

Ann Rules' books including the Stranger Beside Me offers a detailed complex and complicated version of the events around Ted Bundy. Who would have thought that even a seasoned policewoman turned writer would be sitting next to a serial killer on Tuesdays nights for a Suicide hot line. There is no wonder that Ted Bundy got away with so much. He was brilliant and conscious. He graduated college and was attending law school. But there was a dark side behind the image of a charming, intelligent political promising young man and that is what Ann Rule tries to bring forth to the public in her book and in her movie. Sadly, the movie does touch on some bit of his past including the possible connection with a young girl's disappearance and the horrifying crimes against the women in the film. Not all of the victims were shown but the film can scare anybody from hitchhiking away for sure. Ann Rule was a lot stronger than the portrayal. She has three other children which are not at all mentioned. Barbara Hershey did a favorable job in playing Ann Rule. The actor, Billy Campbell, played Ted Bundy was absolutely chilling and tragic all at once. You just cringed with sadness when you heard the judge's remarks about him and if he had only chosen another way to live.

The only thing really worth noting about this wildly inaccurate and misleading movie is Billy Campbell's portrayal of Ted Bundy. Of the various movies about Bundy there have been through the years, Campbell's performance as Bundy is one of the better versions, but that's about where it ends. Bundy and Ann Rule were not "close friends" nor did they have anything other than a co-worker relationship for a short time. Bundy was nothing more than a fraud and a poseur and yet he's often portrayed as some overachieving success story and nothing could be further from the truth. Someone here even referred to him as a "criminal mastermind." Nonsense. Inform yourself.

What bothered me most about this movie is that none of the victims real names were used and they should never be forgotten. Rule uses their names in her book, so why not in the movie? Even though his victims were many, the crime that ultimately sent Bundy to the electric chair was the murder of a 12 year old Florida girl named Kimberly Leach and her murder isn't even mentioned in the movie. As another reviewer suggested, for an accurate and detailed accounting of Bundy and his crimes, read the book or watch a documentary. There are many out there. I especially recommend the book published in 2023 by Chi Omega survivor Kathy Kleiner Rubin.

TV movie about the crimes of Ted Bundy & his friendship with author Ann Rule. I have not read her book so cannot comment upon this adaptation but I have read about Bundy & would recommend this movie to anybody interested in learning about the serial killer. The film is gripping, well made and has a good level of acting. .My only gripe is that the characters don't appear to age despite being spread over a couple of decades.

Overall, this movie is "meh." It lacks accuracy. Many of the quotes are presented out of context. Events are portrayed incorrectly or out of order. It was pretty typical of a made-for-tv movie, which is probably why it went direct to dvd. All that aside, Billy Campbell does the best interpretation of Bundy I've seen in all of the movies about him. He captures the chameleon nature of the man by constantly changing his hairstyle and facial expressions. His voice mimics Bundy's well. So it is worth a watch just to see Campbell.

The other reviews basically nailed it on the head I didn't enjoy the film but I do want to mention that the only thing good about it in my opinion was Billy Campbell's betrayal of Ted Bundy although I would say he would comes in second to Michael Riley Burke's performance in the 2002 film "Ted Bundy". One of the best performances I've ever seen in film in regards to an actor's portrayal of real person.