INTERVIEW: In ‘American Boogeyman,’ the terror of Ted Bundy grips 1970s America
Photo: Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman stars Chad Michael Murray as the title character. Photo courtesy of Dark Star Pictures / Voltage Pictures / Provided by Emma Griffiths PR with permission.
Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman, the new movie written and directed by Daniel Farrands, tells the story of one of the most terrifying serial killers in American history. Ted Bundy’s killing spree included dozens of known victims across multiple states, and his case continues to grip true-crime storytellers and criminal profilers with its violence and disturbing reality.
Farrands’ film, which was released via Fathom Events this summer and is now available on DVD and VOD, stars Chad Michael Murray as the serial killer, but the focus doesn’t remain on the bad guy. Instead, the director chooses to center the narrative on Detective Kathleen McChesney (Holland Roden) and FBI profiler Robert Ressler (Jake Hays). Ressler is actually the man who coined the term “serial killer.”
“It’s always a challenge and always difficult when you’re approaching something that clearly, obviously is just based on reality and that involved actual people and their lives and the great dark turns that they took as a result of this monster,” Farrands said in a recent phone interview. “Yeah, it’s a dark place to go. … What I wanted to portray more was the efforts on the part of law enforcement, specifically Detective McChesney, and also bringing in a legendary figure like Robert Ressler, who was credited with coining the term serial killer, and I think gives it an emotional spine. Had we just gone into that really dreary, dismal story that was the succession of murders committed by this horrific man, it just would not have had held any interest for me. I felt really passionate that there was another side to be told to this story.”
The director admitted that audiences will take away different emotions and reactions from the film. There will be those who believe the Bundy story needs to be retired, and any type of resurrection borders on exploitation. Then, there are others who believe there needs to be a necessary refocusing on the victims and the lives that were lost.
“It was always more about what it was on the other side of that story: women, specifically seen through the eyes of this young female detective who was combating all kinds of things, not only the killer himself, who was unknown to her at the time, but also just her making her way in a very male-driven profession at that time,” he said.
Farrands said Murray came on set already with a strong take on the character. Both of them talked about the need not to humanize Bundy too much. They wanted the reality to come through loud and clear: this man was evil. “Although there’s been some other excellent movies and things made on Bundy, our version didn’t want to put any doubt in the audience’s mind,” the director said. “I think that Chad really wanted to explore that dark side of Bundy and not really show him as being anything but a monster.”
Farrands added: “I think there are some stories that captured the public’s imagination, whether it’s good or bad. I think some of these stories are inherently so terrifying, and I think if you grew up in the ‘70s when a lot of these events were happening, and I can only speak for myself, as a culture we were kind of terrified. And I think maybe some of that had an impact on me. People who know me personally, I’m a chicken when it comes to these things. … We’re trying to make sense out of the nonsense, pull the rational out of the lack of humanity, and I think that’s part of what it is. I do remember having nightmares about the Manson family. My mother was pregnant with me when that happened, so when that story happened, it really affected her. I just remember it being a very scary time to grow up with these monsters running around.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman, written and directed by Daniel Farrands, is now available on DVD and VOD. Click here for more information.
