Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes review

With streaming services such as Netflix going after any and every avenue of entertainment the documentary scene seems to be expanding with new and popular series. Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes is the next one getting critical acclaim and chronicles the story of Ted Bundy up to his execution. While adding some audio interviews he had in jail in order to get his perspective on certain cases, this four episode limited series is not as culturally impactful as Netflix’s other docu-series Making a Murderer, and falls short of its audio gimmick.

The highlight here is obviously Ted Bundy’s recorded voice. When the docu-series spotlights his thoughts and the techniques investigators used in order for him to talk it is quite interesting, however, most of the series doesn’t take advantage of this and falls back on the standard story of Ted Bundy that anyone can read about or watch an hour long History Channel special of. It’s quite disappointing actually when looking at it all in hindsight that the most interesting episode was the last one.

The series is filled with talking heads in the modern day, which is fine and gives a somber remembrance to Ted Bundy’s story and its aftermath, but it’s also packed with vintage footage from news stations and police photos, and of course the audio tapes this series is named after. Even with all that together this docu-series seemed dry and dull as it limped along the familiar “plot” points that many would be familiar with already in regards to his case. It doesn’t utilize this wealth of information in any interesting ways.

The last episode is quite fascinating as it’s mostly footage from his court hearings. From his absurd undermining of the court and lawyers, to his in court proposal, and especially his interview tapes, this last episode balances all formats of his story and crafts it into what one would expect the first three episodes to be about which is an intimate look at an unbelievable man told in a perspective unlike any documentary special that’s been seen before. So while it may have ended on a surprisingly strong note the series itself struggled to get there.

After learning that the Ted Bundy Tapes were taken from 100 hours of interviews and archival footage it’s difficult to see that we got the most interesting four hours out of them. Once you’re done watching Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes you’re left with the feeling that you watched a Discovery, or History, channel special rather than a Netflix show. A book or narrative movie would have been more interesting than a four part series going over most of what everybody knows plus a little something new and extra every once in a while. And so, the director did exactly that as he too put out the Zac Efron Ted Bundy movie Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile which is also on Netflix.

Favorite Episode: “Burn Bundy Burn“

5.5/10