TED BUNDY: FALLING FOR A KILLER is a new documentary series on Amazon Prime Video. For once, the story is told by women and based on the victims. All while focusing on the era itself. Read our Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer review here!

Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer is a new true-crime documentary series on Prime Video. The series has five episodes and tells the story of Ted Bundy’s life and crimes very chronologically.

So why is this relevant? Don’t we have enough documentaries about him? Well, yes, we probably do. We’ve already covered a few including the Netflix docu-series Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes. However, this is relevant, because the focus is finally on the victims and those suffering from his crimes. Not just about the perpetrator! 

Continue reading our Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer docu-series review below.

The victims of Ted Bundy

Finally, we get a docu-series that goes through the story of this infamous serial killer with a focus on – and respect for – the victims. I was very pleasantly surprised that the documentary filmmakers had managed to get so many key figures to appear in this Prime Video true crime docu-series.

There are interviews with family and friends of his victims – as well as his very first victim, who miraculously survived. Women also talk a lot about the era in which he operated.

This really does offer some important insight into how women were viewed at the time. Both in terms of how they should act and how much blame they had to take on. Honestly, a lot of the clips and statements from the early 1970s seems all too familiar with the world in which we live in today.

Also, I don’t think it has ever been made this obvious that Ted Bundy directly targeted women, who were trying to get an education and break out of the “homemaker” role, she was still expected to take on. Sure, we know about his victims having long hair, often parted in the middle, but not so much about their hopes and aspirations.

That is exactly what Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer is focusing on. It’s also specifically why this is a very relevant true crime docu-series.

Ted Bundy: Falling For A Killer – Review

The story told by Elizabeth Kendall

Of course, a lot of the story is also told by Elizabeth Kendall, who had Ted Bundy as a boyfriend for many years. Including the years during which he was an active serial killer. Also, we hear from her daughter, Molly Kendall, who knew him as a loving father figure.

Also, there are interviews with Bundy’s younger brother, Rich Bundy, who seems to never have recovered from learning who his brother really was.

It’s all very important to understand why women felt safe around him – and why men also trusted him easily.

However, we do also get some insight into moments in which Elizabeth Kendall felt things started to change. Or rather, when Ted started to change. From the very beginning, it’s clear that Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer is a very different kind of true crime docu-series.

In a very good way, so please don’t think that “different” is bad. It’s the exact opposite. I am also tired of always having the serial killer be some kind of “hero of their own story”. This is actually a paraphrasing of something said at the beginning of this documentary series to explain why it has even been made.

“Falling for a Killer”? Not exactly!

I do, however, think the title is very misleading and sensationalized. I mean, she didn’t “fall for a killer”. For all we know, he wasn’t an active serial killer until years into their relationship. Also, she fell for the “family man” version, he portrayed. Not a serial killer.

The whole “Falling for a Killer” tagline should be reserved for those who write love letters to self-confessed serial killers in jail. Elizabeth Kendall is a smart and loving woman. Not someone who went after the serial killer, we all know Ted Bundy was. It doesn’t seem like a fair title.

Then again, if that’s the kind of title that will draw in a crowd, then I can certainly respect the choice to go with it.

Watch Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer on Prime Video now!

This new true-crime docu-series consists of five episodes and all of them are out on Prime Video now. Trish Wood directed this documentary. She previously directed the true-crime docu-series I Didn’t Do It about wrongful convictions of innocent people.

All episodes were written by Carolyn Saunders and Richard O’Regan. Saunders has written both for fiction and documentary productions in the past while O’Regan focused on documentaries. Including the documentary The Woman Who Joined the Taliban from 2015. I haven’t watched it, but I am admittedly curious about it.

Recommended reading: Check out our list of the best true-crime documentaries on Netflix here >

To me, Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer is a must-watch documentary for anyone curious about serial killers. Especially since we get to hear from people who knew Ted Bundy and those who knew his victims.

Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer is out on Amazon Prime Video globally from January 31, 2020.

Plot

After years of silence, Ted Bundy’s long-term girlfriend Elizabeth Kendall, her daughter Molly, and other survivors come forward for the first time in a docuseries that reframes Bundy’s crimes from a female perspective. The series reveals how Bundy’s pathological hatred of women collided with the culture wars and feminist movement of the 1970s in one of the most infamous crime stories of our time.

I write reviews and recaps on Heaven of Horror. And yes, it does happen that I find myself screaming, when watching a good horror movie. I love psychological horror, survival horror and kick-ass women. Also, I have a huge soft spot for a good horror-comedy. Oh yeah, and I absolutely HATE when animals are harmed in movies, so I will immediately think less of any movie, where animals are harmed for entertainment (even if the animals are just really good actors). Fortunately, horror doesn't use this nearly as much as comedy. And people assume horror lovers are the messed up ones. Go figure!
Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
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