Deliberate Stranger [VHS]
Don't think that because the Ted Bundy biopicThe Deliberate Strangerwas a TV movie it will somehow be tamer than a feature film on the same subject. Though there's very little graphic violence, the film is as disturbing and intense as the creepiest big-screen thriller. Mark Harmon, playing daringly against type (the film aired in 1986, around the timePeoplemagazine dubbed Harmon "the sexiest man alive"), is riveting as the charming Bundy, who is believed to have murdered dozens of young women in the 1970s--all while keeping up the appearance of being an earnest law student and rising political star in the Seattle area. Harmon, whose performance earned him an Emmy nomination, is commanding as Bundy; he's believably boyish and utterly charismatic, and has mastered all the Bundy tics we came to know during his televised trials, including the lopsided grin and the slightly bug-eyed stare. The film sticks impressively closely to the facts of the case and allows the viewer, along with his potential victims, to be swept away by Bundy's charm and craftiness. And it's the filmmakers' great achievement that knowing the ultimate outcome of the case--Bundy was finally executed in Florida in 1989--doesn't affect our involvement in the film. Watch this one with all the lights on.--Anne Hurley