FilmNRPsychological Survival

The Deliberate Stranger1986

Name: The Deliberate Stranger
Genre: Psychological, Survival
Released: 1986-05-04
Rating: 7.2

“He was easy to like. Deadly to know. Tough to catch.”

Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky

7.2

Crypt Score

Blended from 2 sources

IMDb 7.3TMDB 6.4

✍ Review

On the charts

#6·Top Horror Movies of 1986 #29·Top Horror Movies of the 1980s

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Year

1986

Runtime

185 min

Box Office

🏆 1 win & 3 nominations

The premise

Based on a true story, this film depicts the life of Ted Bundy, the serial killer. In 1974, after having murdered several young women, he leaves Seattle for Utah, where he is a law student and where other girls disappear. It takes the cooperation of a number of police forces to work efficiently on this case. Soon, but not soon enough, the police eliminate endless possibilities and close in on him. Bundy is tried in the media and his good-boy attitude brings him sympathy but also the hatred of many.

Horror Vault's take

This made-for-TV miniseries dramatizes the real-life crimes of Ted Bundy, one of history's most notorious serial killers, tracing his movements from Seattle to Utah as a string of young women go missing in his wake. Mark Harmon delivers an unnerving portrayal of a killer whose clean-cut, charismatic exterior made him almost impossible to suspect. As multiple police jurisdictions struggle to coordinate their investigation, the manhunt becomes a race against time. The film is as much a portrait of institutional failure as it is a character study of calculated evil.

Content: Violence Against Women, Depictions Of Serial Killing, Disturbing Subject Matter