Ann Rule Presents: The Stranger Beside Me Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Ann Rule Presents: The Stranger Beside Me Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 17, 2019

There’s a certain American fascination with, and cinema fixation on, serial killers. From American Psycho to Zodiac, from The Silence of the Lambs to Summer of Sam, the big screen is filled with made up tales of the killing sprees that made headlines and made macabre legends of several names that are synonymous with murder en masse. Amongst those most notable of names is Ted Bundy, a man who confessed to 30 murders before his execution in 1989 at the age of 42, and who may have committed many more. Ann Rule Presents: The Stranger Beside Me tells his story from a quasi-external perspective, focused on the notorious killer's working, and friendly, relationship with an ex-cop named Ann Rule who consulted with the police during the investigation, having no idea that the man in her crosshairs was in her midst.

Ann Rule (Barbara Hershey) is a decorated ex-cop who has moved on to writing crime novels and has informally taken up the investigation into a notorious killer of young women known as “Ted” who is believed to be responsible for the disappearance and murder of many young women in the Seattle area. Rule is approached to write a book about her experiences in aiding police with the investigation; she’s offered a $1500 advance and a promise of publication if there’s an arrest and conviction. One day at the police department, working with Detective Dick Reed (Kevin Dunn), Rule notices a resemblance to her friend Ted (Billy Campbell) in police sketches put together from eyewitness accounts. Her Ted also drives a Volkswagen, which is widely reported as the vehicle the killer is using to lure girls to his aid and their deaths. The resemblances are too much for her to ignore, and when Ted Bundy is arrested in Utah and the pieces are put together, Ann realizes her target has been in her midst the entire time.

The film does a good job of both humanizing Bundy and portraying him as a monster. Much of that is thanks to Billy Campbell's electric performance. Campbell has something of a Jim Carrey vibe going on with his work in the film; it’s easy to envision the comedian in the role (and he could very well be digitally plopped into it if one were so inclined to do so, à la the videos floating around with Carrey replacing Jack Nicholson in The Shining). Campbell, best known for playing hero Cliff Secord in the vastly underrated The Rocketeer, adds panache to the part, playing up his own psychosis and his intelligence while eventually soaking in the spotlight and the admiration of a number of young girls, exactly like so many of his victims, when his murders and trial put him in the limelight.

One of the best scenes in the movie comes when Ted promises Ann -- very sincerely, very pointedly, very matter-of-factly -- that nothing will happen to her daughter, who is a prime target for the killer’s fixation on beautiful teenage girls. It’s the first of many moments when Campbell dons one of several hats that are necessary for the character to wear, and the movie handles the tonal variations quite nicely. Part murder mystery, part courtroom drama, part case study in mental madness, the film finds a way to balance its many traits in an agreeably paced but pointedly purposeful little film. It certainly feels made for the small screen, lacking a little bit of the breathing room a feature runtime may have provided; it moves a little too quickly at times but slows down for the critical scenes, usually those occurring away from Bundy, removed from the odd combination of charm and psychosis, to find the real emotions around the case and the culture of the time.

Ann Rule Presents: The Stranger Beside Me Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Stranger Beside Me was shot on film and Mill Creek's Blu-ray does an adequate job of retaining that film-like appearance. Grain is well managed, a bit clumpy at times but importantly present for the duration. The picture reveals good essential detailing, finding textures a bit soft and flat but holding up well enough under the 1080p resolution to show core skin, hair, clothing, and environmental details with acceptable complexity. Colors are not particularly excellent. There's enough warmth to courtroom woods, punch to orange prison jumpsuits, and some red blood to carry the scenes in which those elements appear, but in general there's not a significant amount of life or contrast to the palette. Nighttime black levels fare well and skin tones appear fairly accurate. The image does deal with some unsightly pops and speckles and macroblocking compression artifacts which are not grossly evident but do appear lightly and with regularity. Overall, however, the presentation is fairly good and very watchable.

Ann Rule Presents: The Stranger Beside Me Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Stranger Beside Me's DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack is capable if not entirely underwhelming. There's little feel for significant front side stretch. Musical clarity is passable but lacking significant range while coming across as a bit cramped closer to the middle than out to the edges. Sound effects, form light atmosphere to the din generated by a gaggle of reporters or responses from the courtroom after various findings are read, offer satisfactory, if not a bit insignificant, detail while failing to offer a real sense of space and place. Dialogue does image to the center. Clarity and prioritization are fine.

Ann Rule Presents: The Stranger Beside Me Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of The Stranger Beside Me contains no supplemental content. The main menu screen offers only options for "Play" and toggling subtitles on and off. A Moviespree digital copy code is included with purchase. This release does not appear to ship with a slipcover.

Ann Rule Presents: The Stranger Beside Me Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Stranger Beside Me, released to Blu-ray now to coincide with Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, is a surprisingly robust TV movie. It's extremely well acted -- Campbell in particular is fantastic as the notorious killer -- and the film finds it an easy proposition to juggle its dark tones and light humor extraordinarily well. The film could stand a little more breathing room, a bit more time to more fully explore the greater world around the man so well as it does the man himself, but within its constraints this is a solid effort. Mill Creek's Blu-ray is unfortunately featureless. Video and audio presentations are adequate. Recommended, particularly considering Mill Creek's aggressive pricing.