The Stranger Beside Me is based on Ann Rule's New York Times bestseller. Before she became a true crime writer, amazingly enough Ann became close friends with one of the most notorious serial killers - Ted Bundy.

Ann Rule (Barbara Hershey, The Entity) is an ex-cop and single mother who volunteers on the suicide hotlines in Seattle. That's where she meets Ted Bundy (Billy Campbell, The Rocketeer),who comes off as the nicest man she's ever met.

Of course, that changes. She's already been called in to help with the murders of women that have stretched from Utah to Seattle and may have provided a critical piece of insight on the fact that Ted fits a sketch and drives the same car as the suspect.

As their lives go in separate directions, Ted stays in touch with Ann, always convinced of his own innocence. While she may have stood up for him in the past, by the end, she only knows him as a monster.

It's directed by Paul Shapiro, who also directed the new VC Andrews adaption Heaven which airs later this month, as well as an upcoming remake of one of my favorite Lifetime films, Death of a Cheerleader.

While the film jumps all over the place way too much, Campbell is great as Bundy, proving why so many could find him so attractive and above such crimes. It's well worth a watch if you're interested in this case.

This film is a fictional portrayal of Ann Rule's relationship with serial killer Ted Bundy (played by Billy Campbell). How true it is or not, I have no idea. It relies on Rule's point of view, with Rule being portrayed by Barbara Hershey, and some scenes do not even involve her, so at the very least the dialogue is just a bunch of bull.

Ted Bundy working with crime writer and ex-cop Ann Rule at a crisis hotline, where they have paramedics tracing the calls and arriving in record time. Also, Bundy as a Republican fundraiser and personal aide who knows the governor of Washington. I admit I never knew much about Bundy, but this is more interesting than I had imagined.

How Bundy, after being accused of murdering a dozen girls, gets out on bail is beyond me. He says that after one semester of law school he knows enough to "torpedo" the prosecution, but I have no idea how this can be true.

I appreciate the reference to Gary Gilmore and how Norman Mailer is writing a book about him. Gilmore is a far less-known killer, but treated here as though he is much bigger (which was probably true at the time). How he then escapes from Colorado and gets to Florida, gets a car, a fake identification and more... he is truly a criminal mastermind.

As I am not well-versed in Ted Bundy's story, and not not say how accurate this film is, I can say it was very well made. I was engaged, and enthralled by how interesting it was. And to be able to have both Ann Rule and Bundy's story told simultaneously adds a really good angle, since Bundy's story by itself would be more exploitative than anything.

Eager former cop turned aspiring crime writer Ann Rule (an excellent performance by Barbara Hershey) documents a brutal series of murders stretching from Utah to Seattle. Unbeknonst to Ann, the killer is the extremely smart, charming and affable Ted Bundy (a chilling and convincing portrayal by Billy Campbell),a close personal friend who works with her at a local suicide hotline. Ably directed by Paul Shapiro, with a tight script by Matthew McDuffie and Matthew Tabak, a rattling, shivery score by Joseph Conlan, a reasonably gritty tone, slick cinematography by Ron Orieux, a steady pace, and several fairly nasty murder set pieces, this made-for-TV movie makes for very gripping and harrowing viewing. Hershey and Campbell both contribute superb work in the lead roles. The supporting cast are likewise fine and impressive: Kevin Dunn as a hard-nosed detective, Suki Kaiser as Bundy's adoring prison pen pal and eventual wife Kelly Parker, Brenda James as Bundy's chipper, unsuspecting girlfriend Margo, and Meghan Black as Ann's feisty teenage daughter Leslie. This movie commendably refuses to explain Bundy's severe seething psychosis; instead it just merely states that evil folks like him simply exist and leaves it at that. A grimly fascinating true crime flick.