From Ed Gein to Ted Bundy: Writing the Horrors of True Crime for Film w/ Stephen Johnston

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On this edition of Parallax Views, we continue our Halloween “spooky season” series with an episode exploring how true crime stories—particularly those involving serial killers—are brought to life on screen. Screenwriter Stephen Johnston joins the show to discuss the process of writing films about notorious figures like Ed Gein, Ted Bundy, and The Hillside Stranglers (Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi).

Johnston’s screenwriting credits include Chuck Parello’s Ed Gein (2000; aka In the Light of the Moon), starring Steve Railsback (known for his portrayal of Charles Manson in the 1976 TV film Helter Skelter) and Carrie Snodgress (Diary of a Mad Housewife); Matthew Bright’s darkly comic and controversial Ted Bundy (2002); and Parello’s The Hillside Strangler (2004), featuring C. Thomas Howell (Red Dawn) and Nicolas Turturro (NYPD Blue).

Most recently, Johnston wrote the screenplay for Chad Ferrin’s Ed Kemper, a biopic about “The Co-Ed Killer” that received its video-on-demand (VOD) release earlier this year.

Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio - Track: "Exorcism"