American Psycho
Review by Peter Syslo

American Psycho (2000) is a film that I feel really did not get the chance that it deserves. It seems like it falls in between two camps – on one side, you have mainstream people that find it too violent/disturbing and on the other side you have diehard horror fans that feel that the movie just didn’t “deliver the goods” (not gory, scary, or violent enough). I actually fall in between these two camps because I really like this movie and I feel that it should be given the chance to shine. I admit that it’s a “different” sort of horror movie, but I feel that it is an interesting and entertaining look into the mind of a serial killer. In a way, the film is an exploration of the dark side of human nature, which we all tend to be fascinated by - the dark, evil, and mysterious is always interesting and man is simply curious by natu re. That is the kind of feeling I get from American Psycho – that “duality” of a disturbing yet compelling story which more often than not, results in great cinema.

The film is directed by Mary Harron and the screenplay is co-written/adapted by Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner. The screenplay is based upon the novel American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, who is responsible for other novels (with movies based upon them) such as Less Than Zero and The Rules of Attraction. I haven’t read American Psycho, but I want to someday; I actually heard that it had the reputation of being the most horrific novel of its time period (also women’s groups caused some controversy over the book and later, over the movie because of the portrayals of mistreatment of women). As far as I’m concerned, Bret Easton Ellis is a horror writer and the movies based upon his works are horror films. Just look at the basic elemen ts of his stories – the characters all experience a world that crumbles around them and sick/tragic things happen to them, often in a nightmarish way (the film adaptations of his works are not typically classified as horror, but in my DVD collection they are).

Okay, I’ve plugged Bret Easton Ellis, now let’s get back to the review at hand. American Psycho stars Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Josh Lucas, Samantha Mathis, Matt Ross, Bill Sage, Chloe Sevigny, Cara Seymour, Justin Theroux, Guinevere Turner, and Reese Witherspoon. The movie is basically a slasher film, but instead of the killer being a masked psychopath in a suburban or wooded setting, he is a businessman in the 1980s NYC corporate world. The movie follows a few weeks in the life of Patrick Bateman (Bale), who is a corporate vice-president by day and a ruthless killer by night. It is sort of a character piece or character study which focuses on Bateman and his struggle to fit into the 1980s corporate/trendy environment while trying to come to terms with his lack of “identity” and the killing that he does to fill the void of that lacking identity. It focuses on Bateman in his work, home, social environment and on his never-ending quest to “fit in” and to look good to others by having expensive things, a trophy girlfriend, the perfect business card, etc.

The whole film is based upon the idea of duality - you have the world of appearances and the world of truth; Bateman appears to be caught in between the two worlds as he struggles with his true sense of self. The movie is actually really funny at times, because he tries to keep up a relationship with his fiancé (Witherspoon) and his co-workers, yet they never suspect that he is a killer. That is the whole genius of the movie and it is a very powerful social psychological statement – you would never suspect that a well-groomed, wealthy man, in a suit is going to be dangerous or is going to kill you (it toys with that “nice guy” appearance of Ted Bundy and how no one would suspect a killer that appears to be “normal”). In fact, it seems that Bateman wants to be discovered because others view the “fake” Bateman as sort of a “wimp” and he gives them looks like, “if you only k new”. The only ones who actually do suspect him are his secretary Jean (Sevigny) and a detective (Dafoe) who is investigating the disappearance of Bateman’s co-worker Paul Allen (Leto). It turns out, that these two are the only genuine and honest people in his world and it is interesting because he actually spares both of them – there is a tense scene where he has his secretary Jean back at his apartment and he is thinking of killing her with a nail gun, but he changes his mind and she lives.

In short, I feel that the movie is an effective slasher, and I feel that it is a great psychological piece. It is interesting and entertaining throughout and the kill scenes are pretty disturbing and somewhat bloody (there is a great scene where he kills a female friend and chases a prostitute with a chainsaw). However, another brilliant part of the film is that you never know if these killings are real – it may be that Bateman is totally psychotic and it is all in his head. You are never quite clear on this and I think that the open-ended quality really adds to the film (there is a scene at the end where he is obviously hallucinating, when a MAC machine is telling him to feed it a stray cat – but that makes you wonder about the other “killings”).

Regarding other details, the cinematography is great; the urban setting is filmed very well, and it looks very creepy. Also, the acting is great, across the board; some of the best scenes are between Bale and Dafoe – these two guys acting together are reason enough to see the movie. The soundtrack is also great and the musical cues are perfect; it is basically a snapshot of 80s music, most of which happens during the kill scenes – that is Bateman’s modus operandi, he puts on music and starts talking obsessively about the songs and then he kills his victims.

Final thoughts: very creepy and a good flick. If you are turned off by the mind-of-a-serial-killer sort of stuff, then it won’t be for you. Also, if you are expecting Murder Set Pieces gore, then it isn’t for you either. But, if you are up for a good, deep psychological thriller/slasher along the lines of Dexter, Silence of the Lambs, Mindhunters, or forensics in general, give this one a try.