Charming and sophisticated atmosphere of a horror satire

Rating: 8/10 (13 November 2011)

Seeming at first sight, and judging by the title, just the initial torrent of psychopathic clichés, the surprise is gratifying when the film is unmasked into sapid entertainment. The immediate ''visceral carnage psycho-thriller'' image, that the headline induces previously, is early replaced by the charming and sophisticated atmosphere of a horror satire.
This macabre tale does not branch away from the main character, played by Christian Bale, who as usual incorporates the personification dexterously. In his enthralling idiosyncrasies, capable of converting a passionate and accurate analysis of the 80's New Wave/Synthpop musical scene into a morbid foreplay for slaughter, the charismatic lunatic carries the movie on mild tension. His misadventures are filled with rabid and lascivious displays of violence, but subtly reflecting the crude humor of a proper black comedy. However, it is not until the approach of the final scene, in a boisterous, confusing sequence, that the interest is awoke for good. These tumultuous events culminate in a not so frustrating open end, adorned with an impenetrable monologue that was surely made to last.
Discovering only later that American Psycho was based on a homonym novel was disappointing, for now the whole possibility of an actual fun reading was ruined or at least seriously compromised. Although never reading the original, I suppose is safe to conjecture that the story was decently portrayed, and this seem to have facilitated the whole ''cult becoming'' path that the film had roam. If not, the closing speech was worth the price of a poor adaptation.