Creepy, edgy, funny. Gets better every time you see it.

Rating: 9/10 (16 June 2003)

The first time I watched this movie, I expected to see some stupid slasher flick, with a crazed anonymous killer killing people for no good reason, the goal of the film merely to scare people.
Well, American Psycho is basically the opposite of that. The whole idea here is to open up the killer to you, to show you his mind, why he kills, what his world is like. This is really a much more interesting subject than the fear of random attack victims.
Inside Patrick Bateman's mind (masterfully played by Christian Bale), we are introduced to a mind where nothing has value, where even the idea of value is absent. All that is left is fashion, having a great body, eating at the most popular restaurants, having a good job with the best business cards. Particularly poignant is the way he relates to music. He has heard what music is popular and has clearly read reviews of it but he can do no better than mechanically quote these, since he doesn't know what is valuable about it.
What's more, Bateman can never succeed in any of this, but instead finds an urge to destroy, both out of jealousy, and as some kind of misplaced sexual urge. Part of this is inscrutable, of course, as (for most people) it is impossible to truly relate to someone like this character...
There is a great deal here to be consumed by a voracious viewer. Don't just watch this movie once, watch it repeatedly and you will begin to understand better and better. Even if this isn't your aim, Bateman's unique brand of creepiness is radiant and infective.
And this will scare you way more than any slasher movie... though it may not make you jump quite as much.