Patrick Bateman give up your day job.

Rating: 9/10 (25 April 2002)

What a surprise, a gem of a movie, great.
I put this one off, basically because it had the words 'American' and 'Psycho' in the title. And what with American Beauty being released, was ready for the influx of all films having this prefix as standard.
Anyway the film despite it's title is great, I loved the humour, the acting and direction. The eighties have never been so good and yup so cold. It really struck me though after watching the film that the eighties were a very odd time indeed, what a change in lifestyles for many people seeking many greedy acquisitions. And here we have Patrick epitomising the yuppie culture of high rise New York, with a strange assortment of superficial personal and pier relationships.
The fact that he is completly deranged probably has something about selling his soul to corporate America, and only psychopaths could be wielding their power in this manner in these institutions (Many of which produce horrific consequences, socially and environmentally globally.)
Others who have commented are keen to state that this is not a horror flick. It is true deep dark satire agreed. But why are people jumping to the defence of this film. It is horror, we don't have to see the gore, implied violence and our imaginations are far more scary, check Hitchcock's Psycho.
The Batesmanesque twisted persona is a parallel of our our own facination and languish of video nasties. I don't know if I am a Patrick Bateman, I'm probably more of a Sammy Jenkis.
9 out of 10.