Biting yet chilling satire

Rating: 8/10 (20 April 2000)

WARNING: SOME SPOILERS AHEAD
I first read Ellis' novel a year ago. While much of it was overwritten, particularly the gore parts, within it was a biting yet chilling satire, from the concentration of what Patrick wore to what he listened to(the record reviews, written with the same depth as one might expect a review of The Who's TOMMY would have, are hysterical), which exposed an entire empty sub-culture. I'm glad director and co-writer(with Guinevere Turner, who also plays one of Patrick's victims) Mary Harron found that satire in her film, while playing down the gore(though the murders still retain their kick). One could argue some of it is so 80's it's passe, but then again, given the way a new generation of people are driven to success at any cost, maybe it's not just the 80's.
Bale does a good job of capturing Patrick, being both funny and terrifying, often at the same time, and yet showing that the person he most terrifies is himself. The other actors are all good, particularly Chloe Sevigny as Patrick's secretary, and makes it believable that she's the one person he would spare. A couple of points on what people have written; if the other characters seem shallow, that's partly because that's how Patrick sees them. Also, I don't think we're supposed to think he imagined it all; I think his friends just don't believe a serial killer may be in their midst(which is why Harron keeps Ellis' last line "THIS IS NOT AN EXIT" on the door behind Patrick).