American Psycho (2000)

While American Psycho was released in 2000, it is set in the 1980s. After typing the title of this episode though, I am totes into a reboot set in the year 2000, but with less frosted tips and more killer robots. Odds are, you know this movie if only for the tremendous performance by Christian Bale (Batman Begins, Ford Vs. Ferrari, The Machinist). His adaptation of the character, Patrick Bateman, from Bret Easton Ellis' novel, is a masterclass. Apparently, to get the author's blessing to play the character, Bale met up with Ellis for dinner, completely in costume and character. His schtick was so unnerving that Ellis had to ask him to stop five minutes in. Bateman is a narcissistic yuppie, obsessed with his image, sex, and violence. This sociopathic serial killer lives in an expensive New York apartment and is more concerned about being seen in a restaurant, than the food they serve there. Some scenes are significantly changed from the book, for instance when Bateman is stuffing canned meat into his face and running amok on the city sidewalks, versus using a chainsaw to murder a prostitute. Other scenes, are lifted verbatim from the novel in as faithful an adaptation as it possible. In the novel, he is much more obsessed with Donald Trump, but the president does get a mention in the film adaptation. Bateman desperately wants to fit in, but simultaneously despises everyone around him. The supporting case includes Reese Witherspoon, Chloe Sevigny, Bill Sage, Josh Lucas, Justin Theroux, and Matt Ross of Silicon Valley. Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club, 30 Seconds to Mars) has a wonderful cameo as Paul Allen, the personification of all that Bateman envies. When Allen goes missing, his disappearance is investigated by Donald Kimball, played by Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man, Antichrist, The Lighthouse). If you take the time to rewatch this film, be sure to take note of what onscreen violence you see; there is almost none. This is a big topic of discussion in this adaptation as we compare the film to the source material which is almost exhaustively descriptive with its violence. The film was nearly directed by David Cronenberg, who directed the last two movies we featured: The Fly and Videodrome. The directing duties eventually fell to Mary Harron (The Notorious Bettie Page, I shot Andy Warhol), who cowrote the script with Guinevere Turner. The female-driven production was a blessing, given that the source material was often reviled as being misogynistic. We also discuss the amazing soundtrack to the film including New Order, Katrina & The Waves, Robert Palmer, Huey Lewis & The News, Genesis, Chris De Burgh, Phil Collins, and Simply Red. For this week's "Hidden Track" we've gone back to our friends, Bone Church, who have a new album dropping 3/13/20. It is titled Acid Communion and it will melt your naughty bits. This track is called "Iron Temple." Please be sure to preorder and show your support: https://bonechurch1.bandcamp.com/ If you ever have feedback or recommendations on future episodes, please let us know at [email protected]. You can always find us on our social media: Instagram, Twitter, Slasher App: @slasherspod Facebook: /slasherspod Reddit: u/slasherspod https://www.youtube.com/c/slasherspodcast Theme song is I wanna Die by Mini Meltdowns. https://open.spotify.com/artist/5ZAk6lUDsaJj8EAhrhzZnh ; https://minimeltdowns.bandcamp.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices