American Psycho Reviews

Extremely well crafted, excellent performance from Bale, and a brilliant ending that leaves you wondering.

I have to return some videotapes.

A psychological thriller of epic proportions. Christian Bale has surely impressed me with his acting chops in this one. I loved every single second, and although there are a few sexual scenes, I didn't mind. Bale certainly hammed up his part as psychotic serial killer (or is he?) Patrick Bateman, while Willem Dafoe made us wonder if he actually bought Bateman's excuses or was he completely oblivious as he portrays Detective Donald Kimball, who is assigned to the murder case of Bateman's co-worker, Paul Allen, who in turn is played by Jared Leto. To cap off the cast is Reese Witherspoon as Evelyn Williams, Bateman's perky but completely unsuitable fiancee, and Chloe Sevigny as Jean, Bateman's secretary who seems to fancy him.
The movie is a constant rollercoaster, as director Mary Harron takes you through the life of a true American psycho who happens to part of the upper class society. Although we know that Bateman's dad seems to own the company he is working for, we don't actually see him DO any work aside from planning and dispatching his victims with cool, calculated passion.
Directing: perfect. Acting: flawless. Storyline: Riveting. I must say, despite having a dark, gloomy atmosphere althroughout, the film kept me glued to the screen and to Bale's every move. If you're into thrillers and a true-blue Balehead, you shouldn't miss this one.
I wouldn't be surprised if it goes to the American Film Institute's Top 100 Movies of All Time List. ;D

I think this has to be one of the greatest psychological thrillers out there. I wouldn't call this film a horror because it isn't scary. It is just a tense thrill ride with a lot of suspenseful moments where, when, who, how and what he kills people. Yes, Patrick Bateman is a very horrifying character indeed which is where I can't really describe what sort of character he is similar to let alone what type of character he actually is. This is revealed towards the end of the film (not saying what happens because I'm not a spoiler teller). Some would refer this as a horror film because it is a guy who treats killing people at night like a hobby and is like the present generation of film of Norman Bates. This is a film that a lot of people would be scared of because of the thrilling suspense that went on. I felt the suspense really hard but it didn't exactly terrify me. I could tell that this film was going to be a psychological thriller because you only have to notice the title of the film t o notice. Especially with the word "Psycho" in it. That shouldn't put you off it. It is definitely worth seeing.


Christian Bale delivers one of the most terrifying performances that I have ever laid my eyes on. I have always been used to seeing Christian as a man that is a hero or a manipulating villain but never a psycho. Bale has always been a heart-throb and probably always will be. That is one of the main reasons where I think he fits almost perfectly into Patrick Bateman's character. He is a guy who even prostitutes can fall for but can be fooled by aswell because sex is his intention with them but something more serious is his ambition aswell. He is two-faced!! He acts like those monsters on horror movies where you are nice on one part of the day but a complete cold-blooded killer on the evening. One thing that puzzled me a bit about the way Bateman was killing his victims was that his house was always white and very bright. I mean, how does he get away with it? That's the question and there are questions aswell about whether he killed those people or not at all. I think that Patrick Bateman is seriously one of the best and most powerful film villains of all time. He is a very destructive and impactful character who doesn't care who or how he kills as long as it is enjoyable for him which is what is so sick about his character.


I found the direction in American Psycho quite similar to the way Stanley Kubrick directed The Shining because of the eerie, very different and slow camera angles. In a slight way, it takes a lot of the direction from The Shining but in a good way. The script was really well adapted together because it wanted to focus on the character Patrick Bateman and wanted to show that he is really sick in the head and what he is capable of. Again, that is like The Shining. It was so gruesome and very psychotic because of how Bateman killed his victims. He killed two prostitutes with a chainsaw while he was naked and having sex with them. It shows that nobody can be trusted and nobody knows what is inside a person's true intentions are for someone. The reality of that was because it needed a bit of notification from the audience because it was obvious that he was going to kill someone but doesn't know how. Personally, I found that Patrick Bateman was in a fighting relationship with himself because it was like a split personality. He was really good at his work but then he was killing innocent people every night. One thing that confuses me is that he sometimes spares people but then kills someone else. It is just a bizarre film. I personally believe all of the kills are fantasies inside his head.


I have to say that this is one of the single most terrifying films of all time let alone one of the most terrifying characters and one of the best villains of all time too. I loved Christian Bale in this one! Prefer him in The Dark Knight, Batman Begins and The Prestige. I wouldn't call American Psycho a masterpiece but I would call it a film that does deserve to be watched and can thrill everybody in the same way.

I took a chance on this one, because it looked cool, and it had a good cast. LIke Christian Bale, William Dafoe, Jared Leto, and Reese Witherspoon. Long and behold it becomes one of my favorite movies of all time. I love the style, the dialouge, and Bale's crazy acting. Plus there some really funny parts.

Dislikes: He kicked a dog. Some of the scenes are a little sketchy, but I guess I would expect that coming from a movie called American Psycho

"I like to disect girls did you know Im utterly insane" A great movie all in all, so kickback relax and watch a funny crazy weird movie

''I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don't know why. My nightly bloodlust has overflown into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy. I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.''

A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.

Christian Bale: Patrick Bateman

Bret Easton Ellis' original novel contains possibly the most graphic depictions of sex and violence in any novel I have ever read. I read it a while ago from my Library. Appropriately, director Mary Harron places much of the novel's explicit content off-screen, similar to how the book simply lets the reader imagine the vivid nature of the content.



For this reason, American Psycho is faithful to its source, and for a novel which includes such terminal violence there is still a huge amount of wit and charm. This owes to the book's satirical disposition, with its brazen accuracy and jagged humour. It is in many respects an absurdist's take on an already surreal culture; This borrows the questionable theme of subjective reality to the protagonist's actions and experiences.
Mary Harron utilizes the satirical facets of the novel, and essentially uses satire as a device of ridiculing yuppie culture. Nevertheless, the component which is best suited is that this image of an alpha-male dominated society, directed from a female standpoint, but not an overtly feminist one. More than anything, American Psycho is a critique of ignorance, materialism and self-infatuation.

The cast play it cool, professional, even capturing pomposity and sarcastic tones. Throughout the feature they show how two dimensional society can be; The bitter irony regarding cultural stereotypes.
For those of you who might be dismayed by the sardonic title, don't be. This is a twisted and intelligent take on cultural archetypes, with much prominence being placed on whether the viewer deems Patrick Bateman's sociopath alter-ego a manifestation of sub-conscious monotony or that he is genuinely committing the murderous, masochistic acts shown on screen.
Whichever way you look at it, there is no definitive answer, but one aspect is for sure, that this cinematic assertion is a strong sentiment of yuppie narcissism. As dark as it may seem, there is no denying the indisputable entertaining quality of a film crammed with meaningful malevolence. This is a film which unsympathetically attacks the business world, implying that dumb people from wealthy backgrounds are groomed for slacker success. These white collar machines are not savvy, nor do they even so much as turn a blind-eye to anyone other than their materialistic statements of self-worth. In a way, this is their only means of clinging onto reality, for they hide behind their denial, with a reputable image of self-worth.

American Psycho for all it's violence and sadism is rife with black, dark humour in the form of Bale's ritualistic business card scene to shooting an old lady after trying to feed a cat to an ATM.
Phil Collins, Genesis, Robert Palmer, Huey and the News, Tina Turner, Petshop Boys...All add to what is a definitive ado-lade for capturing the 1980s.
You can imagine Reagan dancing with Thatcher after their day out on the Golf Course, talking about American Psycho and the glory of capitialism always sucking the marrow out of the other people.
The ending left me thinking which was also of note, it lingers, it resides in your mind, thus my review should be doing the same function. American Psycho is a marvellous adaptation and of course, will not be to everyone's taste. Who cares though? I love it. I'd recommend the experience especially when you can scratch past the surface to reveal an array of aspects which successfully embody the primitive subhuman depths of our being.

''There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman; some kind of abstraction. But there is no real me: only an entity, something illusory. And though I can hide my cold gaze, and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable... I simply am not there.''

"I like to dissect girls. Did you know I'm utterly insane?"

American Psycho is a frequently misapprehended adaptation of the controversial novel by author Bret Easton Ellis. This is a remarkably faithful adaptation of Ellis' outstanding literary novel that is habitually hailed as a grotesque, disturbing and unnerving piece of writing that promotes misogynistic themes. Several directors, from David Cronenberg to Oliver Stone, expressed interest in directing this adaptation. However, the directing duties were handed to small-time director Mary Harron whose film debut was the 1996 film I Shot Andy Warhol. Similar to the novel, this disconcerting film is marked as a horror or a thriller, when in fact it's a dark comedy and a subtle satire of society in the 1980s. This was a time when businessmen cared solely about their appearance: an attractive business card, a striking suit and reservations at the most trendy restaurant.

Whilst admittedly various audience members may regard it as a horror film, upon closer scrutiny it reveals itself to be something unreservedly different: it's a social satire. Mary Harron's American Psycho is a dark glimpse at society gone awry. It depicts a society so extremely infatuated with possessions and one-upmanship that even murder is unsuccessful to fulfil people's desires. The central protagonists solidly drive this message into the mind of the viewer. Similar to the novel, the film also contains almost no plot. This is probably the film's key flaw: there's no plot to fuel the film's events, and hence nothing overly interesting actually occurs. To hide this fact, the film is instead infused with incredible performances, mesmeric imagery and a dark but irresistible atmosphere.

Patrick Bateman (Bale) is a successful 27-year-old businessman who holds a superb job at a Wall Street firm and is being consumed by the superficiality of his colleagues and his life. His spacious apartment is luxurious but barren, which is essentially a manifestation of his character. Patrick is an unscrupulous, sexist misogynist. On top of which, Patrick is terribly egocentric and narcissistic. His contaminated mentality has been growing progressively, similar to a tumour, and is nourished by the bland, superficial appurtenances of life as a New York yuppie. To power his anaesthetised synapses, Patrick resorts to doing hard drugs, watching the 1974 horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, listening to gormless musicians such as Phil Collins, indulging in wild group sex, feasting on expensive boutique cuisine, dropping serial killer details into daily discussions, and pandering to his egotism among other twisted activities. Patrick's dormant psychopathic impulses steadily pull back the curtain of his sanity, revealing an outrageous allegory that no-one is capable of distinguishing. Soon, Patrick's uncontrollable lust for murder only grows more compelling.

Welsh-born actor Christian Bale completely immerses himself into the character of Patrick Bateman. This is an extremely impressive performance: Bale adds the right amount of charm to pull off both sides of the emotionless character. He's a smiling killer that employs a manner of power tools to ruthlessly slay women after he has sex with them. It's disturbing to see Bale's face...clad in blood while delivering an ambiguous smile. His voice is always soothing, particularly during lines of narration. The correct tone is immediately set with his impeccable dialogue delivery. In some ways he mirrors Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Here's some food for thought: Bates, Bateman, Bale, Batman. Hmmm.

Willem Dafoe is a minor addition to the cast, but he makes an everlasting impression. Dafoe's performance allows you to draw conclusions regarding his state of mind. Does he suspect Bateman of murder, allowing an oblivious side to shine through? Chloë Sevigny is another great addition to the cast. She's perhaps a little underused, but she's very memorable as the love-torn secretary.

The technical merits of American Psycho are marvellous to behold. The atmosphere is enthralling from start to finish. Director Harron's visuals directly allude to the bloodshed and sadism that Bateman unleashes on his victims in the novel. Although the gore that gets past the censors in the current cinematic era makes this film look quite tame, the murders are still a punch to the gut. The screenwriters faithfully transfer Ellis' novel to the screen. Although critics aren't fond of it, the author spoke up about his appreciation of the way in which the film communicates the tones and messages of the novel. Ellis writes: "Like the novel, the movie is essentially plotless, a horror-comedy with a thin narrative built up of satirical riffs about greed, status and the business values of the 1980s culture."

I must mention that despite this film being called "hilarious" by some, I couldn't find much comedy in it. For the most part the film works as an ambiguous horror film that's hard to categorise. The twists in the film are sometimes poorly distinguished...but this just means repeated viewings are wholly necessary. Another chief flaw in the film is that the power of the social satire has run dry past the first 20-30 minutes. After that point, things are on autopilot. Some of Bateman's characteristics don't surface again unfortunately. Still, it's hard to maintain a set standard for a film's running time. The spellbinding visuals are always a treat, though, with perfect visuals: great lighting, commendable cinematography and well thought out camera shots.

Despite its flaws, shortcomings and mountains of negative reviews, director Mary Harron has achieved a great film with American Psycho. Mainstream audiences may find things hard to devour, but if you watch with close scrutiny you'll pick up the masterful filmmaking on show. The film is thoroughly thought-provoking and interesting. It's a dark, deterrent tale regarding the ills of superficiality and the dehumanising effects of using too much moisturiser. This is a great reflection about an 80s society controlled by material possessions and appearances. Some will love it, some will hate it. Draw your own conclusions.

8.1/10