Patrick Bateman is an endlessly intriguing character capable of captivating audiences from start to finish. This is the best that American Psycho has looked and I would highly recommend the purchase.
American Psycho is a film that revolves around a breaking point in the life of an upper class Wall Street man who also happens to be a murderous psychopath. I would try to go more into the detail on the story though there really isn’t much more to go on. Good movies can often be put into one of two groups, great stories or great characters. This is also the starting point for many screenwriters, starting with a great concept for a great plot or a interesting character. American Psycho falls into the latter category. This movie has less of a narrative and more of a series of close together moments in the life of Patrick Bateman. Although this could be and usually is a bad thing in films. This movie gets a pass because it focuses on an absolutely captivating character played brilliantly by Christian Bale.
Despite the title of this film and the bloody still frames that are seen on the back of the box, this film is more of a character study that it is a horror. Yes there are murders (in fact a lot of them) and yes there is gore, though that is not what the focus of the movie is. The focus here is a man who is a emotionless psychopath. The point of this film is not the excitement of the kills but the intrigue of Bateman and what is going on inside his head. There is often narration by Bateman that states his thoughts and gives you more insight into his life. The most compelling bit of narration being while he is doing his morning routine. Close to the end he is peeling off a transparent skin care mask with a close up of his entirely blank emotionless face and the narration says, “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.” From this scene on I was hooked.
The rest of the film is essentially just watching Bateman’s interactions with others as things escalate beyond his control. Normal characters and people make decisions with a mix of morality, intellect and emotion. Patrick Bateman on the other hand, makes decisions purely fueled by greed making sure that everything he does will elevate is social and economic status to the point of insanity. This drive allowed the writers to have a fair amount of great lines and quirky scenes that helped to make this film a cult hit, such as the infamous business card scene where Bateman is distraught after his colleague’s decide they like Paul Allen’s card more than his own. There are a couple other scenes that are similar, such as when he breaks into someone’s apartment to see that it is more expensive than his own and the narration says that panic washes over him.
In addition to these quirky scenes and times where we are intrigued by watching Bateman attempt to fake emotions, there are also often scenes that are very weird and unsettling. Some people, mainly those who are avid horror fans liked these scenes though many are off put by them. Which is likely the reason why they are in the film in the first place.
As for the 4K aspect of this Blu-Ray, I found that the sharpness of the picture wasn’t incredible, there is certainly a difference from the original though it isn’t game changing. However there is a noticeable improvement in the color of the picture, especially with blacks. Though this film is 18 years old and is also set in the 80s so it is understandable for it not meet the typical 4K expectations. They do make up for this by including additional never before seen special features such as a directors commentary recorded in 2018.
Overall:
Patrick Bateman is an endlessly intriguing character capable of captivating audiences from start to finish. If you are a fan of horror, thrillers, crime and/or great writing I suggest you give this a go. If you’ve already someone who is a fan of this film, this is the best that American Psycho has ever looked and I would highly recommend the purchase.
