One of the most sensational books of the last century, American Psycho, released in 1991, immediately came to the attention of filmmakers, but no one dared to take up its adaptation of the film. Bret Easton Ellis’s novel about a Walliac maniac was a sarcastic satirical opus, a story about the moral and emotional bankruptcy of the yuppies who considered themselves masters of the world, cooler than other stars of show business. Only in 2000, the premiere of the thriller American Psycho ("American Psychosis"), better known under another name - "American Psycho".
Bold movie
Mary Harron acted as the director, she, like in her debut “I shot Andy Warhol”, preferred the unhurried style of narration, blowing up the course of events with bloody episodes of murders in which the “white collar” turned into a death demon. In her interpretation, the picture turned out to be a natural bloody odyssey, oversaturated with an abundance of brutal murders, somewhat funny, and most importantly, frightening, but bewitching.
The film "American Psychosis", like the literary original, expresses blatant cynicism for the trends of the 80s, sometimes it looks like a surrealistic horror. Now the "American Psycho" is perceived in exactly the same way as in 2000. This is a brave movie at the turn of satire, psychological thriller and horror, and Bale is beautiful, awesome and hilarious in the image of a high-society killer.
Cult hit
The painting was included in the program of the Sundance festival and was presented to the public in January 2000. The show caused unprecedented excitement and polar critics. Some in admiration called the tape a new classic of the comic horror, while others noticed that the absence of good characters has a negative effect, making the film boring. At the same time, film experts in their reviews of American Psychosis were united in their assessment of the talent of leading Christian Bale. They claimed that the actor brilliantly coped with his task, perfectly revealed the multifaceted and complex image of his character.
The tape was released only in April 2000, and with a production budget of $ 7,000,000, the film raised 34,266,564, which is a good result for such a specific project. In the future, "American Psychosis" became very famous, gained the status of a cult hit. Now the rating of the picture (according to IMDb) is 7.60.
An impressive list of stars
Most reviewers considered the reason for the success of "American Psychosis" participation in the production of a whole constellation of famous actors. The main star of the picture was already considered the famous Willem Dafoe. Oscar nominee for Platoon played a detective investigating Bateman's crimes. The future star of romantic comedies and Oscar winner young Reese Witherspoon was inimitable in the image of the main character's bride. Chloe Sevigny, who received an Oscar nomination for “Guys Don't Cry,” convincingly portrayed the secretary of the yuppie maniac. The colleague and victim of the killer was played by Jared Leto, the current Joker.
In comparison with such masters, almost debutant Christian Bale looks at the same level. The actor spent several months in the gym and spa to look like a “living god", the result exceeded all expectations. Although in the future Bale will become famous as a performer of heroic roles, for example, Batman, the financier maniac Patrick Bateman from American Psychosis was the first character to bring the actor sincere respect and approval of critics and spectators.
Returning is a bad omen
When the Mary Harron-directed film about metro-financier Patrick Bateman, who thought about beauty of the body during the day and turned into a brutal killer at night, became a cult icon, Lionsgate hastened to propose a sequel to the intrigued public. So the film “American Psychosis 2: 100% American” appeared. The sequel was based on the script “The Girl Who Did Not Die,” which initially had nothing to do with Bateman. But after making the corrections recommended by the producer, it turned out that the nanny of the main character Rachel was killed by Patrick. This prompted the girl herself to become a serial killer.
The picture was shot in 20 days and received derogatory reviews from critics. Her IMDb rating is 3.90. Starring Mila Kunis subsequently apologized for starring in Morgan J. Freeman's project. According to the actress, during the production of the tape was not associated with the "American Psychosis", it was rethought and changed already during the installation. In fact, films have nothing in common.