Studio executives summary / pitch
|
| Successful
looking young twenty something narcissist in bloody girlfriends in bags fest.
Verbally abuse your secretary, get her to make a reservation for the hills, and
then run for them. |
Short plot
summary |
|
Patrick
Bateman (played by Christian Bale) is an apparently successful vice president.
However he is CraYZeE! He
lures friends and women to their deaths in deranged axe and clothes hanger fest.
|
Rating |
| Restricted
to adults only. Contains moments of face mask peel horror, ab crunch torture -
and that's just his daily beautifying procedure. Girlfriend in bag horror warning
throughout, Huey Lewis and the News alert. Some of the axe scenes may offend at
times. |
What our
panel of critics thought |
|
"Nice moments
of upper body male nudity and some of the best men's cosmetics purchasable, I
am sure, however, a missed marketing opportunity for the axe manufacturer - are
they trying to promote their brand or not?" "And
he gets away with it in the end too. A bloody triumph!" "I
loved to dance to Huey Lewis and the News, but no more! If I were to hear 'Hip
to be square' just once more my teddy bear collection could be massacred!" "Delightfully
psychotic! A triumph!" "Vice
President: eat my card!""So,
that's what it takes to become a vice President, no wonder I never got any higher
than assistant cleaner." "Nice
nipples, shame about the knees." "Painfully
un hairy." "It's
a New York chainsaw massacre!" |
Please
tell me the ending.
|
| Donald
Kimball (William
Dafoe), investigating the case, seems to be close to getting Bateman, but is he
just luckily dropping hints? Sort of a tribute to Columbo thing going on here,
possibly, but no epilogue or suspects lined up by the swimming pool. Our
anti-hero confesses to his lawyer as he is becoming increasingly deranged, but,
due to a case of mistaken identity, the confession is seen as a joke. The guy,
Paul Allen, who Bateman has killed, was apparently seen by Bateman's lawyer after
the murder... It
seems that our anti-hero escapes in the end to slice/saw/chew/axe another day,
however his secretary has found the diary in which he has drawn incriminating
pictures... |
If I were
to watch this at home how best should I sit? |
Avoid
sitting with your back to anyone with manicured nails: close all doors to stop
them sneaking up with an axe from behind. |
Could this
movie be improved with more cosmetics? |
To start with
you wonder if the cosmetics manufacturers missed a product placement opportunity,
but once the killing starts it all seems to make sense. Nice
moment of face peeling horror at the beginning: don't fear, fans, that bit is
all perfectly harmless. (Yar hargh harggggh!) |
Does this
film stand up to rigorous reality testing? |
It's
a satire on society values, success and stuff. All a very good effort, however
for those who don't like blood and gore the movie is hard to watch at times. ALSO:
Stress alert!Whilst
the movie is pretty to look at in places, the moments of psychotic horror are
very violent, although, thankfully, we don't get to see the giblets flying across
the screen. |
What
can I take from this movie to make me a better person?
|
| Your
boyfriend could seem to be a really nice guy, washes and shaves properly and all
that stuff, but at home, in the closet, does he have bags stuffed with bodies?
Well, have you looked? Never trust anyone who looks and smells too nice. Always
go for the farty ones. |
How much
would you pay for a copy of this movie in goods? |
| A
recycled facial peel scrub set. |
Real quotes
from the movie |
|
"Inside
doesn't matter." "This
confession has meant nothing." |
Does the
film attempt any experimental sexual swear words or hand gestures? If so, please
give examples. |
|
No. Could try
much harder. Uses
just the usual f-word, no new hand gestures, a surprise. |
Other comments
|
| If
you like this kind of understated gorefest then it's fine. Whilst no giblets are
on show, there is plenty of blood, and stuffed bags with bodies in them. It
is well acted, and satirical. Is his name (Bateman) a tribute to our evil favorite
Norman Bates in Psycho? I think we should be told... |
Date
of review |
June
9, 2003 |