‘American Psycho’ and ‘The Killer Inside Me’ are often described as psychological dramas. People tend to like the suspense and the unsettlement that these movies cause. However, these movies also contain tons of blood, very visual violence against women and sexual abuse. Do these films appeal to our vicious side that we are not allowed to express because of the social and cultural norms? Are we still animals with the need for blood? Why do we get excited about something as disgusting and cruel as these films? It would have been expected to cause moral outrage but the films are often enlisted as ‘The best movies’ because people like twisted plots and distorted characters.
The story of ‘The American Psycho’ tells the story of Patrick Bateman. He is a typical businessman from the 80s who spends much of his time engaged in anything but work. He spends most of his days hanging out with his friends in the best establishments in New York, practicing bodybuilding, buying skin care products and listening to pop music. Though it is better to say that he is immersing in the ocean of melodies. And at night he kills people. Sometimes it is just a random person and sometimes not. Why? Just because he likes it. And, perhaps, it is necessary for him.
This film is the screen adaptation of the book by Bret Easton Ellis, which is the most rigid and gloomy novel that one can ever read. In his book, Ellis ignores all the norms of morality and describes in details the atrocities that our troubled hero creates at night.
Music, camera work, excellent work by the director and a fantastic script, which absorbed all the best from the book and left behind the scenes that would deserve to receive the rating "X" — make this film a true classic of cinema and of the horror genre in particular. But it is wrong to relate this film to that genre. Mostly it is just a black, as Satan's soul, comedy. Of course, it is hard to think that when hearing the quotes like this: ‘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.’(American Psycho)
The satirical tone of the book is kept excellent in the film. The film is not as striking as the book, but over time you notice that Patrick Bateman is spinning in circles of people who are beautiful on the outside but completely empty inside. Moving from one expensive place to another, competing with the quality of their business cards and completely fixated on themselves. In such a society, our lovable Patrick, who is essentially a sociopathic maniac, seems to be the only living person. That in itself is a very interesting turn of events.
In his desire for perfection, all these so-called yuppies, were similar to each other, as buildings from the end of the film that Patrick is confused which leads to some not so good consequences. And all this monotonous and collective conformism of an extreme degree serve as a very comical backdrop for a story about a man who is just not like everyone else. All these pompous idiots constantly confuse each other with someone else, because they all behave the same and look the same. And in this desire for conformity Patrick sees his only salvation from the electric chair. Although by the end of the film, languishing from the impunity of their actions, Patrick is ready to wholeheartedly shout that he has stabbed a hundred prostitutes, the homeless people, etc. One of the funny quirks of Patrick is that the best part of his true self, in the form of his passion for music, Patrick shows only in front of his victims, just before he has to deal with them.
The same can be said about a very skillful play on some of the puzzles contained in the book. Specifically, it is the ambiguity of what is happening in the life of Patrick. Certain scenes show that perhaps some things happen only in the mind of the protagonist. And Bateman, just like the audience, does not understand what is happening in reality and what is not. And this open mystery only adds additional charm to this film.
Mary Heron almost perfectly embodied the book, a novel about a real Satan, who is hiding somewhere in your everyday life. Christian Bale helped to perfectly portray the ultra-cruel and conformist narcissist - Patrick Bateman. He is funny, he is stylish, he is unforgettable.
The film "The Killer Inside Me", filmed in 2010 by an English Director-versatile Michael Winterbottom, was the second screen adaptation of the novel by Jim Thompson, an American classic detective genre. Classics, whose work has been praised by such apologists of screen violence as a tribute to Sam Peckinpah, Stanley Kubrick and Quentin Tarantino.
The main character, Deputy Sheriff Lou Ford, who is perfectly played by Casey Affleck, is the only surviving heir of the distinguished doctors in the area — attractive, courteous in communicating with the local aboriginal people, conservative and, at first glance, pretty boring. Despite the moral norms, periodically spoken, impassive Ford, we feel a catch, as well that things are not what they seem. And our first acquaintance with the so-called "the official side of life" of Lou’s life — job executed by Ford on behalf of the Sheriff — reveals to us his propensity for violence, which has, as it turns out later, deep roots in the childhood of the main character. Closeness, provoked by the bold and quite innocent reaction of the prostitute on the visit of the representative of the authorities, not only leaves crimson marks on her beautiful buttocks: the relationship between Joyce Lakeland (the name of a future victim Ford performed by Jessica Alba) and a Deputy grow into something more than regular physical exercise performed in a horizontal position.
Ford, contacting a "battered sister sin", who, according to local journalists, "demonstrated deep experience in the pleasures of love", marks his first step into the abyss, gradually returning to him what he calls a "disease", what is his true nature. His mind is horrible but he allows us to look at his inner world, with the quotes like this one: ‘can't hurt somebody who's already dead’, we understand that the problem lies deep inside him. (The Killer Inside Him) This is followed by a series of murders resulted in the deaths of unremarkable inhabitants of a small Texas town, among which the most significant for the narrative characters are a son of an influential industrialist-monopoly and bride of Ford’s (portrayed by Kate Hudson). Very skillful and a natural immersion of the film into the bloody abyss, after viewing the movie leaves us to the last wonder about the motives of a best friend of the innocent victim of the son of the cafe owner. Why did Lou kill the woman to whom he began to experience some semblance of love? Why did he have such a passion for sexual cruelty, which eventually led to fatal evidence on the most beautiful part of the body Amy Stanton?
The answers to these and other questions are given in the book, after acquaintance with which it is clear: Lou Ford was doomed from the moment of his birth, he is one of a galaxy of characters, loved by Cesare Lombroso, a classic example of "natural born killers". His father was keenly interested in works in the field of psychopathology, owned an extensive library on the subject, practiced some experiments with a housekeeper named Helen, who looked similar to Joyce and Amy. The results of these sexual exercises he captured on camera and stored images in the index to the Bible. Losing virginity Ford Jr., which occurred at the initiative of Helen, was the soil on which grew the beautiful flower of evil. Genetic predisposition to violence, a darkness of loneliness that hung on Lou since early childhood, close relationship with a housekeeper in a rather tender age, special literature in different languages collected by father and devoured by his child, — all this has led to the emergence of a monster. Scott expresses that ‘it is also linked, visually and thematically, with the film’s teasingly salacious depictions of sex in a way that suggests a director primarily concerned with finding out what he can get away with, and not entirely sure what he’s doing.’ The film is a classic road-movie, only instead of the external, the author passionately and thoroughly explores the inner landscapes of the hopeless world of Lou Ford.
Perhaps the answer to why do we like this kind of movies lies in the professionalism that the movies are made with and the endings that leave us to our own conclusions. We can choose our own path but if we are born as human beings, then it is better to act like ones.
Works Cited
American Psycho. America, Canada: Mary Harron. 2000. Film.
Bradshaw, Peter. "Nightmare On Wall Street". The Guardian. 21 Apr. 2000. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.
Holden, Stephen. "American Psycho (2000) FILM REVIEW; Murderer! Fiend! (But Well Dressed)". NY Times. 14 Apr. 2000. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.
Scott, A.O. "The Pulp Inside Him As It Turns To Rot". The New York Times. N.p., 2010. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.
The Killer Inside Me. Hollywood: Michael Winterbottom, 2010. Film.
