American Psycho –
Killer’s Collector’s Edition
(Uncut)
Picture: B+
Sound: B Extras: B- Film: A-
“There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman,” Christian Bale
says as he peels off the herbal facial mask clung to his face, “some kind of an
abstraction but there is no real ‘me’, only an entity.” In many ways, this is the story of American
Psycho. A film that is more of an abstraction of a Yuppie whose “mask of
sanity is about to slip” as much as it is a social commentary about New York in
the 1980s. In conjunction with the
release of Batman Begins (also starring Bale), this is the new American
Psycho “Killer Collector’s Edition” DVD and boy is it an improvement. There are more extras, better menus, better
picture and sound quality, and proof that this odd little cult film has some
shelf life over the past five years.
Patrick Bateman is not the wealthy, well-off man he
seems. He’s a normal everyday yuppie
businessman during the day but during the night, he’s a psychotic murder that
unleashes his aggression on whoever is near or crosses his path. He has an unhappy engagement to a cheating
fiancé, co-workers who don’t even know his real name, and bloody blankets that
he just can’t get the stains out of.
The film is dark, violent, and witty yet very entertaining with
excellent performances by Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Reese Witherspoon, and
Jared Leto.
American Psycho, for those of you who aren’t
familiar with it, is based on the book by Bret Easton Ellis and is, honestly,
one of the most disturbing books I’ve ever read. It’s graphic, crude, violent, and well… creepy. Now the film is, in its own right, all of
these things as well but to make a direct translation of the book to the movie
would mean that I wouldn’t have just watched it because it would be banned in
the U.S. for sure. The film
accomplishes plenty though, it makes you feel uneasy, is superbly acted and
directed, and is an entertaining film.
Patrick Bateman, as cynical and villainous as he is, still is somehow
relatable and likable. Bateman too is a
contradiction himself – a rich, well kept, perfectly in shape, and cleansed
individual – is unbalanced and psychotic and can’t handle it if someone has a
nicer business card than he does.
The newly re-mastered 2:35.1 anamorphically enhanced image
is clear and beautiful. The film is
full of reds and whites, the colors crisp and clean, a Kubrickian choice by
cinematographer Andrzei Sekula who shot the two films that put Quentin
Tarantino on the map: Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. As for the sound, there is sadly no DTS
track on this disc, but the 5.1 Dolby Surround EX remaster is nothing to frown
at. The soundtrack, full of great 80s
hits in keeping with the novel’s obsession of and annoyance with that era that
the film rightly takes place in, is loud and soft when it needs to be and is
even throughout.
The extras on this disc are interesting and insightful,
not just fluff. With five more deleted
scenes with introductions from the actors and director commentary, commentary
by Director/ Co-Writer Mary Harron and Actor/co-writer Guinevere Turner, American
Psycho: From Book To screen which includes “The Pornography of Killing” – a
video essay by Holly Willis, “The 80s Downtown”, and the original
trailers. Far superior to the last week
that only had a making of and an interview with Christian Bale.
American Psycho is a great film and if you
don’t have it, then this is the release to get. The video, sound, extras, and bonus materials on this new release
are far more impressive than the prior release versions. Though the film isn’t for everyone, I find
it a landmark in Christian Bale’s career, an interesting adaptation and to
think Leonardo DiCaprio turned this down.
Batman Begins will spark a whole new interest in it too, but it
has enough going for it to be more than a curio to say the least.
- Jamie Lockhart
