When donning the infamous cowl and cape, actor Christian Bale certainly made a great Batman in Christoper Nolan’s trilogy. After undergoing a massive body transformation, he also conveys a frightening Dick Cheney in 2018’sVice. Once again, the man’s character work shines through with his portrayal of an emaciated Trevor Reznik in 2004’sThe Machinist. But in saying all of that, one cannot bring up this Academy Award-winning performer without mentioning his overwhelming villainous role as Patrick Bateman in 2000’sAmerican Psycho.
While the symbolic horror movie was outrightsnuffed by the Oscarsand never truly received the recognition it deserved, the adaptation masterfully (and horrifyingly) combined a stock market investor, serial killings, and high society into one cinematic thrill ride. Audiences quickly found out that Bateman was not just an unsympathetic, elusive banker but also a cold-blooded murderer in his own category — a killer with a rhythmic cause.
As much as the character became an extreme and dangerous menace to those around him (which included co-workers, prostitutes, and innocent dogs, believe it or not),American Psychoas a film has managed togarner a cult following. For some, it’s the clip of Bateman becoming extremely anxious about the other vice presidents of Pierce & Pierce having better business cards than him. For others,American Psychobecomes timeless when Bateman eerily dances to Huey Lewis & the News while preparing to kill Paul (literally a few feet behind the soon-to-be victim). While there are many others to choose from, Christian Bale’s interpretation of the character has helped to make Patrick Bateman highly memorable in the slasher subgenre of horror movies.It’s just a shame that he was killed off so easily.
An American Psycho Sequel That Was Never Meant to Be
American Psycho
As we all know, this never came truein the original. As it turns out, Bateman’s been having hallucinations of sorts, and it’s never made clear if any of his outlandish murders were real or not. He is never killed or captured but instead just left in a state of mental turmoil — subjected to his draining merger and acquisition investment job until the end of his days.For most fans of the film, this is where Bateman’s story ends.
On the other hand, Lions Gate Films (distributors of the first movie) had other ideas. In 2002, a screenplay was being put together calledThe Girl Who Wouldn’t Die. While it sounds more like a female-led James Bond remake than anything else, the film company decided to rework the script of this thinly veiled horror flick and haphazardly connect it toBale’s psychological masterpiece.EnterAmerican Psycho II: All American Girl. . . no, wait, justAmerican Psycho 2.
This “official” sequelwas released as a straight-to-DVD movie on June 18th of that same year, and it starred Mila Kunis and William Shatner (of all people) in leading roles. Kunis would play a college student named Rachael Newman who will stop at nothing (meaning, she will kill) to become Professor Starkman’s teaching assistant for next year’s classes. According to Newman, this position (as it has done for the other students who held the same title) will fast-track her into the FBI’s training program in Quantico, Virginia. As you can probably tell, the story alone has no equal merit to Bateman’s story —but he is involved. In the very beginning, at least.
A Little Girl Kills Patrick Bateman
During a flashback scenethat opens the movie (which also shows us why Newman is the way she is), 12-year-old Rachael is following her babysitter on a date with none other than Patrick Bateman. Bateman is not played by Bale but by Michael Kremko, who is under a mask. Both Rachael and her babysitter are tied and gagged to chairs in the kitchen. Somehow,Rachael frees herself and fatally stabs Bateman in the backwhile he is tending to the older victim. Yes, a young girl brings an end toa horror icon, almost like she’s doing an everyday chore. She walks out of the apartment, and with that,American Psycho IIcomes back to the present day. It’s safe to say that Kunis, Shatner, and the pointlessAmerican Psychotether had no right to attempt to save this uninspired sequel.
In an interview withMTVin 2005, Kunis herself stated dislike towardsthe studio re-editingThe Girl Who Wouldn’t Dieinto anAmerican Psychomovie.Even Bret Easton Ellis(the author of the original novel) had the same sentiments, saying that these theatrical adaptations will never outdo the original work. While neutral,American Psycho 2’s director Morgan J. Freeman did lean more towards the hefty paycheck from the film being more of an influence than anything else, as he had a “lot of bills," according toThe Guardian.
Whether on set or in the wings watching, people close to the film had negative feelings towards it.Critics also panned the messy psycho endeavor. With all that being said, should fans of the franchise count Bateman’s death in the Kunis movie as canon? Maybe if we leave the lore just as messy as we found it, someone will come in and clean it all up.American Psychois now streaming onNetflix, and Kunis' iteration is available onPeacock(among other streaming platforms).
