KATIE MARIE

All it comes down to is this: I feel like shit but look great

Today I want to talk to you about one of the most well-known horror stories and how different mediums have interpreted that story. It is once again time for Book v Film and today’s fighter is American Psycho.

The book was penned by Bret Easton Ellis and was published in 1991 by Vintage. It is a black horror, a satire of 1980s culture. The film came out in 2000 and starred Christian Bale. It was directed by Mary Harron and received generally positive reviews. The novel however is considered controversial and has been banned in some places.

Plot

The overall plot of the book and film follows the wealthy and young banker Patrick Bateman. Patrick has a seemingly normal life by day but at night he gets a bit stabby. He has a loveless engagement and a poor relationship with his mother and brother. After murdering a work friend, he starts using the apartment to kill more people and slowly begins to lose control over his violent urges. In both stories Patrick shoots people in a public place and flees the scene before hiding in his office, calling his attorney to confess and leaving said confession on an answering machine.

Patrick visits the apartment expecting to find it full of the bodies of the people he has been killing but instead finds it spotless with a realtor there telling him the apartment is for sale. Speaking with his attorney Patrick is confused when he is mistaken for another man and the attorney laughs the confession off as a joke and labels Patrick as a coward. Not only that but the attorney claims to have recently had dinner with one of the victims.

The story ends with Patrick unsure if he actually committed crimes, and if he did unhappy in the knowledge that he will not be punished for them.

What is different?

The main differences between the book and the film, that I noticed were tonal, the book is much more brutal than the film, whereas the film leans more into the black comedy aspect. But a few things are worth pointing out.

Patrick’s fastidious and vindictive personality remains much the same in the book and film. But one major difference is that they toned down Patrick’s homophobia. In the book, Patrick is extremely homophobic, to the point where gay people terrify him and he lashes out violently towards them, but in the film his killing is senseless and this bigotry is mostly absent, save for a crass comment.

Patrick’s obsessive behaviour over musicians is also toned down, he still loves music but the Patrick from the book is a lot more vocal about this obsession than his film counterpart.

Some of the killings differ from book to film as well. To start the book Patrik has far more victims than the movie version. However, they do try to counter this with hints that he has killed more off-screen. The level of violence in the book is higher and more graphic

Patrick’s murder of his ex-girlfriend Bethany is far more brutal in the book than in the movie. He also kills a young boy in the book, this does not happen in the film.  

So overall I would say both are valid expressions of the story, it just depends on what you want from this story. If you want a look into the mind of a very unwell man who is potentially prone to either violent outbursts or violent hallucinations then the book is your best bet, though is pretty graphic. If, however, you’re after something with some blood, guts and a chuckle then the film is more your speed.