Out-there Hell: C3G's Little Workshop of Horrors

[Lord Pyre]

I wouldn't be into American Psycho being represented in Scape, given that portraying him as a plain killer in a combat skirmish game kind of defeats the whole point of the story. Like, he wouldn't even exist as a character if he wasn't in Wall Street. AP is one of my favorite films and it's not a slasher / horror film at all.

(Granted I still haven't gotten around to reading the book)

[IAmBatman]

Wolf of Wall Street customs when?

[MrNobody]

Originally Posted by IAmBatman

Wolf of Wall Street customs when?

Glyph of Cocaine

[IAmBatman]

Originally Posted by MrNobody

Glyph of Cocaine

Quaaludes, really.

[toyhandle]

Originally Posted by Lord Pyre

Like, he wouldn't even exist as a character if he wasn't in Wall Street. AP is one of my favorite films and it's not a slasher / horror film at all.

I'm not sure what you mean, like he wouldn't be present outside the context of Wallstreet? He mostly kills homeless people and escorts, as well as an ex-girlfriend. Paul Allen is the only Wallstreet victim.

I agree it's not a slasher film, but it's definitely a horror-comedy. However, like a slasher, he uses a wide variety of tools. If he were a card though, he'd be a Psychopath rather than a Slasher.

But while AP's not a slasher film, this is just a horror workshop, where Scooby and Beetlejuice are suggested. I won't push for Bateman though since he doesn't have a published comic.

[Lord Pyre]

Basically the whole point of the film is a critique of the "yuppie" lifestyle and how he's growing crazy because he's failing at being the perfect cookie cutter wall street executive (Because this one guy has a slightly better business card, and this other guy gets into a slightly better restaurant). The whole American Psycho universe is incredibly nihilistic since nobody cares that he lets off steam by killing people since they're all so self-absorbed that they either don't notice or don't care.

Like, I could write an essay on what the deeper meanings of the film are, but it's not a horror film. It's a dark comedy / social critique of the strive to be perfect in the business world, where one guy happens to kill a couple of people. So I'm personally not a huge fan of Bateman showing up in a skirmish game since that's not at all what he's about.

[MrNobody]

What I'm getting at (and I think LP is too) is that American Psycho is a very theme-heavy film, and those themes are all a commentary on Wall Street and yuppies. Take Bateman out of that context, and I'm not sure he feels right?

Halloween (the original one) is also a very thematically heavy film in some ways, but it's way easier to tangibly imagine Michael Myers in Smallville trying to stab a dude named Blackagar Boltagon. I'm not sure that's something there's a "hard rule" for, but it's definitely something I feel like I have a sense for.

EDIT: , but LP captured my thoughts well too.

But tangent aside, I'd definitely be interested in a draft if you have ideas. Even if he never gets run, drafting is a fun hobby on its own.

[Soundwarp SG-1]

You know I've never realized that American Psycho is apperantly this Wallstreet thing. I just thought it was like some remake of regular Psycho or something.

[MrNobody]

Originally Posted by Soundwarp SG-1

You know I've never realized that American Psycho is apperantly this Wallstreet thing. I just thought it was like some remake of regular Psycho or something.

It's hip to be aware!

[Lord Pyre]

Yeah, Bateman is just a normal dude who wouldn't even be a killer if he wasn't in Wall Street. That's the point that I'm saying way too elaborately He's not a slasher or even has anything to do with horror like everything else here.

But yeah, it's unimportant really, but I love talking films and AP is one of my favorites like I've said, so I start rambling

[Lord Pyre]

Originally Posted by Soundwarp SG-1

You know I've never realized that American Psycho is apperantly this Wallstreet thing. I just thought it was like some remake of regular Psycho or something.

Yep, no relation AP is based on a book. Psycho is a Hitchcock thing.

Originally Posted by MrNobody

It's hip to be aware!

[toyhandle]

I get the messaging, it's my favorite solo film (LOTR being my favorite film series). Happy it has so many fans here.
Not going to argue it's either horror or comedy, but not the other. If you think it's completely comedy, that's fine. Imdb labeled it as Crime, Drama and Horror, but not Comedy, which baffles me.
According to Wikipedia, it's a "black comedy slasher film."
According to Horror.fandom, it's a "satirical comedy psychological horror film."
According to Rotten Tomatoes, it's a "Horror/Comedy."

So much of horror is intertwined with comedy. Sometimes its slapstick, like Evil Dead 2, or cheesy/corny like F13th and NoES. Sometimes they're theme heavy, like NoES2 and coming-of-age/repressed homosexuality.

Of the slasher films represented in C3G, American Psycho might have most in common with Tobe Hooper's original Texas Chainsaw Massacre:
'“When we were talking about the film, Tobe always considered it a political allegory and comedy,” recalls cinematographer Daniel Pearl, as reported by Gus Hansen in the latter’s Chain Saw Confidential. Hooper echoed that point in commentary he recorded for Chain Saw a couple of decades after the film was made.

“This film kind of came out of the Watergate times,” says Hooper. “It was kind of inspired by it, in a lot of ways.”

Hooper’s collaborator Kim Henkel who co-wrote the screenplay would confirm such statements about the thinking behind Chain Saw. As one later feature on the film put it, “To the film makers, it was the blackest of black comedies, with some wry commentary on what Henkel called ‘the moral schizophrenia’ of the Watergate era.”'
More here: https://headpress.com/blog/2021/03/1...nning-with-it/

When Bateman is doing his 1000 sit-ups to Texas Chainsaw Massacre, obviously it's like workout music to him. Of course he likes the sounds of the chainsaw and the screaming. But does part of him not aspire to be a bit like Leatherface?
Among other things, the guy uses knives, an axe, a nail-gun, coat hangers, a chainsaw, and a curling iron (in the book). Has eaten some brains and cooked a little, like Hannibal Lecter. He does have some commonality with these Horror characters.

Yeah, Bateman is just a normal dude who wouldn't even be a killer if he wasn't in Wall Street.

I definitely don't think that's true. I think it was arguing that the circles he ran in attracted that sort of person, and that that scene was an environment where that sort of person thrives. Who knows what sort of career path he would have ended up in if his dad hadn't owned the company, or what type of person he'd end up being, but probably not a well adjusted one. I don't think the statement "psychopaths are born, sociopaths are made" is entirely accurate in terms it being a binary thing, but the title is not American Sociopath.

We're also talking about this as though he did actually kill these people, though we know certain things could not have happened, like the ATM reading 'FEED ME A STRAY CAT," or his pistol exploding the car. It's a creepier movie to assume he did kill, because that means that the real estate saleswoman was so concerned with selling that apartment, that she disposed of the bodies in the closet, painted it over, and denied it ever happened. Or when his lawyer says he had dinner with Paul Allen twice in London 10 days ago, does he say that because he doesn't want to hear/represent Bateman, or does this lawyer have his own sinister secret covered by fake alibis, which would be exposed if he confirmed what Patrick was saying was true?

But I get why he might not be the best fit for c3g, and since there's no comic, I'm not advocating for his inclusion. But you're right @MrNobody , it would be fun to draft up a design. Something that represents him as sick and twisted and unintentionally hysterically funny.