Editorials
‘American Psycho: The Musical’ Delivers Killer Looks and Catchy Hooks in Chicago [Event Report]
There is no exit for American Psycho. Bret Easton Ellis‘ hilarious and grisly novel has hardly gathered dust since its 1991 publication, thanks to the shock and awe of the narrative, the ensuing cultural reaction, and, no doubt, Mary Harron‘s slick 2000 feature adaptation that re-introduced Christian Bale to a post-Newsies generation (and also nabbed him the cowl). Blame it on the dark humor, the ’80s nostalgia, or our predilection for primal indulgences, but Patrick Bateman remains one of the rare cultish enigmas of the 21st century. One that is seemingly impervious to memes, merch, and even a middling DTV sequel.
But what about a musical? These days it’s perhaps no surprise that even Ellis isn’t immune to Broadway’s IP-driven pursuits. Yet there was admittedly a slight reluctance in seeing this particular story leap from page to stage. After all, the journey to celluloid alone was paved with myriad What-ifs and it nearly perished in development hell. Alas, we’re now 10 years into its run (the show premiered back in 2013 with Matt Smith in London — sheesh), and, you know what, it’s hard to imagine ever doubting this could work. Songwriter Duncan Sheik and playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa pieced together a musical both hilarious and delectable.
Photo by Evan Hanover
That much was obvious this past weekend at Chicago’s Chopin Theater, where director Derek Van Barham kept the musical fresh and vital with an intimate production that married the bisexual aesthetics of Harron’s feature and the sugary cynicism of Ellis’ source material. The setup was invigorating: a slim runway fitting for models, glossed over with business cards, and lightning you’d imagine would flood Bateman hangouts like Tunnel, Canal, Au Bar, or Nell’s. They do a lot with very little space, whether it’s through wise blocking (a post-Huey Paul Owens is incorporated wisely) or through props (chairs do some heavy lifting).
Of course, none of it would work without a star that could not only match Bale’s iconic turn but also give us something different. For Chicagoans this past season, that tough, tall task went to Kyle Patrick. To say he delivered is an understatement: Beyond his chiseled looks — there’s a lot of skin in this production — Patrick grooved within Sheik’s New Wave anthems and cruised through the cast with the grace of a veteran shark. More importantly, though, he managed to inject enough pathos into Bateman’s neutered underbelly, those gasps when we see the “real” man within, and it’s those moments Patrick sliced into with glee.
Photo by Evan Hanover
Die-hard readers of Ellis will revel in seeing a number of memorable sequences from the pages, be it Tom Cruise’s elevator cameo to Bateman’s purgatorial visit to the Hamptons. Granted, a few of these inclusions add some heft to the runtime, but they also spotlight a side of the novel that is often overshadowed by the humor and the set pieces. Sheik and Aguirre-Sacasa saw right into the existential dilemma at the center of the novel in ways that the feature only scratches. That alone is worth the admission (particularly for readers), and adds a little more weight to a musical that could have easily leaned on strictly camp.
Again, this production has been around for 10 years, so perhaps there’s no new knowledge that can be extracted from my telling and this review has meant nothing. But, speaking candidly, it was quite a revelation to see IP utilized in a way that didn’t feel gluttonous or an overcapitalization. This musical — or, at least, how it was envisioned by Kokandy Productions here in Chicago — was an absolute delight. It’s crazy, it’s sexy, and there’s a cool to it all that’s in line with the source material, where killer looks and catchy hooks is the real high to each day-to-day. Being a part of that for two hours felt like a new drug.
For more information, visit Kokandy Productions.
Horror was permanently changed in 1984 when Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street unleashed Freddy Krueger on the world. This brutal boogeyman pushed horror to exciting new places, but so much of the character’s impact is the result of Robert Englund’s quintessential performance.
Englund has a long and storied career as a performer that’s covered far more than horror alone. However, there’s such a sublime, sinister synergy between Englund and this heightened genre that’s made him one of horror’s most revered names.
Englund is set to scare audiences again as a malevolent reimagining of Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio Unstrung, but he’s also been responsible for many more macabre monsters.
The Cricket (Pinocchio Unstrung)
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey has somehow spun a morbid experiment in public domain exploitation into its own cinematic universe, the Twisted Childhood Universe. There’s been increasing promise in the TCU’s various films, which has also led to a growing list of capable horror guest stars, such as Roger L. Jackson, Richard Brake, and now Robert Englund. Englund is by far the most impressive name to attach himself to one of these movies, and Pinocchio Unstrung certainly doesn’t squander the opportunity to have him on board as its terrifying take on Jiminy Cricket. Englund’s performance as “The Cricket” in Pinocchio Unstrung becomes a sinister subversion of the classic character who is meant to function as Pinocchio’s conscience and moral compass.
Englund’s Cricket is instead the ultimate instigator who perpetually pushes Pinocchio into greater violence that condemns humanity and its many misgivings, rather than idolizing all the “real boys” in the world. Pinocchio Unstrung is a love letter to practical effects and old-fashioned animatronics and puppetry. This means that Englund just provides the voice for Cricket, but it’s still a deeply sinister performance and one of the most unnerving characters to appear in the Twisted Childhood Universe. Once again, Englund is careful not to just repurpose his Freddy Krueger persona, and he instead develops an original voice that plays into past renditions of the character. There’s a palpable rage and disdain in Englund’s Cricket that turns him into a threatening loose cannon and makes the audience forget that he’s only a few inches tall.
The Phantom of the Opera (The Phantom of the Opera)
The Phantom of the Opera is a foundational horror story that’s still being explored over a century later. 1989’s cinematic adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s 1910 classic doesn’t always get the respect that it deserves, despite it containing one of Englund’s most nuanced horror performances. Directed by Dwight H. Little, who previously helmed the underrated Halloween 4, The Phantom of the Opera operates as a gorier take on Leroux’s source material that feels like a lost Hammer Film picture. The titular Phantom is the perfect role for Englund following A Nightmare on Elm Street, and his participation in the picture was initiated by Englund promising his agent that he’d do another horror project after Elm Street’s success.
Englund was excited to tackle an iconic character who had previously been portrayed by formative horror legends like Herbert Lom, Claude Rains, and Lon Chaney. Englund beautifully fits the mold and is sublime casting for this ‘80s take on the character. Englund taps into a powerful dichotomy between the Phantom’s brutal and tragically sympathetic nature. It’s a role that’s significantly deeper than Freddy Krueger and better explores Englund’s range as an actor, which helps get him away from cheesy one-liners. It also doesn’t hurt that Little concocts a uniquely twisted take on the Phantom’s disfigurement, which was achieved by sewing human skin onto Englund’s face. The modern-day sequences that bookend the film were meant to tie into a planned sequel, The Phantom of the Opera 2: Terror in Manhattan, which unfortunately never came to fruition.
Victor Creel (Stranger Things)
Love it or hate it, Stranger Things assembled some impressive guest stars that took advantage of their respective legacies as ‘80s genre legends, such as Linda Hamilton, Matthew Modine, Cary Elwes, and Robert Englund. Englund’s turn as Victor Creel in the streaming hit’s fourth season is one of the series’ best performances and a role that rises above the mediocrity around it. Victor Creel is an opportunity for Englund to actually subvert expectations and play against type. It’s brilliant casting that initially conditions the audience to be wary of Creel and view him as a frightening threat. This perception is reinforced when Creel is encountered in a psychiatric ward and horrifically blinded.
Creel’s disturbing eye-gouged appearance is revealed to actually be a symptom of his tragic life and the psychological torment he received from Vecna. Creel is hard to look at, but there’s nothing to fear about him. He’s led a sad life that’s filled with inescapable guilt. He’s more like one of Freddy Krueger’s victims than Freddy himself. Englund goes above and beyond as Victor Creel, and the emotional monologues that he delivers are among some of the actor’s best work and proof that Englund’s still got it.
Marquis de Sade (Night Terrors)
Tobe Hooper’s Night Terrors is a particularly forgettable ’90s horror film that faced a litany of production problems and changes that certainly didn’t do it any favors. The story is a mess, even for a Cannon Video production, but it provides the novelty of Englund pulling double duty as the cruel Marquis de Sade and his modern day descendant, Paul Chevalier. Night Terrors banked on the novelty of Hooper directing Englund as one of history’s greatest monsters, and his performance is easily the best thing about this movie.
There’s an unabashed glee to Englund’s work as the Marquis de Sade that’s reminiscent of Freddy Krueger’s twisted jubilation over his creative murders, yet it doesn’t just feel like a carbon copy of Englund’s iconic role. There’s an appreciated degree of restraint going on before the film goes off the rails and incorporates supernatural elements and abstract dream sequences. Chevalier and his modern cult worship the Marquis de Sade as a deity of torture and liberation. The nightmare sequences that involve the Marquis de Sade are the most chilling and make this figure look as frightening on the outside as he is on the inside. There’s enough to latch onto here, even if the film as a whole is a mess, and Englund doesn’t squander the opportunity to play two sides of the same creepy coin.
Scarecrow (Injustice 2)
Robert Englund is no stranger to voiceover work, and he’s voiced his share of macabre and memorable characters over the years. That being said, one of his most inspired roles is the work that he did in NetherRealm’s dark DC Comics-based fighter, Injustice 2, where he plays Jonathan Crane, better known as the Scarecrow. There’s a certain tongue-in-cheek brilliance to having Englund voicing the Batman rogue who is the self-appointed “Master of Fear.” There’s certainly a meta quality to Englund’s casting here, right down to how some of his dialogue explicitly references Freddy Krueger one-liners like “Welcome to your nightmare” and “Now I’m playing with power.”
Englund doesn’t just phone in this performance or replicate his work as Freddy. The actor cultivates a unique voice for Scarecrow that cuts to the core of this character in a menacing manner. Englund’s Scarecrow is raspy, erratic, and honestly one of the better takes on Dr. Crane. It makes one wonder what he’d be able to accomplish if he were playing the part in live-action. He takes a simple role and breathes fresh life into it. Curiously, it’s not his first time playing a Batman villain. He does comparably interesting work as The Riddler in The Batman and the more obscure sorcerer, Felix Faust, in Justice League.
Evil Bloodthirsty Brian (The Hughleys)
There’s a surprising relationship between horror icons and sitcoms, with Robert Englund being no stranger to adding a devious dose of terror to a farcical comedy. Englund shows up as a playful take on Lucifer in Married…with Children, but he also provides a genuinely chilling performance in the first season of The Hughleys. Season one’s “Storm O’ the Century” is centered around the Hughleys and Rogerses getting stranded at a seemingly haunted hotel during an intense blizzard.
“Storm O’ the Century” functions as a proper love letter to horror fans, with genre guest stars that include The Addams Family’s John Astin, The Shining’s Shelley Duvall, and Robert Englund as the comically-named Evil Bloodthirsty Brian. The episode certainly prioritizes its comedy, but it manages to also be legitimately creepy thanks to a locked-in performance by Englund. He’s used sparingly, but always to punctuate a particular scene and function as a jump scare. Evil Bloodthirsty Brian sports a ghastly scar and has a look that’s just frightening enough to be included on a ’90s sitcom. Anyone who is curious about Englund’s performance can check it out for free on Tubi.
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