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.
It’s been 75 years since The Thing From Another World first warned us to “watch the skies”, and filmgoers have done just that by showing up to multiple instances of extraterrestrial contact on the big screen. This makes sense, as a recent CBS news poll estimated that 63% of Americans believe in intelligent life on other planets, and the ongoing disclosure movement aims to raise that number with each passing day.
With Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day leaving many genre fans hungry for more alien footage (preferably of the spooky variety), today I’d like to share a list recommending six underrated alien invasion thrillers for your viewing pleasure. After all, regardless of whether or not you believe that we’re alone in the universe, it can be fun to dream about the worst-case scenario if our cosmic neighbors ever decide to visit.
For the purposes of this list, we’ll be focusing on lesser-known invasion stories rather than the popular extraterrestrials of franchises like Alien and Close Encounters of the Third (or even Fourth) Kind. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own alien favorites if you think we missed a particularly thrilling movie.
While it won’t be featured in this article, I’d highly recommend checking out Dean Alioto’s UFO Abduction/The McPherson Tape if you’re up for some ufology-inspired found footage thrills.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
6. The Arrival (1996)
Not to be confused with Denis Villeneuve’s Academy Award-winning Amy Adams vehicle about learning to communicate peacefully with extraterrestrial life, David Twohy’s The Arrival is a much more straightforward (but no less entertaining) genre romp where Charlie Sheen faces a global conspiracy involving hostile alien invaders.
It’s not exactly up there with Close Encounters or even Independence Day, but Twohy’s conspiratorial thriller plays out like an exceptionally fun episode of The X-Files that I’d recommend to sci-fi/horror fans who don’t mind a little bit of wonky CGI and 90s excess alongside their alien thrills.
5. Extraterrestrial (2014)
The Vicious Brothers made a name for themselves with the success of 2011’s Grave Encounters, but that was far from the Canadian duo’s only collaboration. And while it’s not exactly a fan favorite, I always point out 2014’s Extraterrestrial as one of their most underrated projects simply because I agree with the filmmakers’ opinion that there aren’t enough ‘cool alien abduction movies’ out there.
Admittedly, the majority of the picture functions like a run-of-the-mill creature feature with paper-thin characters and familiar horror tropes, but I’d argue that the cosmically-terrifying final act elevates the experience to new and memorable heights. The movie also boasts great performances by both Michael Ironside and Emily Perkins – a combination that more than makes up for the occasionally janky CGI.
4. Alien Raiders (2008)
Director Ben Rock has gone on record lamenting how his John-Carpenter-inspired creature feature was forcefully renamed from Supermarket to the painfully obvious Alien Raiders (a change which likely resulted in many potential viewers skipping out on the experience), but the new title doesn’t change the fact that this single-location thriller is something of a hidden gem.
Taking place entirely within a supermarket, Alien Raiders tells the story of an ensemble of customers and employees who are taken hostage by a group of armed men looking for something far more dangerous than an easy payout. I won’t get into details in order to avoid spoiling the experience, but I’d highly recommend this criminally underseen flick to fans of John Carpenter and the Resident Evil games.
3. Phoenix Forgotten (2017)
You’d think that a Ridley-Scott-produced retelling of one of the most infamous real-life UFO sightings of all time would have a bigger following, but I rarely see Justin Barber’s Found Footage period piece brought up during discussions about extraterrestrial-focused horror movies.
This is a huge shame, as Phoenix Forgotten is just as spooky as it is convincing, with this well-researched dive into the Phoenix Lights incident benefiting from surprisingly believable special effects as well as an appropriately horrific finale.
2. Communion (1989)
I wouldn’t blame you for disregarding Whitley Strieber’s controversial book about his alleged close encounter as sensationalist slop, but I’d argue that Phillipe Mora’s 1989 adaptation of these events is much better than the source material. After all, the movie works as a standalone piece of speculative fiction while also benefiting from an incredible performance by the one and only Christopher Walken!
Mora’s take on Communion may not be particularly scary, but the film is still an unforgettable character study regardless of whether or not the abduction really happened. Not only that, but the flick also paved the way for plenty of future sci-fi stories where the extraterrestrial invaders aren’t as evil as they initially appear.
1. Altered (2006)
Originally envisioned as a Sam Raimi-style horror-comedy titled Probed, Eduardo Sánchez (of The Blair Witch Project fame) eventually realized that it would be much more interesting to turn the film into a serious exploration of the emotional aftermath of a traumatic abduction incident.
That’s how we got Altered, a clever inversion of the standard abduction narrative that follows a group of troubled friends as they capture and experiment on an alien in order to enact revenge for their own abduction years prior.
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