3 out of 5

Directed by: Morgan J. Freeman

It’s not easy to find positive press on American Psycho 2, whether at the time – I was wholly in the crowd whose eyes bugged out at the seeming idiocy of its release, and promptly passed over it – or contemporarily, with even “proper” attempts to view the flick on its own terms (as it was, as always, a rewritten script forced into the American Psycho world as opposed to one intentionally drafted to be) still considering it a below-standard effort.

But: while AP2 is by no means a hidden gem, I do think it actually stands a little taller than most of the ’90s and ’00s glut of DTV teen slashers, making do with its saddled baggage and minimal budget to deliver a campily self-aware bit of entertainment.

First, though, we have to address the sin that sets the film off on bad footing for any type of fan – casual or dedicated (and I’m the latter, at least of the movie) – of American Psycho: it takes the ruins-the-movie premise that Patrick Bateman was a legit killer, with one of his kills “inspiring” a young Rachael Newman (Mila Kunis), whose babysitter was the target of one of Bateman’s (apparently real) kills, the latter subsequently becoming Rachael’s first victim on that same night.

Now, whether or not you want to interpret AP’s events as literal is somewhat besides the point, unless you do just want to read the movie as a straight slasher. In which case, I suppose there’s no issue here. But otherwise, the first movie / book (to me) succeeded because it’s left as a question – how much reality there is – and you can dig into that question and tie it to your conclusions as to Bateman’s psychopathy, and / or the commentary on culture / gender / whatever movie director Mary Harron / book writer Bret Easton Ellis were making. Subtracting that out sets the bar to that “straight slasher” level, which is ultimately what AP2 is. So, in a way, that’s a plus / minus: the movie is not trying to trick you into it being some elevated thriller: it’s a dumb movie, and it chooses the dumbest way in, using this as a shorthand to tell you that Rachael is, y’know, evil. We’re definitely not here to dig in to other aspects that might’ve allowed that event to trigger her – we’re here to speedrun to present day, skipping mightily over any details between then and now, with Newman at college to nail a TA position with professor Robert Starkman (William Shatner), as it’s a nigh-guaranteed shortcut to attending Quantico, because Rachael sure would like to put her evil killing abilities to use for the government.

This is also very dumb. And so: director Morgan J. Freeman, editor Mark Sanders, composer Norman Orenstein, and especially Kunis play it dumb, using cheeky framing and pacing to align this more with Troma-ville camp than flashier slashers of the era, and a score that bounces between chick-fronted alt-rock – Girl Power! – and Orenstein’s whimsical comedy themes. Kunis gives her character all of the sass; her stilted delivery works incredibly well with Rachael’s movie-ized sociopathy-lite. (She later denounced the movie, and I wish it hadn’t received the wholehearted drubbing it had – from me included, as mentioned! – because I think this is a campy performance of which to be proud.)

The key to this working is that the movie is otherwise played pretty straight. The filmmakers and our lead know to mug to the audience, but Shatner gives a dedicated performance, as does Geraint Wyn Davies, playing a school therapist, as do the various students who are Rachael’s competition for the TA spot, and thus her enemies. And what might an evil-leaning lady with a murder in her past do to her enemies…?

Echoes of a former script are sprinkled in with a pointless red herring as to who starts offing these other students, but I appreciate that the writers (Alex Sanger and Karen Craig) made some additional American Psycho nods beyond the opening, and without trying to drum up some twist ending that aligned with the same.

So go beyond acknowledging that American Psycho 2 was forced into its fate as a sequel, and accept what its creators are trying to tell you: it’s not trying to be clever. It’s okay with being dumb. And if you go with those consistent cues, and add it to a pile of direct-to-video cheapie horrors from the same era, you might find this is one of the more competent, enjoyable entries.