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Bret Easton Ellis Fantasizes ‘American Psycho’ Literary Sequel

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American Psycho

With Lionsgate already prepping a new American Psycho feature (Dec. 8), author and franchise creator Bret Easton Ellis took to Twitter where he spent the past week talking up a potential written sequel as well. He has already made a demand as to who should take over as Patrick Bateman, so maybe his mind is racing with new ideas — or maybe he’s just a sarcastic fellow making a ton of jokes….

On March 10th he writes, “1:00 AM in L.A. and sitting at my desk finishing a script and suddenly I’m making notes on where Patrick Bateman’s now and maybe he could…” He continued: “Hmmm… Maybe I’ll call my publishers on Monday… But have to figure out what the structure is…

The idea? It’s absolutely unclear if the author is JOKING, but if he is for real, inside you can read a slew of tweets gathered that tease a potential new tale for the psychotic Patrick Bateman. [Now is the time to play The Nylon Curtain on iTunes] “Flashback: Patrick as a teenager and then moves into college before he gets to New York and how Pierce & Pierce is forced by his dad to…”

“Definitely murders at prep school and …”

“Patrick at Harvard listening to The Nylon Curtain… maybe Nebraska… maybe Don Henley…”

“I would love Patrick dissecting Don Henley’s “Building the Perfect Beast”…”

“Patrick’s first killing would not have been at Harvard. It would have been before… it would have been his father’s mistress…”

“Patrick would hate Obama and for example, go into great detail about the Honey Badger fraudulence of #Kony2012 and he’d love Kim Kardashian.”

“How would Patrick Bateman deal with the notion of transparency? Or did he already deal with it in the original? Thoughts as I write notes…”

“Patrick would post pics of murdered girls on Facebook and either no one would notice or post “Fuck yeah” and that’s what I’m thinking about.”

“Patrick would talk about Adele and Kanye and KATY PERRY because “Firework” is his favorite song… and then he kills Katy Perry’s trainer…”

“Patrick’s iPad would start speaking to him… Telling him Adele’s cover of The Cure drove him to killing, well, just about everybody…”

“I’ve three pages on where Patrick Bateman is now and where he came from. The most violent scene is in a sorority where PB rapes/kills 12…”

“Patrick would go on a very long dissertation about Coldplay’s oeuvre… His favorite song being “Fix You”…”

“Patrick would complain about spotify and the cloud and tumbler…but he would find victims via Blendr while listening to Beyonce and O.A.R.”

Ellis goes on and on via his Twitter feed, with many of his ideas leading this writer to believe he’s JOKING. Ellis is a sly fox, so we’ll have to see where this heads, either way he’s an entertaining writer that also deserves to be read via Twitter.

Horror movie fanatic who co-founded Bloody Disgusting in 2001. Producer on Southbound, V/H/S/2/3/94, SiREN, Under the Bed, and A Horrible Way to Die. Chicago-based. Horror, pizza and basketball connoisseur. Taco Bell daily. Franchise favs: Hellraiser, Child's Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Scream and Friday the 13th. Horror 365 days a year.

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‘Phantasm’ – Why the Horror Classic’s Exploration of Death Still Resonates 45 Years Later

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As Benjamin Franklin famously wrote, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

The horror genre offers a controlled environment in which viewers can reflect on their own morality, whether it be via catharsis or escapism, but a personal loss can complicate one’s relationship with horror. Even the most hardened of fans may struggle to find comfort in the genre after experiencing the death of a loved one.

45 years ago today, Phantasm helped viewers confront death head-on while subtly exploring the grief that accompanies it. In the film, 13-year-old Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) convinces his older brother-turned-guardian Jody (Bill Thornbury) and their affable neighborhood ice cream man, Reggie (Reggie Bannister), to investigate a mysterious mortician dubbed The Tall Man (Angus Scrimm).

Phantasm was the third feature from writer-director Don Coscarelli (The Beastmaster, Bubba Ho-Tep). The seed was planted upon witnessing the audience react to a small jump scare at a preview screening for his previous effort, the 1976 coming-of-age tale Kenny and Company. Chasing that jolt of adrenaline, he challenged himself to make a movie that delivers scares regularly throughout.

The independent production was shot in 1977 on weekends over the course of nearly a year in and around southern California’s San Fernando Valley. The 23-year-old Coscarelli shrewdly rented the film gear on Fridays and returned it Monday morning, getting three days of work out of a single day’s rental fee. When all was said and done, the film cost an estimated $300,000.

Unable to afford a full crew, Coscarelli also took on director of photography and editing duties. His father, Dac Coscarelli, receives a producer credit for providing a large chunk of the film’s funding. Additional financing was invested by doctors and lawyers, accruing a total estimated budget of $300,000. His mother, Kate Coscarelli, served as production designer, wardrobe stylist, and makeup artist under different pseudonyms, and she later wrote the novelization.

Hot off the success of John Carpenter’s Halloween, AVCO Embassy Pictures purchased Phantasm for distribution. It was released on March 28, 1979 in California and Texas before expanding to other territories and becoming a box office success. It spawned four sequels, with Coscarelli and the core cast on board throughout, along with a cult following that counts Quentin Tarantino, Rob Zombie, Snoop Dogg, and JJ Abrams (who named Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ Captain Phasma in its honor) among its ranks.

PHANTASM Remastered

The film embraces nightmare logic – in part by design, as Coscarelli drew influence from Suspiria; partly the result of extensively editing down an overlong first cut to a tight 89 minutes. The it-was-all-a-dream ending is a rare one that doesn’t undermine the entire movie that preceded it. Not every plot point is spelled out for the viewer, and some dots may not completely connect, but the narrative is conveyed in such an engrossing manner that it hardly matters.

A particularly striking pair of back-to-back sequences occur at the conclusion of the first act. Following a late-night graveyard excursion, the camera pulls out on a shot of a sleeping Mike to reveal his bed in the cemetery with The Tall Man poised over him while ghouls attack from their graves. The next day, Mike witnesses The Tall Man affected by the chill of Reggie’s ice cream truck via a spine-tingling slow-motion zoom.

The special effects also shine, from flying metallic spheres that suck the blood out of victims’ heads to lifelike severed fingers that bleed viscous yellow gore. The visuals are supplemented by progressive music composed by Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave, to whom Coscarelli recommended electronica maestro Vangelis and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Despite its repetition throughout the film, the power of their haunting musical theme is never diluted.

The cast was populated by amateurs, but occasionally hammy performances are far outweighed by naturalistic character moments, best exemplified by the scene in which Jody and Reggie jam on their guitars together. In addition to serving the plot by introducing the tuning fork that plays an integral role in the finale, it allows the viewer to better connect with the characters, thereby making their peril all the more frightening.

It’s character building like this that makes Phantasm‘s exploration of death so effective. The film is ultimately about Mike coming to terms with the passing of Jody, portrayed as the cool older sibling every adolescent wishes they had. Mike confronts his fear by dreaming up a final adventure with his dearly departed brother in which they manage to defeat death itself, represented by The Tall Man. Upon doing so, he’s awakened to the harsh reality that Jody died in a car accident, allowing Mike to reach the final stage of grief: acceptance.

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