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American Psycho 2
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Wikipedia article
'American Psycho 2' (also known as 'American Psycho II: All American Girl') is a 2002 American horror film directed by Morgan J. Freeman from a screenplay by Alex Sanger and Karen Craig. Starring Mila Kunis and William Shatner, it is a stand-alone sequel to the film 'American Psycho'. Kunis portrays a criminology student who is drawn to murder.
The screenplay for the film, entitled 'The Girl Who Wouldn't Die', originally had no association with 'American Psycho'. After production began, the script was altered to connect the film with the original. 'American Psycho 2' was released direct-to-video on June 18, 2002, to negative reviews from critics and holds a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It was also denounced by Bret Easton Ellis, the author of the original novel, and Kunis later expressed regret for the film.
Plot
The film starts with a 12-year-old girl whose babysitter is on a date with serial killer Patrick Bateman. After Bateman kills and starts to dissect her babysitter, said 12-year-old girl stabs him with an ice pick. Fast forward to the present day and the girl, who is named Rachael Newman, is now a college student studying criminology under Professor Starkman, a former FBI agent. Rachael aspires to join the FBI and is determined to get the teaching assistant position under Starkman, which would make her a shoo-in for the FBI training program.
Tough competition for the position stands in her way, and Rachael proceeds to kill off classmates one by one. During her killing spree, she decides to see the school psychiatrist, Dr. Eric Daniels. Realizing that Rachael is a textbook sociopath that is obsessed with Starkman, Daniels tries to warn Starkman but without revealing Rachel's name due to patient confidentiality. Starkman mistakenly assumes that the student obsessed with him is Cassandra Blaire, with whom he had an extramarital affair. When Cassandra reveals that her affair with Professor Starkman has guaranteed her the TA position, Rachael decides to murder her as well. After she does so, Professor Starkman discovers Cassandra's body and calls Daniels to tell him that "she's dead". However, he does not identify the victim and Daniels assumes it must be Rachael. Distraught, Professor Starkman leaves his teaching position, which angers the obsessed Rachael. It is revealed that she is not Rachael Newman; she killed the real Rachael at the beginning of the semester and assumed her identity.
During spring break, "Rachael" stays on campus and locates an intoxicated Starkman, impaired by the effects of Valium and alcohol, and tries to seduce him to get the job. However, Starkman sees she is wearing a dress and necklace he had given to Cassandra. She then confesses her crimes to him, her "crush" on him, and that she knew about his affairs with various women (which included her former babysitter that Bateman murdered), as he backs up towards the window in a state of confusion and fear. Rachael blows him a kiss, and he falls out the window to his death. As she leaves, Rachael also murders a janitor and a security guard because they witnessed Starkman's death.
As the film reaches its conclusion, Daniels and two cops pursue Rachael in a car chase, which ends with Rachael driving off a cliff, resulting in the car exploding. At this point, she is presumed to be dead by the cops who witnessed the event and the media.
Two years later, Dr. Daniels is giving a lecture on Rachael's mind and how he wrote a book about her. When he looks up from speaking with a student, he sees Rachael, who has not died after all; she indirectly reveals that she killed Starkman's last assistant, Elizabeth McGuire, and stole her identity to get into Quantico FBI Academy. She allows Dr. Daniels to know because she believes there is no point in committing the perfect crime if no one knows about it and she is confident he will not divulge this information because it would make a farce of his best-selling book in which he claimed to completely understand her and witness her death in the fiery car. The body that was in the car was the real Rachael, whose decaying body had been kept in the killer's dorm closet. It was revealed by another student that Rachael is the youngest agent to be drafted to the Bureau in her sophomore year. As Rachael walks out of his class, Dr. Daniels is visibly shaken by what he had just learned.
Cast
* Mila Kunis as Rachael Newman, the serial killer, and a student of Professor Starkman's class, seeking to learn everything she can about serial killers
** Susan Dalton as the real Rachael Newman
** Jenna Perry as Young Rachael
* William Shatner as Robert Starkman, a college professor and former FBI agent. He teaches in the Behavioral and Social Sciences department and is Rachael's professor.
* Geraint Wyn Davies as Eric Daniels, the school psychiatrist
* Robin Dunne as Brian Leads, one of Rachael's classmates
* Lindy Booth as Cassandra Blaire, a student in Starkman's class with whom he is having an affair
* Charles Officer as Keith Lawson
* Michael Kremko as Patrick Bateman, a notorious serial killer
* Kim Poirier as Barbara Brown, a student in Starkman's class who is hoping for a good grade, only to be set aside due to the professor's affair with Cassandra Blaire
* Kim Schraner as Elizabeth McGuire, Starkman's assistant
* Shoshana Sperling as Gertrude Fleck
* Lynne Deragon as Mrs. Newman
* Philip Williams as Mr. Newman
* Kay Hawtrey as Mrs. Daniels
Release
Home media
The film was released on VHS and DVD on June 18, 2002. Extras included a feature commentary with director Freeman, star Kunis, deleted scenes, and a trailer. The film made its Blu-ray debut on September 5, 2017. It includes all of the DVD extras along with a digital copy.Reception
'American Psycho 2' was panned by critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating score of 0% based on 8 reviews, with an average score of 2.90 out of 10.
Film critic Rob Gonsalves wrote, "'American Psycho 2' wasn't even supposed to be an 'American Psycho' sequel, for Christ's sake! Lions Gate noticed that the first film got critical acclaim and didn't do too poorly in theaters, so they dusted off an unrelated script and modified it to link it (tenuously) to the first film."
The film was denounced by 'American Psycho' author Bret Easton Ellis the year before its release. In 2005, Mila Kunis expressed embarrassment over the film, and spoke out against the idea of a third entry. "Pleasesomebody stop this", she said. "Write a petition. When I did the second one, I didn't know it would be 'American Psycho II'. It was supposed to be a different project, and it was re-edited, but, ooh I don't know. Bad."
References
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