American Psycho is a modern classic, with many iconic scenes and lines. The business card scene is the most memed and remembered, but the album monologue probably takes a close second place. Well, a video has been launched that shows a heavily pixelated Patrick Bateman discussing the merits of New Super Mario Bros. as if the film were a Nintendo DS game.
In the original scene, Bateman asks associate Paul Allen if he likes Huey Lewis and the News before going on a long monologue about the ins and outs of their latest work, all while preparing the room for Allen's demise.
In the DS parody, Bateman asks Allen about his opinion on the DS. The rest of the scene is then a beat-for-beat recreation of the original, only instead of discussing Huey Lewis and the News, he's raining praise on New Super Mario Bros.
The audio is tinny and cursed, really adding to that retro feel the pixels help bring to life. Also reminiscent of old game design is the startling lack of facial animations. While giving the monologue, Pateman's lips don't move at all.
While it doesn't have the same flair as Christian Bale's original chilling performance, the cold, dead eyes of his pixelated counterpart do a great job of conveying a similar quietly hidden menace.
The video isn't meant to just be the film played on a DS, however. It's a joke mockup of a DS game tie-in, complete with its own backstory. "A Nintendo DS game from 2007, developed by THQ and published by Lionsgate Films. The game was planned as a movie tie-in with 'American Psycho 3: The Grinch Returns' but never properly released to the public, following the cancellation of the movie's production. However, the game eventually ended up on grocery store shelves, alongside other all-time classics like milk, bread, and mustard."
When the time comes to chop off poor Allen's head, a prompt appears on the lower screen to get you to swipe your stylus to the right. "Great!" appears as Bateman brings the axe down.