Films sexiest serial killers

June 17, 11:02 AMNorfolk Movie ExaminerRenee Roland

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American Psycho Film Poster

American Psycho starring Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman

Armed with a perfect, fit physique, gorgeous face, tons of cash and no iota of human soul, Christian Bale’s Patrick Bateman made women swoon, breath heavily and eventually bleed. Christian Bale’s non-accent that he created for the character was quite an accomplishment as the Welsh actor could have easily just worked on hiding his own accent with a stereotypical, New York brogue. This actor’s choice was brilliant and overlooked.

Although the character of Patrick Bateman has zero redeeming human qualities and was a superficial jerk to boot, for some reason, his physical attraction was enough for women to trust him time and again. However, Patrick was aware of his bloodlust and knew he was losing control and since he had no real social conscious of his own, he was very well versed in what a real person with a real soul should say, and that gave him the appearance of owing a heart.

The only true moment in the film in which he shows some human emotional quality is the scene in which his assistant, portrayed by Chloë Sevigny, comes to his apartment to meet for dinner. With souvenirs of his mutilated victims scattered about his apartment and nail gun in his hand, Patrick musters up enough feeling for her to ask her to leave before he hurts her. Of course he means literally, taking it as an emotional reference, she leaves with her arms, legs and head in tact.

Christian Bale has now moved on to über stardom with the Batman series but his fans will always remember this unforgettable performance.

American Psycho: The Pornography of Killing – An Essay by Holly Willis www.imdb.com/title/tt0472042/ 

Minus Man starring Owen Wilson as Vann

 The Best Films You’ve Never Seen – James Napoli’s rental of the week -- This week: The Minus Man (1999)
(From Collider.com. 23 February 2009)
www.imdb.com/title/tt0151582/news#ni0688684

Owen Wilson played a serial killer? Yes, extremely convincingly well. Regardless of Owen’s on-screen charm, and quirky sensuality, Minus Man was not a smash hit but it was an original well-performed indie film. Owen’s character, Vann, was not a typical serial killer, he used a poison, killed passively and sometimes didn’t even stay around to watch the victim die. It was also an unusual habit that Vann, being a predator chose his victims randomly and he didn’t have a pattern. Sometimes he’d know them, sometimes not. Some victims were male, some female, young or old, it didn’t matter because it wasn’t personal. He just had to kill. It didn’t make a difference who dies.

Vann’s character was reminiscent experimenting with death and although he had a conscious awareness that he was wrong, he couldn’t help himself. He was aware of his mental illness and ran from it both figuratively and literally, moving from town to town running from his own demons and due to his intense paranoia, what he believed to be the police. This performance was pure, down in the gut, pulling from your own pain, acting. The scariest moment of the film is not in any of the murder scenes but in a playful scene with Janine Garafalo in which she attempts to become closer to him and the intimacy unleashes Vann’s well-controlled monster. He confuses the feelings of intimacy with invasion and gets violent. This was a very smart acting choice by Owen Wilson, holding back his pent up rage, aggression and lack of self-control and then exploding at a time he should be affectionate. That’s when the real serial killer comes to the screen.

This is the moment to become afraid of Vann. This is not a suspenseful, who-done-it, but psychological study of a tortured killer, a very loveable, sexy, broken man. Owen Wilson is a wonderful, talented serious actor and hopefully the world will see more of that type of performance from him.

The Watcher starring Keanu Reeves as David Allen Griffin

The film itself was not a huge critical success not because the screenplay was flawed but because Keanu Reeves wasn’t. He is ridiculously beautiful to look at and is way too hot for women to be afraid of him. His performance as cop-taunting, serial killer, David Allen Griffin was not terrible, he was just so good-looking that the viewer did not fear for the victim but envied her. Not a great response when the filmmakers’ goal is to create suspense in the theater and invoke shrieks of horror from the audience. Women relying on their libido as a judge of character and ignoring the warning signs because she feels attracted to a man has played out tragically many times in the real world. Killers like Ted Bundy used his looks and charisma to hunt and kill just as David Allen Griffin did in this film. Giving him credit, Keanu appeared to have tried to branch out from his typecast roles.

The only real crime in this film is that Mr. Reeves was too handsome for the role.

SECRET KEANU REEVES INFO fansitecelebfanssite.net/ 

Red Dragon starring Ralph Fiennes as Francis Dolarhyde

Even with the lisp, Ralph Fiennes menacing character of Francis Dolarhyde, despite the feminine character name is interestingly seductive. It didn’t hurt that the psychopath’s cut, tattooed body was flawless. Francis’ emotional frailty, strange mommy issues and fear-lust for women, mixed with egomaniacal self-absorption kept him human and intriguing. His chastity was sexy, giving the viewer a fearful desire to seduce him and maternally stroke his hair. This film, based on the book, Red Dragon, was previously made as Manhunter, also a good film but lacking alluring, gorgeous and daunting Ralph Fiennes.

Kalifornia starring Brad Pitt as Early Grayce 

What “sexiest” anything list would be complete without Mr. Brad Pitt. Dustin Hoffman was once quoted saying “whenever Brad is around, he makes everyone else look like an onion.” Yes, he is the epitome of sex appeal but his character Early, played opposite Juliette Lewis, is not. He is a filthy, redneck pig. He picks his toe jam, he doesn’t bathe and he is just disgusting. He is primal man like something out of Deliverance. Interestingly, every now and then, early would say something smarter than his troglodyte-like intelligence should allow, making the viewer wonder how much of his simpleton ways are put on. Another little layer Brad gave his character was his obvious lust for both his woman and all others. When he’d make eyes at a woman, the audience would still melt, bad teeth, grit and all. Brad Pitt portrayed this serial killer very effectively and it seemed that Mr. Pitt created an interesting history from which to work from for his quirky yet dangerous character.

Brad Pitt made this list, not because he failed to be creepy or dark, but because no matter what Brad Pitt does, he cannot hide his essence from the screen. Even as a serial killer, Brad Pitt is simply an Adonis.Brad Pitt Keeps Fresh with Baby Wipes, Reveals Costar (From PEOPLE.com. 2 June 2009, 8:00 AM, PDT)
www.imdb.com/title/tt0107302/news#ni0814105

 LAURIE SIEMENS Norfolk Film Examinerwww.examiner.com/x-4530-Norfolk-Film-Examiner

ONfilm Festival indie films OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY AND THE CITY OF NORFOLK
www.onfilmfest.com/