The Usual Suspects veers between the Classicist and Formalist modes. I would argue that it for the most part classicist: the focus of the film is on the complex story that Verbal spins for Kajun under interrogation. It is vital for the success and cohesion of the film that emphasis is placed on narrative over form (although form is an important aspect of the film). It is a non-linear narrative told in flashback form – a tale that we are not entirely sure whether or not to believe. It is therefore essential that the Bryan Singer made the film more classicist than wholly based on the formalist mode. If there is one thing that most people remember about The Usual Suspects it will be the twist at the end – the cathartic moment in which Kajun drops his coffee as he realises the true identity of Verbal.

 

However, the cinematography of the film is obviously stylised formalistically. For example: the way in which the camera lingers over the debris at the dock in the first scene where Verbal is revealed to be hiding/not hiding. The director places the image of the debris into the subconscious of the audience despite it not having any relevance until the end of the film. Similarly, the way in which light is used to illuminate the faces of the actors throughout the film – particularly when they are confronted with the figure of Keyser Soze. This use of lighting is entirely unrealistic but acts as a visual indicator of realisation or surprise.

American Psycho – Scene Building

The scene that I will deconstruct in this post is the ‘Hip to be Square’ Scene from American Psycho. The setting is Patrick Bateman’s brightly lit, minimalist apartment at night. Bateman wields an axe, wears a raincoat and brandishes a copy of Huey Lewis and the News’ Fore album. Paul (Jared Leto) lolls in a drunken stupor on the covered floor and sofa that have been prepared for his butchering. There is no non-diagetic sound. The sounds before Hip to be Square blares out are the unnerving sounds of Bateman glugging down his meds and the noise of the axe being placed on the floor.

 

The tone of this scene is at once comical and menacing. The scenery enforces this through building upon the things about Patrick we are already aware of. The naff modern art on the wall reinforces the superficiality and materiality that Bateman has set up his life around and the meticulous covering of the sofa and floor and the fact that Bateman wears a raincoat illustrate his narcissism and anal retentiveness as ridiculous.

 

Christian Bale’s portrayal of a psycho is almost slapstick: he dances and maniacally waxes lyrical about Huey Lewis:

“In ’87, Huey released this, Fore, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is ‘Hip To Be Square’, a song so catchy most people probably don’t listen to the lyrics – but they should! Because it’s not just about the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends, it’s also a personal statement about the band itself!”

 

He grins at Paul and gesticulates as he circles his victim. There is a moment in the bathroom in which the comical element of the scene is entirely undercut when Bateman looks at himself solemnly in the mirror before sauntering out with the axe. The murder itself is the result of a slow and comical building of tension. “Hey Paul!” – Patrick brings down the axe on his head and proceeds to hack him to pieces. Christian Bale is entirely convincing as a narcissistic psychopath – at once a comedy villain and a terrifying product of American capitalism and materialism.

 

American Psycho feels unique within the Psychological Thriller genre as it is both utterly fantastical yet also incredibly recognisable. It captures the zeitgeist of the late eighties and successfully translates Bret Easton Ellis’s postmodern nightmare into film.

To begin a Psychological Thriller film blog, the Skeleton Key may seem like an odd place to start. Widely accepted to be a poor movie at the time, it was then swiftly forgotten about, and then it wound up on Netflix. I would argue that the skeleton key is a generic, lowest common denominator imagining of a Psychological Thriller. However, for these reasons it neatly illustrates numerous features that we imagine to constitute a Psychological Thriller. It takes the most obvious tropes of the genre and squashes them together to create ‘the lazy man’s guide to direct a Psychological Thriller without having to think too hard.’ Some of the clichés that were trotted out included a potentially haunted house, a self-rattling door, a white-eyed blind woman in a rocking chair, some unnervingly jaunty camera angles and a plucky young woman in peril in her underwear.

 

The scene to support my argument is the scene in which our heroine is sent to the attic to “get some seed packets”… It acts almost as a pastiche of the Psychological Thriller genre. Our heroine’s hand grabs the key: a symbol of mystery and the unknown. As she walks to unlock the door the shot is filmed through the keyhole, as if from the perspective of the malevolent force within. We are then treated to a wobbly point of view shot as Caroline approaches the rattling door. The shot shifts: door rattling, close up heroine’s startled face, door rattling, then suddenly the door behind her slams shut. She exits the attic, but the last shot is of the door rattling, apparently in the wind: is it all in her head? No This scene is an example of the biggest weapon that horror/ psychological thriller directors have up their sleeve: The Quiet, Quiet…Boom Sequence. It’s the racking up of tension through music (preferably discordant string instruments), wobbly shots and a darkened room then a loud bang and a cut to <insert ghoul/ghost/psychopath/false alarm>