In Name Only sequel to American Psycho, released Direct to Video in 2002.
Narrator Rachel Newman (Mila Kunis) is studying criminal psychology at college, her ambition being to join the FBI at Quantico to hunt serial killers. Her classmates have the same ambition. And since only the top student gets an offer to be the TA of a certain professor (played by William Shatner) that she's sure will guarantee such a career, later on, she starts killing those ahead of her and anyone else who gets in the way.
Provides Examples of:
- Dead All Along: The real Rachel has been dead since the beginning and her killer has been impersonating her.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Rachel's revenge on the office worker whose only crime was pointing out that she could not apply for the TA position because she was a freshman. Not only does she kill the woman, she microwaves her cat.
- Dolled-Up Installment: The original script had nothing to do with American Psycho. See
Working Title. - Fake Shemp: Patrick Bateman never shows his face and is obviously not played by Christian Bale.
- Faking the Dead: At the end, Rachel fakes her death and takes another identity which she gets into the FBI using later.
- In Name Only: In terms of unnecessary sequels, this one is up there.
- It's All About Me:
- Rachel is so sure that she needs to be the TA that anything she does to get there is entirely justified in her mind.
- She's also obsessed with getting it right now, while she's a freshman, despite the position not being open to freshmen.
- Karma Houdini: Rachel keeps getting away with one murder after another despite all the mounting evidence.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: Rachel kills Patrick Bateman in the opening scene.
- Mind Screwdriver: The original kept it ambiguous whether Patrick Bateman killed anyone. According to this movie, he did.
- A Minor Kidroduction: The film's prologue starts with Rachel at age 12 when her babysitter is killed by Patrick Bateman with her assisting him.
- Motive Decay: Rachel kills a few people who have nothing to do with her overall scheme.
- Mysterious Past: We never find out Rachel's true name and history beyond her killing Patrick Bateman as a child.
- Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Rachel believes she is doing good: as she explains, killing a few classmates now will be completely justified by all the lives she saves as an FBI agent. Then it all becomes meaningless; she's killing her rivals to become a certain professor's TA, and he goes on sabbatical when she kills the student he's sleeping with — he won't have a TA.
- Oddly Named Sequel 2: Electric Boogaloo: The title suggests a much stronger connection with the original than there really is. You don't need to have read or seen the original to enjoy this movie.
- Parental Obliviousness: The appearance by Rachel's parents makes clear that neither of them has any idea as to her true nature, or that she's using a fake name (Rachel Newman) when attending college.
- Plot Hole:
- In the flashback at the start Rachel's narration says there was nothing connecting her to the murder scene, even though a cleaning lady witnessed her leaving the room. Or that the victim was her babysitter and babysitting her at the time.
- The intro has Patrick Bateman performing a murder that is completely unlike any of the crimes from his own story.
- Somehow, Rachel's parents don't find out she died under another name (Rachel Newman) despite her faking her death with that one, so Eric doesn't know.
- Rachel managing to get into the FBI is deeply implausible, as they do thorough background checks and psychiatric examinations which would reveal a sociopath with a fake identity.
- Police Are Useless: Literally. Multiple deaths on campus and yet everything still seems to carry on as usual.
- Poor Communication Kills: Rachel's therapist calls her professor to warn him about her. The professor thinks he's talking about someone else.
- "Psycho" Strings: Subverted. Rachel commits her murders with bouncy upbeat backing music.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: Rachel's attempt to become the TA. After killing who she saw as her biggest rival who was sleeping with the professor, the man declares he's not going to take a TA this year.
- The Sociopath: Rachel shows no empathy toward anyone else, seeing them as only means to her ends or simply obstacles she must eliminate. She's also utterly obsessed with the idea that she'll achieve this no matter what. Her internal monologue reveals little emotion, though Rachel's skilled at faking this outwardly. Rachel's also a skilled liar and misleads many people. She's also completely convinced of her own importance and abilities. Eric, who's a psychiatrist, realizes she's a sociopath after a single session with him.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Patrick, in the intro in order to set up Rachel.
- There Are No Therapists: Averted, and Rachel actually goes to see him for some reason. He even puts together that she's a sociopath who's got a dangerously unhealthy obsession with the professor and tries to warn him, but does so in such a way that that it's interpreted as being about a different student.
- Twist Ending: While you'd be right to suspect that Rachel doesn't really die in a car crash, exactly where she returns (and who as) is nicely done.
