American Psycho is not so much about a serial killer as it is about the psychotic delusions of a psychopathic businessman who does way too much cocaine. Seriously watch it in that context and the entire film makes complete sense, in fact it makes more sense than it does if you think its telling a straight narrative, and believe that at least some of the murders which occur during the films runtime actually take place.
I think it's clear that all of Bateman's "murders" are his wild paranoid imaginings and fantasies. It's a film that satirizes business entrepreneurs, their narcissism, misogyny, cut throat approach and soulless existence with the life of a serial killer, because in essence in terms of personality there's very little that separates the two other than a thin veil of sanity, the only difference is that men like Bateman have found a more socially acceptable way to assert their dominance on others.
American Psycho is also clearly to me a film about cocaine misuse. It's interesting that this subject is rarely brought up when people talk about Warren Ellis's work but it's clearly there.
Bateman is shown to be a massive cocaine user, sweating buckets in just about every scene he is in and when it all comes to a head and he's laughing and crying manically confessing to murders that he couldn't possibly have committed, where is he? , he is in his high rise apartment coked off his face, having audible and visual hallucinations that the cops are coming to get him.
The film is truly in my opinion about the depths of depravity that a narcissistic cocaine user's mind ends up going to. You're not watching a serial killer, you're watching a psychopath have a bad trip because he got high after realizing that someone had a better business card than him.
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