By Sarah Sluis
How's this for a curious project? Bret Easton Ellis and Paul Schrader are teaming up for a psychological horror movie called Bait. With sharks. The plot reads like any B movie, but I imagine this duo will be able to bring a little something extra to the table. A man who despises rich people secures an invitation onto a yacht. He then pilots it into shark-filled waters, and lets the carnage begin. Both are working on a final version of the script, and Schrader will direct. Here are three reasons why this idea, in the hands of Ellis and Schrader, could end up being something special.
1. Ellis writes rich people very, very well. His novels Less than Zero and Rules of Attraction were tales of empty hedonism and jaded excess. He can be so deliciously cruel to his subjects, but this kind of biting humor is often married with a shred of compassion or psychological analysis into his characters.
2. Schrader and Ellis are both experienced writing psychopaths. Schrader wrote Taxi Driver, that messed-up tale of vigilante justice. Ellis wrote (and adapted for the screen) American Psycho, a murderous Wall Street tale. There's no doubt in my mind that this yacht club worker will have a personality that's unusually rounded, compelling, and scary.
3. Now is a really good time to hate rich people. Recession-themed tales have been seeping into Hollywood over the past couple years. Everything from documentaries (Inside Job) to maudlin tales of unemployment (The Company Men), movies based on real events (Margin Call) and even other horror tales (Drag Me to Hell) have hit screens. There's something primal about horror movies that let people experience and live out their fears and revenge fantasies. If Bait can resonate with peoples' lizard brains, I predict an unlikely hit.
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