Jim Jarmusch’s creative ingenuity, reflective in his collection of feature films, is nothing short of poetry. Known for his dark, zany humour and non-conformity to genres, his masterful quirks have always been an added perk to his inventive projects.
Jarmusch, known for works like Coffee & Cigarettes Ghost Dog: The Wave of Samurai, Dead Man, Mystery Train, Paterson, Broken Flowers and more, has established a legacy within cinema as one of the most imaginative and pioneering directors of indie filmmaking.
A true film buff who has always expressed his love for horror and its sub-genres, Jarmusch has directed two horrors already, namely the vampire rom-com Only Lovers Left Alive and the epic zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die. With that, he opened up about his feelings for the genre as well as the directors he enjoys watching, stating: “But you know I’m sort of old school. My favourites, my kind of peers are certainly Sam Raimi, those are masterpieces, The Evil Dead trilogy, for sure,” he said. “I love Wes Craven and John Carpenter. I’ve always liked the European stuff, Mario Bava and Dario Argento and those things.”
Talking about Yeon Sang-ho’s 2016 zombie thriller, Jarmusch added: “Zombie-wise, you know, Train to Busan was the most kind of badass thing I’ve seen.” However, he has hailed the film American Psycho as one of his favourite horror films ever made and, with that, Mary Harron’s 2000 film starring Christian Bale is Jarmusch’s go-to film.
“A masterful adaptation of words to cinema by Mary Harron, an important American director, and writer,” Jarmusch said when discussing the movie. “This is adapted from Bret Easton Ellis’s 1991 novel that was set in the 1980s. And I think that the film resonates even more now than when it was made almost 20 years ago. Though at the time it was called sexist filth by some. Christian Bale’s performance is brutally riveting, and the entire cast — Willem Dafoe, Chloe Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon, and Jared Leto — are all just really good.”
The film revolves around Bale as a wealthy investment banker who turns into a menacing psychopath with twisted sexual fetishes at night, managing to uphold his contrasting facades with tact and poise. His hedonistic indulges blur lines between the moral and immoral.
The film, thanks to its mania, madness and terrifying despair, has garnered a cult-like status. Stream the film on Netflix UK and Netflix Canada now.
