10 Best Horror Movie Villains With Absolutely No Motive

He’s incredibly successful, outrageously handsome, and completely psychotic. This is unhinged yuppie Patrick Bateman from gruesome horror American Psycho, which is based on the equally gruesome novel by Bret Easton Ellis.

Starring Christian Bale as the eponymous investment banker, the film is a deep dive into his obsessive, narcissistic, and downright violent behaviour. Whether he’s obsessing over his rigorous morning routine, lecturing soon-to-be victims about his love of music, or brutally murdering colleagues and complete strangers, Bateman treats every action with the same cold detachment. He’s completely devoid of empathy for his actions, and its this absence of humanity which makes Bateman seriously frightening.

There's no real reason why he kills. His spurts of excessive violence are almost at random. He axes one of his associates because he’s jealous of their business card and eventually goes on a bloody rampage for the sheer thrill of it.

Bateman is a psychopath who’s unable to control his murderous urges. There’s no doubt that he’s a monster, but there is a point to his behaviour: Bateman is a symbol of the greed of the upper classes. There’s no limit to his bloody appetite and he truly believes that he cannot be stopped - and he isn't.