Factual error: In the opening club scene, the main song played is "True Faith" by New Order. The early part of the movie takes place in 1986, and the song was released in late July 1987. (00:03:45)
Factual error: The phone by Patrick's bed is the BeoCom 1401 from Bang and Olufsen, a model introduced in 1991, well after the movie events. (00:05:00)
Factual error: When we get a glimpse of Patrick Bateman's closet as he narrates his morning routine wearing the mint mask, you can see next to a red capped bottle of Yves Laurent a very distinct bottle with no brand label but a unique design, with its small bumps and decorated cap. It's a bottle of Eaux de Caron Pure, a perfume introduced in 1996, a decade after the events of the movie. (00:06:30)
Factual error: We see for the first time Patrick with his "supposed fiancée" during a cab drive. Towards the beginning of the ride, the cab drives between a firetruck and an ambulance, both with the insignia of the F.D.N.Y. The ambulance service wasn't introduced in the FD until the merger with NYC*EMS, which happened in the mid-90s, almost a decade after the events of the movie. (00:09:15)
Factual error: On the way to the dinner at Espace with his girlfriend, Bateman is listening, or trying to, to "the new Robert Palmer tape." Which is kinda uncanny, considering that the movie only time references set it in 1987 (that particular part in late 1986), and the song, "Simply Irresistible," was released in May 1988. (00:09:25)
Factual error: The actual footage playing during the phone call with Courtney is from the 1998 porn "White Angel" (around the 40-minute mark, in case you want to research the material), making it anachronistic for a movie set over 10 years earlier. (00:14:35)
Factual error: Patrick Bateman uses a CD player for his stereo, a Pioneer PD-4300, released in 1989. The movie is supposed to take place a couple of years earlier. (00:27:50)
Factual error: In the scene of the axe murder of Jared Leto, there's a shot of the blood pouring on the newspaper pages set up by Patrick to avoid making a mess of his apartment. In the newspaper, you can see an advertisement for something called "Millennium" and "Broadway." As the phone contact and address confirm (you have to freeze-frame for the latter), that's an ad for the Millennium Broadway hotel (at the time of this entry, the "Millennium Times Square New York"). But at the time of the events in the movie, it would have still been the Hotel Macklowe; it changed name and ownership only in the mid-90s. (00:28:15)
Factual error: Patrick forbids Sabrina to smoke, but offers her, as consolation, a Varda truffle. Varda Chocolatier was founded in 1989, two years after the year the movie takes place in. (00:41:30)
Factual error: When Patrick starts rambling on to the hookers about Phil Collins, behind him you can see that he has a couple of books above his CD collection. The books are "Warhol Pre-Pop" by Jesse Kornbluth and "Frankenthaler" by John Elderfield, both impossible for the time frame of the movie, being from 1988 and 1989 respectively. (00:41:50)
Factual error: Before the second meeting with Donald Kimball begins, William Defoe can be overheard talking with the secretary, and they mention "Monday, the 20th." As we learn just a few seconds later, the day of Allen's 'disappearance' was December the 20th. However, that's not consistent with the year the movie is set in. Not even close. December the 20th hadn't been on a Monday since 1982 and wouldn't be until 1993. (00:49:55)
Factual error: At the club where we see Patrick do coke with his friend, the tunes played are the only single from M|A|R|R|S, "Pump Up the Volume" (before the coke) and "What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy)" by Information Society. The former is a late August 1987 release, the latter released at the end of April in 1988, so outside of the time frame of a movie set in 1987. (00:53:50)
Factual error: When Bateman is in his apartment with his secretary, he points a large tool at the back of her head, unbeknownst to her. That is an air powered nailgun for installing plywood. The only way that one could be used is with an airhose and a compressor. The fitting for the airhose that sticks out of the bottom has been removed because it usually would point straight down and stick out about 2 inches. (01:02:45)
Factual error: The chainsaw Bateman uses to kill the prostitute fleeing the apartment is a Husqvarna 136 model, which came out in 1993. The movie is set in 1987. (01:15:40)
Factual error: After killing the random 'stray' old lady, Bateman flees the scene of the crime. When he triggers some car alarms, he walks past the Rector Street subway entrance. The sign for the station indicates it is served by both line 1 and 9, but line 9 was instituted in 1989, well after the year the movie is set in. (01:19:30)
Factual error: When Jean starts browsing Patrick's planner, the planner does not match any possible year the movie could be set in. For instance, in the 80s, October 8th was on a Friday only in 1982, way too early for the movie. Since the movie was shot in 1999 and the pattern of the days would fit, it's obvious that they simply bought a diary the day of the shooting or something like that. (01:30:05)
Factual error: When at the end of the movie there is a close-up on the TV where the yuppies are watching Ronald Reagan's address to the nation from August 12, 1987, it's a Sony KV-20M10, a model first introduced in 1994, therefore years after the movie setting. (01:34:40)
Answer: The situation is intentionally left vague. The homeless man being murdered wouldn't necessarily make the news in the time (there were over 4000 murders in 1989-90 when the book and movie are set). He and his friends are so alike that they continually mistake each other for others. The prostitutes would likely be loathe to call the police because they might be arrested themselves and he would likely get off with a much better lawyer.
Greg Dwyer
Very true. It is also true that both the director and the writer of the novel are adamant that they don't like at all the idea that people assume he didn't kill anyone and it's all in his mind, even if not everything may happen literally as shown (like the ATM cat-killing message).
Sammo ★