Grimmfest’s ‘Killer Thriller’ Double Bill: American Psycho & Psycho at Stockport Plaza

Tom Grieve, Cinema Editor
Park Circus

'Killer Thriller' Double Bill: American Psycho & Psycho at Stockport Plaza Cinema, Stockport 23 May 2019 Tickets from £6 — Book now

Grimmfest return to Stockport Plaza with a ‘Killer Thriller’ double bill this May. Comprised of a 35mm screening of Mary Harron’s clever adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho and Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal slasher Psycho. Seasoned horror hounds will likely know both, but this is an excellent opportunity to experience them in the grandeur of an old movie palace.

Ellis’ incendiary writing and firebrand persona has faded. Today he can be found bemoaning “millennial snowflakes” and what he calls “the victim narrative” across podcasts, Twitter, and a new, dreadfully-received work of non-fiction. But historically, through postmodern novels such as Less Than Zero and Rules of Attraction Ellis has proven a sharp, if nihilistic, chronicler of privileged American milieu and the extremes of masculinity. Harron’s adaptation of Ellis’ American Psycho remains the most popular cinematic adaptation of his writing; a violent, frequently misunderstood satire of Wall Street thinking and yuppie culture that stars Christian Bale as cult character Patrick Bateman.

Hitchcock’s Psycho is only tangentially related to Harron’s film. Arguably the master’s most famous exercise in suspense, film fans don’t need me to rehash the importance of Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, the shower sequence or Bernard Herrman’s score. As always, Psycho is essential big screen viewing. Away from its show-stopper moments, Hitchcock’s movement of the camera is astonishing on a moment-to-moment basis. Every creeping motion is directed to manipulate the audience, engineered to build and release tension in tandem with the films famously unusual structure.

'Killer Thriller' Double Bill: American Psycho & Psycho at Stockport Plaza Cinema, Stockport 23 May 2019 Tickets from £6 Book now

What's on at Stockport Plaza Cinema

Music
MusicStockport
That Night In Manchester

Join the electrifying musical ‘That Night in Manchester’. Immerse yourself in the vibrant Manchester indie scene. Step into the Madchester time machine as you hear a father recount the highs and lows of his life to his only son during the Madchester era spanning his life through the 70’s 80’s & 90’s as you experience the music performed live on stage.

Where to go near Grimmfest’s ‘Killer Thriller’ Double Bill: American Psycho & Psycho at Stockport Plaza

Manchester
Museum
Air Raid Shelters

Carved into the natural sandstone cliffs, the intriguing network of underground tunnels offers visitors an unparalleled insight into life in wartime Britain in the 1940’s.

Merseyway is built on giant stilts over the river Mersey – hence the name! It was one of the first shopping centres to open in 1965 and was refurbished in 1995. Merseyway are proud of their heritage and their role in continuing to attract visitors to Stockport. They strive to live up to the brand promise “famous brands, fabulously close”.
Manchester
Merseyway Shopping Centre

Merseyway is built on giant stilts over the river Mersey – hence the name! It was one of the first shopping centres to open in 1965 and was refurbished in 1995. Merseyway are proud of their heritage and their role in continuing to attract visitors to Stockport. They strive to live up to the brand promise “famous brands, fabulously close”.

Image licensed with iStock.
Stockport
Library
Stockport Central Library

Stockport Central Library is a Carnegie library, built 1913–15 in the Edwardian Baroque style. It continues to serve as Stockport’s largest library.

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Hat Works Museum

Top hats, bowlers, trilbies …. who doesn’t love a hat? Visit the UK’s only collection devoted to hats which celebrates Stockport’s role in the hatting industry.

Stockport Memorial Gallery on Wellington Road Stockport.
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Gallery
Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery

Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery aims to give emerging artists the space to showcase their work. It has a varied programme, though its exhibitions often return to themes linked to…

The Produce Hall
Stockport
The Produce Hall

This Stockport-based modern food hall has a beer-focused bar and plenty of food stalls to satisfy all tastes.

Stockport
Bar or Pub
Bohemian Arts Club

Bohemian Arts Club is a chic and intimate cocktail bar in Stockport owned by Blossoms singer Tom and Katie Ogden.

Odioba
Stockport
Restaurant
Odioba

Odioba is a new audiophile bar in Stockport, from the team behind the much-missed NAM. Coffee shop by day, bar by night.

Stockport
Restaurant
Where The Light Gets In

It might be in Stockport but Where The Light Gets In serves up some of the most magical food in the UK. With a fixed multi-course tasting menu that changes with the season and a strictly limited number of seats, this is the North’s best-kept secret.

What's on: Cinema

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CinemaManchester
Wes World at HOME

Take a trip back into the world of Wes Anderson this May as HOME present a series of the acclaimed auteur’s most beloved films alongside The Phoenician Scheme.

from £7.95

Culture Guides

Theatre in Manchester and the North
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Dynamic dance, party-performance, high-energy stand-up and a site-specific show set in a pub. All this and more in our newest theatre guide.

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Vintage Alfred Hitchcock and a family friendly film festival are amongst our highlights this May.

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Open air clubs, new festivals and long-awaited gigs. The North West's live music scene is heating up this spring. 

Laura Ellen Bacon, Into Being, 2025. Photo © India Hobson, courtesy Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Exhibitions in the North

Willow weaving, textile collages, digital arts and ecology - all this and more in our exhibition top picks this month

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If it's inspiring, inclusive events and avant-garde, experimental afternoons you're after, look no further than live literature this spring – we've got you covered.