Number 9 — COPYCAT
For the month of October, we’re counting down the best horror movies of 1995! Check back every day for a new entry in the list.
COPYCAT is a solid movie, but it’s also a great bookmark in time. The serial killer horror movie is not just a snapshot of 1995 but also a presage of what would be to come in pop culture for the next 30 years. And while it’s unlikely that COPYCAT was influential on where the zeitgeist would go (like SCREAM a year later), its existence marks a separation from the past—more prophet than proselytizer. But even if it didn’t portend certain cultural aspects, COPYCAT still works as a taut thriller powered by excellent performances and a growing morbid fascination with serial killers.
Directed by Jon Amiel, from a script by Ann Biderman and David Madsen, COPYCAT follows Dr. Helen Hudson (Sigourney Weaver) who is a foremost expert on serial killers. After giving a lecture in support of her book about the commonalities (and idiosyncrasies) between the various sociopaths, Hudson is herself attacked by one, a deranged man named Daryll Lee Cullum (Harry Connick Jr.). She survives the ordeal only to find herself severely traumatized and deeply agoraphobic. But she gets drawn back into the game when she takes an interest in a serial killer case happening nearby in San Francisco, investigated by Detectives MJ Monahan (Holly Hunter) and Ruben Goetz (Dermot Mulroney). It appears the assailant is copying famous serial killers, but to what end? Soon, the trio work together to discern the killer’s patterns and any connections to Cullum, all while Hudson gets drawn further into the murderer’s orbit.
Celebrating 1995 this month has helped reveal all the little trends that were in the genre at the time. And one thing to note is that serial killers were ascendent in pop culture. At the time, they were mostly relegated to lurid true crime stories, the basis of various paperback thrillers, and some shady nascent internet chat rooms. There’s always been a fascination with these types of tales, and 1991’s THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS proved there was much to gain financially and critically from tapping that vein, but it’s a far cry from where we are in 2025. The various flavors of Criminal Minds, Dexter, Monster, Mindhunter, Dateline, podcasts, and other areas are drenched in serial killer lore now. Prestige TV is covering Ed Gein and turning Edmund Kemper into a household name. That simply wasn’t the case in 1995 with COPYCAT having to spell out the “rules” of serial killers, defining their commonalities, and even stopping to elaborate on each murderer’s modus operandi in a way that wouldn’t be needed in our serial-savvy 21st century. With its glossy look (from DP Lázló Kovács) and polished score (by Christopher young), COPYCAT isn’t the usual lurid or exploitative tale of murder, looking to elevate to the mainstream its sick tale full of serial killer trivia.
COPYCAT mostly works thanks to the strong performances, particularly Sigourney Weaver as the PTSD-ridden doctor who tries to numb her trauma through isolation, pills, and drinking. Weaver does a great job of alternating Hudson between fearless egotist and a fragile mess, often within the same scene, as she pivots between her fascination with the case and her revulsion at what was done to her. Hudson is compelled to investigate and analyze this monster, but doing so also expedites her own undoing (and drags her into a more active role with the murderer). COPYCAT wisely doesn’t have her “cured” by this pursuit but instead goes the more complex route of having these disparate impulses war within Hudson. It’s also another prophetic look at horror in the 2000s, with trauma being the big buzzword and motivating factor in many a genre script. Well before SCREAM 2, HALLOWEEN (2018), or other dives into the fragile psyches of survivors, COPYCAT explored the true price of living through such horrific events and the way they resonate outward through time.
There are other snapshot elements of COPYCAT beyond the burgeoning true crime fascination and the presaging of trauma-centric stories in horror, but those are more quaint elements that reflect on the ‘90s. There’s the cool Gen X cop (Dermot Mulroney) who likes Japanese food and understands technology. And then there’s technology itself, which might as well be magic in terms of how its wielded by the serial killer and Hudson in their cat-and-mouse communications. It’s no ordering from “Pizza.com” like in THE NET, but it is still funny to see how foreign the very concept of Internet was to people and how it allowed for some narrative shenanigans in order to heighten the drama.
COPYCAT presents itself as grounded but doesn’t mistake that for realistic and it’s all the better for it. The Killer is doing impossible things (occasionally assisted by the magic of the computer), but it’s treated like a probable case, with the characters and emotions humanizing the story even more and making for an engaging watch. It’s funny to see how quaint so much of it appears to be (especially when judged next to the other 1995 serial killer juggernaut, SEVEN), but its efficacy lies in those performances and the specific serial killer trivia that would become all too common and well-known thirty years later. COPYCAT is solid thriller that’s well worth checking out, if only to see how it augured what was to come.