Starring: Chloe Snyder, Mark Hengst, Andreas Beckett

Directed By: Andy Hurst

Written By: Ellis Walker

Released: 2008

Grade: B-

With so many angles already in horror films, it can be hard to make things original, to add any twist that seems fresh, or to even give us something new to think about. A lot of these things can be very vital in making a successful serial killer thriller. An acute intelligence needs to mix with bad circumstance and a very warped mind. The shock and completely different mindset of these killers is really what makes or breaks these movies. Rather than creating a completely new mindful killer, Copycat uses the fame of many real life killers: Dahmer, Gein, Ramirez, BTK, Bundy, and Gacy. It uses sick and grotesque murderers, who thrived on their killing and to make others fear them, as idols. Not only were they used as role models to the killer in Copycat, but their work was studied. The mistakes they made that caused them to fall is picked up by this murderer, he learns from them and in so doing perfects his undetected murdering spree.

Laura Nelson (Snyder) is a journalist who is seeming less like her old self everyday, ever since a serial killer, known as Number 6, brutally murdered her mother. She walked in on her body and is having a hard time moving on. Laura’s mother was just the first in a cycle of victims that Number 6would take, always leaving little clues, that were untraceable but gave a piece of his mind away. Now, Laura suspects that a string of murders that have been occurring are because of the same man that murdered her mother. The thought of catching him is something that controls her every thought. This case is just about as personal as it could possibly be for Laura. She has already lost so much and so she becomes part of the investigation. At every crime scene, pieces of the killers diary are left, revealing the thoughts that consume his mind. It still seems like they are not getting any closer to catching him until he takes control of the situation further by kidnapping Laura, and outsmarting those who are trying to protect her. Laura finds herself in the same position her mother was in. Number 6 knows this and uses this against her, physically and mentally tormenting her with the fact that she didn’t beat him.

Chloe Snyder as Laura has a varied performance. At times her delivery is all off and comes off seeming generic and completely out of place. Yet she definitely has her moments and in these moments she is able to serve as the protagonist that we can really feel for. Also, she brings intelligence that develops her character, being a journalist and also having the ability to get in to the mindset of this murderer. Andreas Beckett did a pretty good job of portraying this multi-composed killer. He also had the ability to bring out a very lonely and desperate man, which translated even better to the killer within him. It was this desperation and need for company that ironically made him turn others to take their lives away from them. In a weird, this was the only way he could ensure that they wouldn’t leave him since they physically couldn’t. After murdering a young man, he claims that he will always be a part of him. Also he makes his character creepy, which he certainly is since the murdering he does serves as a stimulation that just turns him on. He had a very typical miserable middle-aged man quality to him mirrored with a fondness of violence and trickery that made the common day loner a full fledged murderer. Mark Hengst did a decent job as the investigator who let Laura in on the case given her history with the killer. He knows that if anything happens to her than he is the one that is responsible for it so he tries to protect her as best as he can. Hengst although rigid through his mainly flat character does end up opening up a bit at the end, making him seem more real.

More than anything, I was really able to appreciate the language of the film. Some of the dialogue seemed forced and unnatural, making a serious situation laughable. Luckily, when it came to the killer himself there was more tact used. This brought forth the point that the film really took the time to explore his mindset. It gave us insight on how he saw the world and what he was trying to do with his murdering. Just seeing the demented way his brain worked was interesting along with the passion that he put forth in doing so. It is clear there are certain types of people he goes out after, such as the beating he records outside of a gay club and the attack of a female stripper. He also claims that anyone can be a killer. Once that want is injected inside of you it takes over you and rational thoughts will forever vanish. The killer talks about this unbelievable thirst that always consumes you. It is something that can never be satisfied, yet there is that extreme need to try to fill it anyway. So bodies stack up since it is never enough, the killer must always kill. There is also a sense of thrill that he gets by imposing evil on others and furthermore, by causing that evil to become a part of them too.

There are a number of flashbacks, which are very important for the film and our understanding of our killer. This really highlights the lonely desperation and just how far he commits to a promise. Someone very close to him is on her death bed, pleading for him to never leave her. He takes this a bit too far by keeping her corpse there for some time to come and by feeding his thirst for acquiring more dead bodies. While, I liked the style and substance of this, there is a long string of these all at once, just as the climax of the film hits. Yet it takes us out of this climax and gives us almost an entirely different story than once that story is done is brings us back to where we were before. While these two storylines are obviously related, it hurts the pacing. In between the real time and the flashbacks there are a lot of voiceovers by the killer as the pages of his diary are recovered and revealed. This made the words have more of an impact and in turn be chilling and really speak to us. The way the words are used bring out the insanity and extremeness of what this killer believes, hitting on a lot of really great questions and themes in the film that are reflective on society.

Copycat touches on our fascination with the media, copying what is popular. This not only becomes harmful in the sense of copying vicious acts and killing innocent people, but the idolization and studying to bring out the worst in them while also learning from their mistakes, carrying on their work with ones’ own motives. There are tendencies of the fixation on evil and even inflicting in on others. There is one scene where a girl is pleading for her life and is forced to say she loves the devil and she will do whatever it takes to live. She is killed anyway, since it was simply just a game that she was the pawn for. By falling for this she has damned herself in her last hour, tricking her n to thinking this is her only chance to live. Really it just makes her ending all the worse that may stay with her in death.

For a low-budget film that didn’t necessarily give us anything completely new or mind-boggling, it is still is a pretty decent film. The one thing that nearly ruined all of the work they had put in to the character was the ending. It makes absolutely no sense at all. The victim is let go by the killer himself and given a gun. He had no reason to let his victim go, let alone to give them the means to kill him. He is built up as this intelligent yet twisted man who loves playing the game. He deserves more credit than what is given to him at this point. There was no reasoning supporting it and the lack of a reason just seems lazy. Are we not supposed to question this? It was really just done, so they could end it with the fall of one of the characters. Yet rather than thinking of a logical or at least less insulting way this could have been done, they nearly skipped this step and gave us something completely irrational. Also, what comes after this makes even less sense. Things would not have ended the way they did. The problem ends up being solved, yet they wanted to end things on a dark note so they try to give us a big turn of events that ends up seeming so fake and out of place. The ending really doesn’t seem to have any connection to the movie that comes before it and especially not the characters. What happens is not in any of their nature or what has been shown of them. Copycat gives us an interesting mindset and killing perspective that is darkly intriguing, drawing us to this character. A lot of exploration with this goes on and embarks on emotions that we all have experienced, purposely making the point that we can all be killers potentially. Copycat is definitely flawed, especially by the ending which clearly didn’t belong, but there is still some enjoyment to be had with this film.