Copycat (film)

Copycat
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jon Amiel
Produced by	Arnon Milchan Mark Tarlov
Written by	Ann Biderman David Madsen
Starring	Sigourney Weaver Holly Hunter Dermot Mulroney William McNamara Will Patton John Rothman J. E. Freeman Harry Connick, Jr.
Music by	Christopher Young
Cinematography	László Kovács
Edited by	Jim Clark
Production company	Regency Enterprises
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	October 27, 1995
Running time	123 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$20 million
Box office	$32,051,917 (domestic)

Copycat is a 1995 American psychological thriller directed by Jon Amiel and starring Sigourney Weaver, Holly Hunter and Dermot Mulroney. The score was composed by Christopher Young.

After giving a guest lecture on criminal psychology at a local university, Dr Helen Hudson (Weaver), a respected field expert on serial killers, is cornered in a lavatory by one of her previous subjects, Daryll Lee Cullum (Harry Connick, Jr.), who kills a police officer and brutally attacks her. Helen becomes severely agoraphobic as a result, sealing herself inside an expensive hi-tech apartment, conducting her entire life from behind a computer screen and assisted by a friend, Andy (John Rothman).

When a new series of murders spreads fear and panic across her home city of San Francisco, Inspector M.J. Monahan (Hunter) and her partner Reuben Goetz (Dermot Mulroney) solicit Helen's expertise. Initially reluctant, Helen soon finds herself drawn into the warped perpetrator's game of wits. As the murders continue, Helen realizes that the elusive assailant draws inspiration from notorious serial killers, including Albert DeSalvo, The Hillside Strangler, David Berkowitz, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Ted Bundy. When the murderer begins contacting and even stalking Helen, she and M.J. realize that he is after them, and they enlist the aid of Cullum, who tells them what he knows about the killer.

Helen soon realizes that the Copycat Killer has been following the list of serial killers in the same order as she had presented them in her lecture at the university on the night of her attack, and the two work to figure out where and when he will strike next. Unfortunately, Reuben is later killed in an unrelated shooting incident at the police station, leaving only M.J. now heartbroken that she never got to tell Reuben she loved him to continue the search for the serial killer.