CINEMA: Andrew Worsdale
JON AMIEL, the British director of Sommersby and Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, turns away from romanticism to manipulative horror in Copycat, a very nasty thriller that seems to gloat over the violence the story deals with.
Sigourney Weaver plays criminal psychologist Helen Hudson, an expert on serial killers, who gets involved in a multiple murder investigation conducted by no-nonsense police detective MJ Monahan, played by Holly Hunter.
The supposedly original twist to this serial- killer thriller is that the murderer is copying the nasty deeds of previous famed killers — so there’s the Ted Bundy imitation, the Son of Sam shooting, the Jeffrey Dahmer cut-up … you get the picture.
Unfortunately, this comes across as a piece of dull and contrived plotting, and, what’s worse, the film-makers seem to revel in the details of the murders, which doesn’t thrill or scare, as in Seven; it just makes you nauseous.
Having said this, I do like Weaver in the role (I’ve never been fond of Hunter — she’s too earnest and full of nervous tics). The cinematography by Laszlo Kovacs is at times brilliant, and the casting of smooth singer Harry Connick Jr in a completely psychotic role is a masterstroke.
It’s just that when you walk out of this scary little number, you feel a bit icky inside.