Copycat

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INT. LECTURE HALL BERKELEY - DAY

The hall is full. On the stage, DR. HELEN HUDSON is

speaking. HELEN is a forensic psychologist. Behind her is

a projected diagram: PREDISPOSITION, DISSOCIATION, TRAUMA,

FANTASY, VIOLENT FANTASY, FACILITATORS, MURDER, and

TRAUMA-REINFORCEMENT which she can point to with a laser

pointing device. We see her from a considerable

distance... the back of the balcony. Her voice is crisp and

assured.

HELEN:

Our society creates these socially

and psychically disenfranchised

men, and their revenge on society

is terrible. They are hard to

catch. They are "the nice guy next

door," their employers -- if they

work at all -- find them quiet and

uncomplaining. Early abuse and

rejection have taught them

passivity. Only in their violent

fantasies do they feel alive. What

they seek in their frenzied

assaults on their victims is relief

from passivity. For these men, ten

minutes relief is worth far more

than the life of another human

being. Torture, the pain they

inflict, the screams of the victim,

are all part of the ritual that

gives them a brief respite from

their own psychic pain. And then

the depression, the forgetting, the

feeling of sadness and despair

begins the cycle all over again.

Like addicts seeking their drug,

Albert DeSalvo, Bianchi and Buono,

Berkowitz, Dahmer, Bundy -- they

seek out their next victim.

During the second half of this speech, the eye of the camera

has moved slowly forward until it settles just behind the

balcony railing.

CLOSEUP:
HELEN

HELEN:

The cycle is endless until they are

caught. And they are caught by

chance -- they run a red light, and

a body is in the trunk. A leaking

pipe brings a plumber to a basement

where they is the smell of death.

Her eyes have come to rest on the spot of the camera eye in

the balcony... Her voice chokes off. She stares.

HELEN'S POV:

Sitting in the front row of the balcony, a YOUNG RED-HEADED

MAN (DARYLL LEE CULLUM) leans forward, resting his tattooed

arms on the railing. He smiles intimately at HELEN.

HELEN cuts her eyes to the left. She sees:

Backstage, an overweight COP in plain clothes. Instantly

alert to HELEN'S alarm, he jumps up, comes within an inch of

exposing his presence to the audience. A SECOND COP, in the

wings on the other side of the stage, also springs to

attention. FIRST COP'S eyes follow HELEN'S...

Their POV:
THE BALCONY - YOUNG RED-HEADED MAN is no longer

there.

HELEN Can she believe her eyes? Resumes:

HELEN:

At any time, right now, as you

listen, the FBI estimates there are

30 to 35 serial killers stalking

their victims. The serial killer is

a plaque that must be addressed not

only by the law, but by science.

Florida spent eight million dollars

to execute Ted Bundy. It would

have been better spent building a

forensic penal facility devoted to

research.

Once again her eyes fix on the balcony to reassure herself

that the smiling man is not there...

HELEN:

Confined for life, without parole,

and subjected to scientific study,

these men's lives might finally, in

some small measure, educate and

thereby protect society. Thank

you.

Applause as Helen warily checks for the TWO COPS. They are

carefully casing the crowd.

CUT TO:

LATER:

The crowd is breaking up. FIRST COP walks HELEN to the

ladies' room. People reach to shake Helen's hand; she copes

as well as she can with her fear. THEY LEAVE THE STAGE

THROUGH A DOOR OPENING TO A CORRIDOR LEADING BACK TO

DRESSING ROOMS AND A LADIES' ROOM...

CUT TO:

INT. LADIES' ROOM - DAY

THE COP, clearly embarrassed, pokes his head in and looks

around. Under one stall he sees a woman's HIGH HEELS. He

hastily ducks back into HALL and signals an okay to Helen.

Before the door behind her closes, we see the COP prepare to

stand guard outside. HELEN walks past the stall with the

high heels to a stall several doors down.

CLOSE UP HIGH HEELS:

And a tattoo that the cop missed seeing on one of the

ankles. The shoes are kicked off. The feet disappear from

view as

HELEN, a few stalls away, methodically places toilet paper

around the seat before raising her skirt. A faint noise

makes her freeze. Her hand reaches for the door. She is

just able to unlock it, but no more, before a NOISE COMES

DOWN FROM THE NEXT STALL.

Like a lariat it falls over HELEN'S head and is violently

yanked tight. She kicks at the stall door.

CORRIDOR:
COP, leaning against outside door smoking, hears

the clang of metal as the stall door bangs open. He

reacts...

INT. LADIES ROOM - CONTINUED

The RED-HEADED MAN is struggling to secure the rope around a

hook inside his own stall. KNOCKING (o.s.)

COP (o.s.)

Doctor Hudson? Are you okay in

there?

The MAN lets slip a little slack.

HELEN'S fingers, thrusting between the rope and her neck,

get just enough air for HELEN to let out a strangled little

scream.

CORRIDOR:
COP, not certain what to do about the ambiguous

sounds from inside. Women stands nearby, inhibiting him for

a split second from going in the Ladies' Room door. Now

there is more SOUND from inside...

INT. LADIES ROOM - CONTINUOUS

COP steps into the room, gun down. Over the COP'S shoulder

we see HELEN hanging in open booth, her hand fluttering at

her throat. She has one slippery shoeless foot on the

toilet seat.

COP takes a couple of steps forward. Behind COP'S back we

see a broom closet door opening.

HELEN'S POV:
CLOSE UP: The COP, taken from behind. In a

second, his throat is slit. In a gush of blood, he falls,

his gun still in his hand.

RED-HEADED MAN standing over the fallen COP, smiling at

HELEN.

COP'S BODY IS TWITCHING, JERKING. The violent contractions

in his fingers cause the gun to go off... ONE... TWO SHOTS,

the sound reverberating against the tile walls.

STAGE AREA:

The audience and SECOND COP react to the gunshots.

HELEN, her eyes bulging, struggling against the rope.

SLAM CUT:

INT. HELEN'S APT - SAN FRANCISCO - NIGHT

As HELEN, in bed, bolts up from the nightmare, her hands try

desperately to pull the dream rope from her neck. She is now

pale, her hair is dirty, there are deep circles under her

eyes. This is a woman in the throes of a breakdown.

HELEN:

Andy! Andy!

She races through this LOFT APARTMENT (THE WALLS ARE EIGHT

FEET UNDER A TWELVE-FOOT CEILING) to study opening off a

hall. She looks in, gasping for breathing...

INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS

The room is neat -- nobody there. (We will later see that it

is used on and off by her computer, Andy.)

HELEN whimpers in frustration; she is alone. SHE TALKS TO

HERSELF as she turns back and moves past a LIVING ROOM,

where she turns on lights and the TV flicks on, (COURT TV.)

The sound comes up, loud... She moves on... trying to calm

herself with the sound of her own voice...

HELEN:

It is October twelfth, 1994 in the

city of San Francisco, California,

U.S.A., the strongest, richest,

most stable and happiest country in

the world. That is the sole place

of life in the universe. Under

God.

CLOSE:
XANAX BOTTLE. Two pills are shaken out into a palm,

others scattering from the nervous haste...

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