CopyCat Killers

Last updated
CopyCat Killers
Documentary
Presented by
Narrated by
  • Brian Stivale
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
Production
Executive producers
  • Phil Claroni
  • Becky Dodson
Running time60 minutes
Production company Story House
Original release
Network
ReleaseFebruary 27, 2016 (2016-02-27) [2]  
November 20, 2020 (2020-11-20)

CopyCat Killers is a documentary-style television series that investigates real-life crimes that appear to be copied from actual Hollywood movies. [2] The series debuted in 2016 and is broadcast in the United States by Reelz. [3]

Contents

For its third season, premiering on Reelz on February 2, 2019, [4] CopyCat Killers' new hour long episodes have been slated to examine CopyCat deaths based on movies and television shows including Slender Man , [2] Casino , Twilight , A Nightmare on Elm Street and Fight Club .

Season 1

Original film or television series - Similar killing(s)

Season 2

Original film or television series - Similar killing(s)

Season 3

Original film or television series - Similar killing(s)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slasher film</span> Film subgenre that involves a killer murdering people using blades

A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic term for any horror film involving murder, film analysts cite an established set of characteristics which set slasher films apart from other horror subgenres, such as monster movies, splatter films, supernatural and psychological horror films.

<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street</i> (franchise) American supernatural slasher franchise

A Nightmare on Elm Street is an American supernatural slasher media franchise consisting of nine films, a television series, novels, comic books, and various other media. The franchise began with the film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), written and directed by Wes Craven. The overall plot of the franchise centers around the fictional character Fred "Freddy" Krueger, the apparition of a former child killer who was burned alive by the vengeful parents of his victims, who returns from the grave to terrorize and kill the teenage residents of the fictional Springwood, Ohio in their dreams. Craven returned to the franchise to co-script the second sequel, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), and to write/direct Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994). The films collectively grossed $472 million at the box office worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freddy Krueger</span> Horror film character

Freddy Krueger is a fictional character and the antagonist of the A Nightmare on Elm Street horror film franchise. Created by Wes Craven, he made his debut in Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) as the malevolent spirit of a child killer who had been burned to death by his victims' parents after evading prison. Krueger goes on to murder his victims in their dreams, causing their deaths in the real world as well. In the dream world, he is a powerful force and seemingly invulnerable. However, whenever Freddy is pulled back into the real world, he has normal human vulnerabilities and can be destroyed. He is commonly identified by his burned, disfigured face, dirty red-and-green-striped sweater and brown fedora, and trademark metal-clawed, brown leather, right hand glove. This glove was the product of Krueger's own imagination, having welded the blades himself before using it to murder many of his victims, both in the real and dream worlds. Over the course of the film series, Freddy has battled several reoccurring survivors including Nancy Thompson and Alice Johnson. The character was consistently portrayed by Robert Englund in the original film series as well as in the television spin-off Freddy's Nightmares. The reboot portrays him as an undead groundskeeper accused of molesting the students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Englund</span> American actor and director (born 1947)

Robert Barton Englund is an American actor and director. Englund is best known for playing the villain Freddy Krueger in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and Willie in the V television franchise (1983–1985). Englund has received multiple accolades and honors, including a Saturn Award, a Fangoria Chainsaw Award, as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amanda Wyss</span> American film and television actress

Amanda Wyss is an American actress. She began her career in the early 1980s in teen-oriented roles such as Lisa in the coming-of-age comedy film Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Tina Gray in the slasher film A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and Beth in the film Better Off Dead (1985). Additionally, she had a supporting role as investigative reporter Randi McFarland in the television series Highlander: The Series (1992–1993). She is also known for playing Woody's ex-girlfriend, Beth, in two episodes of Cheers in the mid-1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kelly Jo Minter</span> American actress (born 1966)

Kelly Jo Minter is an American actress. Minter made her acting debut as "The Pilot" in an after-school short movie of the same name in 1984. She made her film debut as Lorrie in Mask (1985). She subsequently portrayed Denise Green in Summer School (1987), Maria in The Lost Boys (1987), Charlotta in Miracle Mile (1988), Yvonne Miller in A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989), LaDonna in House Party (1990), Cheryl in Popcorn (1991), and Ruby Williams in The People Under the Stairs (1991). Outside of film, Minter has made guest appearances on a variety of television series including Hill Street Blues (1987), A Different World (1988), Martin (1993), ER (1996), Providence (2001), and Strong Medicine (2002). In 2010, she appeared as herself in the documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Jarvis</span> Fictional character

Tommy Jarvis is a fictional character in the Friday the 13th franchise. He first appears in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) as a child interested in special effects who encounters a seemingly unstoppable slasher—Jason Voorhees. In his debut, he is portrayed by Corey Feldman. A teen and adult version of the character is portrayed by John Shepherd and Thom Mathews in the consecutive films Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985) and Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986), respectively.

<i>Friday the 13th</i> (franchise) American horror franchise

Friday the 13th is an American horror franchise that comprises twelve slasher films, a television series, novels, comic books, video games, and tie‑in merchandise. The franchise mainly focuses on the fictional character Jason Voorhees, who was thought to have drowned as a boy at Camp Crystal Lake due to the negligence of the camp staff. Decades later, the lake is rumored to be "cursed" and is the setting for a series of mass murders. Jason is featured in all of the films, as either the killer or the motivation for the killings. The original film was written by Victor Miller, produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham, and released by Paramount Pictures. The films have grossed over $468 million at the box-office.

<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street</i> 1984 American slasher film by Wes Craven

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and stars Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, and Johnny Depp in his film debut. The film's plot concerns a group of teenagers who are targeted by Krueger, an undead child killer who can murder people through their dreams, as retribution against their parents who burned him alive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristen Parker</span> Film character from the A Nightmare on Elm Street series

Kristen Parker is a character from the A Nightmare on Elm Street series. She is a co-protagonist and final girl of the third film of the series A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and the false protagonist in the following film A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, and has appeared in various merchandise as well. She is played by actress Patricia Arquette in Dream Warriors and Tuesday Knight in The Dream Master. She is the central member of the titular Dream Warriors, seven teens who have to learn to fight as a group in order to survive their spectral tormentor, enigmatic murderer Freddy Krueger, and has the ability to bring others into her dreams as well as being an Olympic-level acrobat in her dreams.

The popularity of the A Nightmare on Elm Street film series has led to several comic book series published by Marvel Comics, Innovation Publishing, Trident Comics, Avatar Press and WildStorm Productions. After the success of Freddy vs. Jason and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake film in 2003, New Line Cinema created their House of Horror licensing division which licensed the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise to Avatar Press for use in new comic book stories, the first of which was published in 2005. In 2006, Avatar Press lost the license to DC Comics imprint, WildStorm Productions which then published several new stories based on the franchise before their license expired as well.

<i>Saw</i> (franchise) Horror media franchise

Saw is an American horror media franchise created by Australian filmmakers James Wan and Leigh Whannell, which began with the eponymous 2004 film and quickly became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded from films into other media, including a television series, video games, comic books, music, theme park attractions, and merchandising including toys, masks, and clothing. Saw is the seventh highest-grossing horror film franchise.

Reelz is an American digital cable and satellite television network owned by Hubbard Broadcasting. The network's programming was formerly devoted to entertainment-oriented programming focusing on the Hollywood film and entertainment industry, with programs featuring information on theatrical film releases as well as information on movies released on DVD and airing on cable television. Currently, outside a few entertainment programs, and some reality series and films, the network mainly airs original and acquired films, series, and programming relating to true crime and celebrity scandals.

A copycat crime is a criminal act that is modeled after or inspired by a previous crime. It notably occurs after exposure to media content depicting said crimes, and/or a live criminal model.

<i>Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash</i> Limited series comic book

Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash is a six-issue comic book limited series that was released in November 2007 and ran until March 2008. It was published by Wildstorm and Dynamite Entertainment. Based on the original Freddy vs. Jason 2 film treatment by Jeff Katz, the story serves as a sequel to Freddy vs. Jason and the Evil Dead trilogy. The comic book series was written by James Kuhoric and illustrated by Jason Craig.

The Atlanta Child Murders is an American television miniseries that aired on February 10 and 12, 1985 on CBS. The miniseries is a dramatization of the "Atlanta child murders" in which 29 African American children were murdered in Atlanta from summer 1979 through spring 1981. City officials, who had opted not to participate in the production, expressed disappointment at it.

Since the 1994 film Natural Born Killers was released, several attacks suspected to be copycat crimes have been committed by fans of the film, mostly by high school students within the age range of 15 to 18. Though apparent links have been claimed between the film and most of the incidents described below, certain causality has not been proven.

<i>A Nightmare on Elm Street</i> (video game) 1990 video game

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a video game released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1990 based on Wes Craven's slasher film of the same name. The game was developed by Rare and published by LJN. It should not be confused with an unrelated game with the same title for the Commodore 64 and IBM PC released in 1989.

<i>Night Killer</i> 1990 Italian film

Night Killer is a 1990 Italian slasher film directed by Claudio Fragasso. On its release in Italy, it was promoted as being part of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The film is not part of the series and bears little content from the previously released films.

References

  1. "COPYCAT KILLERS (REELZ)". TheFutonCritic.com.
  2. 1 2 3 Walker, Danny (January 7, 2014). "Copycat Killers, Scandal Made Me Famous: Reelz Changes Summer Premieres'". tvseriesfinale.com.
  3. "Copycat Killers - Season 1". IMDb.
  4. "Reelz Channel on Instagram: "CopyCat Killers with @drbuzzvon returns with all-new episodes on February 2nd"". Archived from the original on 2021-12-26 via Instagram.