MovieChat Forums > Basic Instinct (1992) Discussion > Why the real killer is .... *** major sp...

Why the real killer is .... *** major spoilers, or course ***


I think there are plenty of pointers to Catherine being the killer.

In my mind, the most important one is: Nick is able to get into Beth's apartment. He tells her something on the order of she should get her lock fixed.

The "evidence" that the police find in Beth's apartment following her death was planted there by Catherine. For one thing, it is very reminiscent of the evidence Catherine has been collecting about Nick.

Here are more reasons I think point to Catherine being the killer.

When Beth dies, she tells Nick she loves him. If Beth had actually been the obsessed one in college, she would probably have come clean at that moment and told Nick she hated him, loved Catherine, ha, ha, your partner is dead, etc.

This is of a very technical nature which might not even be germane because most screenplays might not look at this, but this one has enough attention to detail I think it could be relevant: we are told of no blood spatter on Beth. Even if she had worn the raincoat, there was enough blood when Gus was killed to have gotten into the opening over the face.

I haven't had the time to do this, but I bet if you analyze the movie you will find that every time someone is doing something that is a mystery, Catherine has time to do it. After Gus's murder, for instance, she has time to plant the evidence in Beth's apartment, or maybe already has. Also, didn't she at some point let herself into Nick's apartment? This could show she is capable of getting in anywhere.

Of course, there's the ice pick by the bed in the final scene, some pretty face-value pointers such as the book she wrote that mirrored her parents' death, etc. But one thing you might get a kick out of: on my second watching, I checked out the bod of the woman in the first scene and compared it to the bods on Catherine and Beth. You guessed it ... looked like Catherine's. So did what little we saw of the face, too. Try it yourself if you don't believe me. I usually don't do that sort of thing. But inquiring minds want to know.

Anyone else have anything to add, please do!

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Yup that naked woman at the beginning was Sharon. Not Jeanne. You could tell. The difference between their naked titties and naked buttocks.

You can just imagine that eeeeeeeeevil nasty bitch Catherine watching from the shadows as Nick executes poor innocent Beth. And learing vindictively as her plan had worked better than anticipated. Two birds, one stone.

Catherine was a genius. She knew exactly what she was doing. She planned it all out in intricate detail. And the executed her plan with perfect psychotic precision.

Brilliant but bonkers blonde baddie.

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Ha, ha, ha ... I never even thought about Catherine observing Beth's murder. That adds a whole new dimension of eeriness. I'm not sure Catherine was like that but it would sure make her even more evil. But you have to ask, if she was one obsessed with Beth and not the other way around, why did she want to kill her? Was Catherine the one obsessed, not Beth? But, to answer my own question, I have read Gavin de Becker. That's why stars have to hire bodyguards. Obsessed fans often have a strange way of wanting to kill their idols.

This all brings up the question, too, of why Nick could go along with Catherine. He had to know on some level she was the bonkers blonde baddie. Never mind that he loved the thrills, wouldn't he have been mad about his partner?

I love the "two birds, one stone." Exactly.

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Don't you mean, "Two birds, one Stone?"


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Ha, ha ... exactly.

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Bravo!

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If you look at her hands, you will notice her nails were done in french manicure - Beth did not have nails done and looked natural -

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Didn't even see that.

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The blonde woman murderer in the opening scene has a clearly visible scar on her left shoulder. Later in the film, the same scar can be seen on Catherine Tramell's left shoulder.

This gives away the whole story, since the point of the film is to figure out who the killer is.

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Didn't notice that either. But, see, viewers are like crime witnesses ... probably the experience is so traumatic sometimes they miss the details. I personally think eye-witness testimony is for the most part very sketchy.

Good catches, though, everybody.

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What I never understood about this film was WHY was Catherine upset if she was the one killing these people?!

Yes she obviously got some glee out of the power over Johnny Boz's death.
But what about Beth?

And especially NICK?!

Why did she even want to kill Nick at all?! She acted like she didn't want to, near the end. Is it a because-She's-a-Nut-Only kind of answer?



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Penfold, shush.

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Add your very astute observation to what others have written and her character just gets more and more complex. Does she have multiple personalities? Might one not know what another is doing?

I'm not sure if I registered she was upset over Johnny and Beth's demise but I do remember she mourned her girlfriend. At the time, I wondered if it was partly because she herself had not had a direct hand in the girl's death -- sort of like what she was really sad or angry about was that she felt omnipotent but someone or something else stepped in to decide the character's fate instead of her.

Your point is great but somehow didn't bother me as much, though, as the question of why the older lady who had killed her children was introduced. I wonder if the writer had had a sequel in mind that might have answered some of these questions. I know there was a sequel but I don't remember if it did that.

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that sweater nick wore when he went out clubbing.  that's why she wanted to kill him.



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that sweater Nick wore when he went out clubbing... That's why she wanted to kill him.


Yeah. I wanted to kill him too for that thing.

And when Catherine 'acted' so upset, not only is she a genius but she's a great actress also.

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Catherine did it. The proof is in the book, If you pause playback when Nicks is reading the printout of her final book draft, it said he ran up the stairs to save his partner. This is why Nick gets out of his car to try to save his partner, he remember reading it. Also all the evidence was planted in the Dr's apartment since she mentioned her door didnt lock properly earlier in the movie. Catherine was clearly the killer.

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I haven't watched the movie but aw nah duh Catherine is the killer. WHY did you write a book report on why shes the killer when anyone with a brain or wiki KNOWS she is the mastermind of the killings.

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Well, I dunno. I hadn't seen the movie since it came out and hadn't really understood it then. So I guess I thought I had a handle on it now.

Really liked it this time. Btw, to you and all: the same writer did Jagged Edge. It's potentially even more graphic, or, that is, the violence might stay with you a little longer. Basic Instinct was his classic, but this one is good, too. Worth a watch or a re-watch, I think.

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Well let's see how could she write a book, saying his partner is the killer and then dun dun dun!!!! The partner is killed? She was physic? Noooo. She was the killer, plain and simple. I don't think she killed everyone but I do think she manipulated others into killing for her.

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Yep the biggest giveaway of them all is the scar on Katherine's left shoulder. It's a roundish, smooth patch you see when the light hits it just right. You have to watch for it, but it's visible in the opening scene and can be seen multiple times later on in the movie when she is naked or wearing sleeveless tops. 100% irrefutable evidence.

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