Summer of Sam (1999)
- written February 2000
|
It is the summer of 1977 when David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam, is terrorizing New York City. This is the story of how the local New Yorkers where reacting to this mayhem and how many sought to stop it, by doing some vigilantism of their own. Vinny is married to a wonderful woman, Dionna but can’t seem not to have affairs with other woman. Dionna knows this but hopes one day Vinny will quit it. Maybe this summer is the time, because someone calling themselves the 44 Caliber Killer is haunting young blonde women. When one murder happens one the same block Vinny and a mistress were having sex on, Vinny starts to have an epiphany. He decides it is best not to do anything. His buddies are bored and decide to find out who is the one doing the killing. After making a list (and never checking it even once) they decide to threaten everyone on it, to stop killing. After a few blackouts all over the city and chaos that comes with it, the entire city is ready to kill each other -- but old Son of Sam is still running loose and seems to get closer to Vinny. Will Vinny be a victim of Sam, or his own friends?
Overall: I think I expected something else from the film because it didn’t keep me interested. You see Berkowitz killing people and the entire community overreacting trying to find the killer on their own. Meanwhile, the story centers around Vinny and his philandering, his friends looking for the real killer, and Vinny’s friend Ritchie who is trying to become a gay punk rocker which gets everyone upset. The film was more about 1977 NY than about Berkowitz. It was more about NY and their attitude towards gays than about a serial killer. Oh well. Comparison: Death Wish meets Silence of the Lambs |
Links to other sites at The Sinning Room
Horror Films L-Z Review Page
Horror Films Review Page
