Customer Reviews

Son of Sam

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4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Cheap everything,with bad acting to match. Puts you in mind of a student film or low budget porn. Really awful.

I can't believe this film is even called a film. It's by far the most annoying flick I've ever seen. They must not of had more than [...] in their budget to make this. It's like the ultra low budget porn flicks You would come across on the playboy channel in the 80's, I was waiting for the public defender to take her clothes of and start "doin" the main character and the guards all at once. But thankfully it's not a porn, they only share the same budget. I don't think I'll ever buy a lions gate movie again. If you like CHEASY LOW BUDGET FILMS buy it, but if you want to watch a decent movie about son of sam buy "summer of sam".

The film begins with a view of the Brooklyn Bridge. No view of lower Manhattan. In July 1976 a number of apparently unrelated murders began in New York city and baffled the police. [This film correctly shows old blood as black and clotted.] Next we see the Public Defender telling David Berkowitz what the rules are and to keep his mouth shut. [These flashbacks disrupt the continuity of the story.] "Are you aware that you are a paranoid schizophrenic." Thirteen murders, voices in his head. [Her style of eyeglasses are anachronistic.] Was there a satanic cult or just his fantasy? Did the devil make him do it? "The voices will tell you what to do." "I want to be saved." They will plead "not guilty by reason of insanity".

This story is a low-budget production that does not show the real crimes, the shooting of couples in parked cars at night. This terrorized the residents of Brooklyn and Queens counties. The police worked on this case by looking at all parking tickets issued around the time of the crimes. One ticket was for the car owned by David Berkowitz of the Bronx. And so the case was solved by finding one needle in a haystack. [I remember a TV film circa 1979 that did better in telling the story of this crime.] This seems like a cheap film made by students ("The Blair Witch Project"). The killer wrote letters to a famous newspaper journalist. He also had a regular job, in spite of any alleged insanity. I can't overemphasize the badness of this film. "All characters and events contained in this movie are entirely fictional ...". They didn't credit the dog either!

PLEASE!!! DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME ON THIS MOVIE!! A TOTAL FLOP...VERY LOW BUDGET...IT'S JUST A COMPLETE PIECE OF SH**! IT DOESN'T EVEN FOLLOW THE TRUE LIFE STORY LINE!!! 10 THUMBS DOWN!!!

Having recently survived - barely - Curse of the Zodiac, I had no intention of watching another Ulli Lommel film any time soon (if ever). Imagine my dismay when the opening credits of Son of Sam informed me that it, too, was written, directed, and produced by Lommel (heck, the guy actually has the guts to show his face this time around, in the role of - of all things - a creepy Catholic priest). Having already started the thing, though, I made the tough decision to go ahead and suffer through it. I have to say this is far from Lommel's worst work - but of course, Lommel at his best is worse than just about any other filmmaker at his worst.

Son of Sam is vintage Lommel: the story has only the slightest of connections to the facts of the real life Son of Sam murders, the cinematography looks like it was done by a small child playing with all the buttons on his daddy's video camera, and the plot follows a hopelessly repetitive pattern. It basically goes like this: David Berkowitz (Yogi Joshi) walks around looking off in the distance, which cues a "flash forward" to him later talking to his public defender, then we see him in the presence of a Satanic cult priming him to go out and perform some sacrifices, then we see him actually commit a murder, and then the whole cycle repeats itself. Every so often, he also pays a visit to his neighbor and her dog Sam. The poor dog just sits there, probably wondering how humans can be so stupid, whenever he "talks" to his "son."

Out of all the factual inconsistencies (such as the fact that the real Berkowitz' Sam was not a dog but his neighbor Sam Carr, who supposedly spoke to Berkowitz through his dog Harvey), the biggest problem I have with this film is its portrayal of Berkowitz as being programmed to kill by a Satanic cult. It might make for a more interesting film - if anyone other than Lommel was writing and directing it - and Berkowitz himself spoke about a cult and voices in his head, but there is no strong evidence to back up that part of Berkowitz' testimony. Lommel, therefore, is basically letting Berkowitz off the proverbial hook by endorsing his claim that "the devil made me do it." Interestingly, though, Lommel does not pursue the idea that others in the supposed cult actually committed some of the Son of Sam crimes. It doesn't really matter anyway - if you're looking for insight into the actual Son of Sam murders, Lommel is the last person you should be going to for information. It goes without saying, of course, that there is no good reason whatsoever for actually watching an Ulli Lommel movie.

I was hoping this movie would be good. The topic is an interesting one. However this movie is a total disappointment. The production is amateurist in the bad sense of the word. The acting is poor, the film quality is second rate, the lighting is bad, the continuity is poor, the dialogue is awful. Even the costumes are mediocre.

Unless one wishes to watch a movie and make fun of it, do not watch this Z grade movie. I was fooled by the cover, which is very rare, please do not make the same mistake.

This movie was awful. I thought I was watching a play. Very poor acting.

I can only assume it is the directors fault? Plus, this movie was pure chaos to watch.

I will avoid any other movies by this director...

The scene setups were way too long...

Michael J. Laramee

This movie is rubish. Do not waste your time on this one. If you want to see a well made film about the son of sam, then see the Spike Lee film "Summer of Sam".Summer of Sam

This movie sucks that's about as simple as I can put it but allow me to elaborate; the worst portrayal of a famed serial killer yet. I am baffled by the fact that Lionsgate got behind this amateurish attempt to make a movie about David Berkowitz. I don't even know why this movie was made since it doesn't in any way accurately portray the killer or his victims nor does it have any memorable performances. There is just simply not one redeemable element in this picture and the viewer will feel ripped off even if I didn't cost them or they were just killing time...they'll still feel cheated.