Son of Sam

By Cyril Pearl -- Video Business, 8/11/2008

LIONSGATE
Street: Sept. 2
Prebook: now
> Ulli Lommel serial killer flick examining the bloody legacy of David Berkowitz.

Prolific moviemaker Ulli Lommel returns with his latest serial killer film on that most notorious of New York madmen, David Berkowitz a.k.a. the Son of Sam. Debuting actor Yogi Joshi portrays Berkowitz, the .44 Caliber killer, who stalked and murdered a series of women in the summer of 1977. Lommel provides a relatively straight-ahead, not very sensationalized look at the killer’s bloody swath, filling the landscape with his repertory company of lovelies, including Elissa Dowling, Boston Dawna Chaet and Cassandra Church. Also on hand are Lommel’s trademark canted camera movements and POV perspectives. Yes, there’s blood and violence, but they’re served up in relatively small doses. 

Shelf Talk: Lommel has made more than a dozen films since the turn of the century, many of them concerning serial killers, so there’s definitely an audience for the man and his movies. Son of Sam will obviously work best if it’s promoted alongside other recent films that examine the grisly handiwork of real-life killers, including Zodiac, Ted Bundy and Summer of Sam, as well as Lommel’s other movies.

Thriller, R (mature themes, violence, language), 81 min., DVD $26.98
Extras: director’s commentary
Director: Ulli Lommel
First Run: DVD premiere