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NDTV
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Conversations With A Killer: The Son Of Sam Tapes Review - The Killer Who Hunted Lovers In New York
New Delhi: In the unofficial handbook of serial killers, David Berkowitz doesn't really stand out at first glance. No clown suits, no cannibalism, no chilling charisma. Just a chubby-faced postal worker with an odd stare and a terrifying habit of sneaking up on couples in cars and pulling the trigger. But sometimes the most terrifying thing about a killer is how normal they seem, and that's what makes Conversations With a Killer: The Son Of Sam Tapes such a disturbing watch. The three-part Netflix docuseries, directed by Joe Berlinger (also behind true-crime hits like Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes), digs into the twisted mind of Berkowitz, whose 1976-77 killing spree paralyzed New York City, and attempts to understand the man behind the moniker that once sent a shiver through every borough: 'the Son of Sam'. A Killer With A Nickname And A Parking Ticket In the summer of 1976, New York was already teetering on the edge: crime rates were sky-high, the city was facing bankruptcy, and distrust in institutions ran deep. Into this chaos walked David Berkowitz, armed with a .44-calibre Bulldog revolver and deep-seated rage. His targets? Young women and couples, often caught in intimate moments - talking in parked cars, leaving discos or just walking home. Berkowitz, then a 24-year-old loner working as a postal clerk, would later say he was acting on the orders of a demon-possessed dog named Sam. But even more chilling than his bizarre explanations were the letters he sent to the police and newspapers, gleefully taunting authorities and calling himself "Son of Sam." The name stuck, and soon, every headline and every TV bulletin fed into the hysteria of a faceless monster lurking in the shadows. It wasn't until a parking ticket led police to his car-and then his apartment-that the mystery ended. As cops approached him with guns drawn, Berkowitz smiled and said, "Well, what took you so long?" "I Was So Angry, I Blamed Others" The series is built around a series of rarely heard 1980 audio interviews between David Berkowitz and journalist Jack Jones. These tapes are the spine of the show and offer firsthand access to a man who speaks not with frenzied chaos, but eerie calm. From his childhood memories to his killing motives, Berkowitz doesn't rant; he explains (every bit, quite literally). Born in 1953 and adopted by a loving Jewish couple in the Bronx, Berkowitz's life began with a lie. He believed his biological mother had died in childbirth and that his father had abandoned him. When he later discovered that she was alive and he was the product of an affair, his world further unravelled. "My whole life, I was wracked with guilt," he says on tape, adding, "I'd walk around with this death wish because I felt I now had to pay for her death." He acted out violently as a child-setting fires, fighting, destroying his mother's belongings and eventually, turned that rage outward. "I was so angry, I blamed others, and I started committing my crimes to make people pay attention to me," he admits. A City In Fear The Son Of Sam Tapes doesn't just focus on David Berkowitz's psychology, it recreates the raw panic that gripped New York during his reign of terror. Women with dark hair cut it or dyed it blonde. Parents begged their daughters to stop going out at night. Lovers' lanes emptied. The randomness of his crimes created a chilling sense that anyone, anywhere, could be next. Some of his victims were shot point-blank in their cars. One woman, Wendy Savino, now confirmed by the NYPD as his first target, was shot in April 1976 with a different gun, which led to initial confusion in connecting the dots. The docuseries vividly captures this era: grainy news footage, Farrah Fawcett hairstyles, tabloid covers and burnt-out boroughs. It was a time when a city on the edge was pushed into collective hysteria, and Berkowitz exploited every second of it. "The entire city was gripped by fear," Joe Berlinger says. He adds, "Just sitting with your partner in a parked car could get you killed." He Killed, Then Helped Push A Car Out Of The Snow One of the most haunting segments in the documentary is when David Berkowitz recalls sparing a couple who had asked him for help. Gun in pocket, rage boiling, he approached two people struggling to get their car out of a snowbank. They asked him for help. And so he did. "Even for that brief second, I looked at their faces. And I said to myself, 'Oh, thank God, I mean something to somebody, even if it's just for a second,'" he said. He let them go. Then he walked to a nearby street and shot Valentina Suriani, 18, and Alexander Esau, 20. This chilling Jekyll-and-Hyde contrast is what the series captures best. Berkowitz wasn't a frothing lunatic. He was an emotionally broken man who, by his own account, compartmentalised his crimes as acts of vengeance on a world he believed had wronged him. He was obsessed with stories of other killers, the Zodiac, Jack the Ripper, the Boston Strangler, and used these twisted heroes as inspiration. "Dave, Run For Your Life. Get Help." In the final episode, Joe Berlinger includes a rare 2024 phone interview with David Berkowitz, now 72 and still imprisoned at the Shawangunk Correctional Facility. When asked what he would tell his younger self, Berkowitz's voice softens. "'Dave, run for your life. Get help.' I could have gone to my dad. I could have gone to my sister. But I kept everything to myself... I wish I could start all over again and take a better path in life." It's not redemption. It's a regret-filled whisper from a man who once screamed through bullets. Berlinger, who debated giving Berkowitz airtime at all, justifies the moment. "Putting that message out there can help somebody realise, 'I'm feeling some of this rage. I need to get help.'" In that sense, the docuseries doesn't excuse; it warns. The Final Verdict The Son Of Sam Tapes doesn't glamorise a killer. It doesn't pretend to uncover unknown facts. What it does do is paint a complete, unnerving portrait of a man who looked ordinary, spoke plainly and still left an entire city paralysed. David Berkowitz might not be the most flamboyant figure in the serial killer hall of fame, but the sheer banality of his evil is what makes this series hard to shake off. In his own words, "I felt I had to do it." And somehow, that's scarier than any monster in a mask. Watch it, but maybe not right before you get into a parked car.
New York Post
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
'Son of Sam' doc director on NYC serial killer, unearthed interview: 'I don't know what to make of it'
The Big Apple's most notorious serial killer is getting a new close-up. In the Netflix docuseries, 'Conversations With a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes' (now streaming), director/ producer Joe Berlinger explores David Berkowitz and his reign of terror on 1970s New York City – and even includes the killer's claim that he wasn't the culprit who shot one of his surviving victims, Wendy Savino. 'The story gripped the city like no other. In my mind, it kind of gave birth to our modern fascination with true crime,' Berlinger exclusively told The Post. Advertisement 13 The front page of the New York Post from Aug. 11, 1977. 13 Police officers escort David Berkowitz (left), known as the Son of Sam, into the 84th precinct station on August 10, 1977. Getty Images 13 The front page of the New York Post on Aug. 11, 1977. Advertisement 'It's the first modern example of a serial killer taunting and baiting the press. People couldn't wait for the next New York Post….to come out, to get more information, and the letters that were all published,' he elaborated. '[It was the] first time that you saw media, public fascination and violence all coming together.' Berkowitz, 72, whose reign of terror left six dead, and seven wounded — has been incarcerated at Shawagunk Correctional Facility in Wallkill, New York, since his arrest on Aug. 10, 1977. He was 24 at the time. He's currently serving 25 years to life in prison, and has been denied parole 12 times. Between 1976 and 1977, the Brooklyn born serial killer and former soldier went on a 13-month killing spree, shooting many of his victims through car windows, using a .44-caliber revolver. Advertisement The serial killer often sent chilling and boastful letters to cops and journalists, signed 'Son of Sam.' 13 Joe Berlinger at the 46th Annual Documentary Emmy Awards in NYC on June 26, 2025. Getty Images 13 David Berkowitz in 1979. Assoicated Press 13 The New York Post front page from August 30, 1977. Advertisement 'He's more akin to today's school shooter than the classic serial killer,' Berlinger told The Post. Berlinger has also covered the cases of Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and John Wayne Gacy in previous seasons of 'Conversations With a Killer.' 'All three of them wanted to be up close and intimate with their victims. Berkowitz…doesn't enjoy seeing the pain the way these other serial killers do,' he explained. 'Obviously there's no excuse for what he did and it was horrible – and they all obviously suffer from mental illness, you could argue – But I liken him more to the alienated youth expressing rage.' 'Conversations With a Killer' dives into Berkowitz's troubled childhood, his impact on his victims – including interviews with surviving family members – and recordings of a chilling interview with Berkowitz himself, conducted shortly after his imprisonment in 1980 by Jack Jones, a former reporter at the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. 13 The 1977 mugshot of David Berkowitz. Getty Images It also includes a snippet of a more recent interview that Berlinger did with Berkowitz in August 2024. 'I debated whether or not I wanted to put my interview with Berkowitz in the show, because it's very controversial. People do have this knee-jerk reaction like, 'you can't give a platform to a serial killer.' So I was sensitive to that issue,' he explained to The Post. Advertisement In past seasons, serial killers such as Bundy and Dahmer were long dead and couldn't participate in the documentary. Berkowitz is one of the only famous serial killers from that era still alive. 'I debated whether or not I wanted to actually speak to him, and we did it at the very end of the production, just to see what we would get,' Berlinger explained. He said that during his interview with Berkowitz, the serial killer was 'adamant' that he wasn't the culprit who shot his first victim, Savino, 88, who survived the 1976 attack but was permanently maimed, losing an eye. 13 David Berkowitz in 2009. AP Advertisement 13 The New York Post front page from August 12, 1977. 13 David Berkowitz, then 24, in 1977. Bettmann Archive The NYPD only officially validated Savino's claim that her attacker was Berkowitz in June 2024. But, Berkowitz, who confessed to his other crimes, alleges that it wasn't him. Earlier this month, Savino told The Post: 'I'm very nervous. I was always afraid someone would come to me and say 'I'll finish you off for David.'' Advertisement Onscreen in the doc, she maintains that Berkowitz shot her. 'We felt obligated to see what he says about it, even though I believe Wendy Savino was a victim of David Berkowitz,' said Berlinger. In a 2024 interview with The Post, Berkowitz claimed that he's reformed behind bars and has dedicated his life to Jesus. About whether he thinks that has merit, Berlinger said, 'I didn't meet [Berkowitz] in person. It was a long phone conversation.' Advertisement 13 Wendy Savino in 2024. J.C. Rice 13 Wendy Savino holding a Son of Sam police sketch in 2024. J.C. Rice 13 David Berkowitz getting taken to police headquarters on Aug. 11, 1977. AP But the filmmaker added that he 'respects' Berkowitz's spiritual advisor, Mike Caparrelli, who is also included in the doc. '[Caparrelli] believes that David has seen the error of his ways, that his finding of religion is legitimate,' he said. 'I can't say – I haven't spent enough time with the guy.' 'A lot of people dismiss this as his ongoing need for attention,' Berlinger said about Berkowitz. 'And, there have been decades where he was seemingly looking for more attention. But how he is now, I don't know. It was super important to him to tell me that he was not responsible for Wendy Savino.' 'I don't know what to make of it. I'm not inside his head, but it was so important to him to say that. And the police have closed that case as a Berkowitz shooting.'
