Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes

I was a kid when all of this was going on. I also lived a few blocks from where the third shooting took place. (I still live a few blocks from that location but I'm east of it now instead of west of it.) Because of those reasons I'll watch pretty much anything that comes out about the killings. "Conversations with a Killer: The Son of Sam Tapes" does a pretty job telling the story. I found the actual recordings of David Berkowitz' voice uninteresting. I have no interest in listening to what a murderer has to say, especially one who keeps changing his story. I also didn't like how the show poo-poos the idea of there being more than one shooter. If it was only Berkowitz, why, all of these years later, is the case still considered open in the borough of Queens?

In the summer of 1976, a killer brought terror to New York, randomly killing people and shooting them as they sat in their cars.

I didn't know a huge deal about Berkowitz. In episodes one and two, we're given real insight into the mind of the Son of Sam. We learn what happened to him in his youth and adult life. Berkowitz is an unusual character; he doesn't seem to follow the same pattern or have the same traits.

Episodes one and two were very good and insightful. The third episode was a little slow and somewhat padded out; had it been two episodes long, it would have worked better, although I was fascinated by Wendy Savino's story.

I'm always fascinated by what life must have been like in New York in the 1970s; it must have been quite something. Berkowitz was clearly able to exploit the lawlessness of the district.

As is always the case with these documentaries, there is some incredible footage from that time and some remarkable interviews. The linking and cutaway scenes work very well; they help to drive the story forward.

Definitely an interesting watch.

7/10.

I kind of felt like everything that could be said about this case was said. I have become convinced that Maurice Terry's theory that there were multiple killers was pretty sound. This documentary does a good job of telling the story and showing the historic looks at NYC in the late 1970's and of making you think David Berkowitz was a more calculated and manipulative lone killer than I had previously thought. I also had no idea of the connections to Scorsese's Taxi Driver. It is really good documentary. I am not sure of the conclusion and may go back and watch Sons of Sam again.

Well, this is the 4th entry in the Conversations with a Killer documentary series on Netflix, and once again, it's a pretty solid Joe Berlinger effort. Having directed the other 3, Berlinger knows how to strike a balance between handling the sensitive side of the killings and conveying the essence of the series' title, i.e., the tapes. Berkowitz was not an easy person to understand - some of his actions stemmed from deep-seated trauma, anger, and hatred (right from his unsettling childhood), while some others felt spontaneous, attention-seeking, and trying to capitalize on notoriety.

Like the rest, we get 3 episodes of roughly an hour each, told in a non-linear fashion, cutting and stitching across various timelines in Berkowitz's life. The re-enactments are pretty good, as is the case with Berlinger's earlier works, blended with real footage from those times, adding to the retro intensity. How Berkowitz held a large section of NYC in fear for over a year is something that's worthy of a larger discussion. I appreciate how Berlinger concluded the series with the friends, lovers, and acquaintances of the victims sharing why they believe the victims deserve to be remembered beyond being Berkowitz's "targets."

P. S. Parts of episode 3 felt filler-like, especially because that was extensively covered in The Sons of Sam: A Descent Into Darkness.

Who directed this garbage?? The Son of Sam Decent Into Darkness, just to name one, does the job well of telling the story. I got through the first episode of this one, barely, and shut it off. Not sure what the directors were thinking here, other than, let's put out the same info, change things up a bit and present it to Netflix. What a joke. I don't understand how crap like this even gets picked up. There are so many cases out there left untold, but let's continue to beat the dead horse. I guess it's easier, not much thinking or effort needed. And after reading another viewers comment about the directors trying to pin another case on Berkowitz, left out more than half of the story, is not a surprise. No effort went into this whatever u want to call it, why bother presenting all the evidence, right. Bait and switch at its finest.