Summer of Sam is a movie that assaults your senses and holds you hostage in its searing, hot grip. Directed by Spike Lee, it mercilessly pulls us into its feverish recreation of New York City in 1977 . Every second is a highly charged heartbeat. Pulsating music pours out of the soundtrack. On screen, naked bodies thrash in sweat-soaked beds. And blood sprays directly into the camera when serial killer David Berkowitz (a.k.a. Son of Sam) decides to strike again. New York City during the summer of ’77 is like Ancient Rome in its decline: depravity, violence, and fear are the only rulers.