Another Son of Sam is definitely not an Oscar winner. Technically, it's horrible. The acting is not too good either. But there is something about it that makes you want to watch more (sort of like a car wreck). The ridiculous close-ups of the killers eyes are more funny than anything. If you are looking for a scare...this ain't the flick for you. It's very obscure and nearly impossible to find. I'm sure there's a reason for that. For a while, it was titled HOSTAGE. It don't matter what you call it, it's still a poor choice for entertainment. It might be good for a MST3000 party or something. Can you believe they would use such a title as ANOTHER SON OF SAM? If that don't have exploitation written all over it, I'll eat my hat. I remember when this was shot in Belmont, NC. A lot of local personalities were used as talent.
18 Reviews
When local movie-making goes wrong.
eflaat24 February 2015
Warning: Spoilers
I have a oft spot in my heart for small time local movies on a tight budget and made up of aspiring talent and lack thereof. Sure they might be wretchedly executed or star nobodies and ha-beens but they have a special shine to them like a piece of furniture you made yourself.
Then of course there's movies like 'Another Son of Sam' which is just awful. I don't even think it would work as an MST3k episode since it's far too boring and far too forgettable to have any great memorable lines. Sure, there's a part in the beginning with some washed up lounge singer bellowing away with some song that plays repeatedly through the movie, but other than that it's too dry.
Imagine a movie about an escaped killer who was abused by his mother and takes it out on any victim he can find at a girl's dormitory and there's a hard-boiled cop and an elite SWAT unit hell-bent on taking him out while making sure no harm comes to any civilians trapped inside. Okay, now take out anything even close to terror, suspense, tension, excitement, competence, etc. and you have this movie. The film feels like it's made by a local sheriff's department on how absolutely not to capture a deranged homicidal maniac. They shoot unarmed girls, can't seem to shoot the gunman, never follow directions, and do all they can to show you how terrible they are at acting as if a real sheriff with no acting ability were to star in the film.
Even if you like low budget local flicks or bad action movies make sure to steer clear of this. Even if you're watching this with friends and having a few brews it's still dull as dishwater. You'd probably enjoy the likes of 'Drive-In Massacre' or 'Invasion of the Bee Girls' far more if that's your fancy.
Then of course there's movies like 'Another Son of Sam' which is just awful. I don't even think it would work as an MST3k episode since it's far too boring and far too forgettable to have any great memorable lines. Sure, there's a part in the beginning with some washed up lounge singer bellowing away with some song that plays repeatedly through the movie, but other than that it's too dry.
Imagine a movie about an escaped killer who was abused by his mother and takes it out on any victim he can find at a girl's dormitory and there's a hard-boiled cop and an elite SWAT unit hell-bent on taking him out while making sure no harm comes to any civilians trapped inside. Okay, now take out anything even close to terror, suspense, tension, excitement, competence, etc. and you have this movie. The film feels like it's made by a local sheriff's department on how absolutely not to capture a deranged homicidal maniac. They shoot unarmed girls, can't seem to shoot the gunman, never follow directions, and do all they can to show you how terrible they are at acting as if a real sheriff with no acting ability were to star in the film.
Even if you like low budget local flicks or bad action movies make sure to steer clear of this. Even if you're watching this with friends and having a few brews it's still dull as dishwater. You'd probably enjoy the likes of 'Drive-In Massacre' or 'Invasion of the Bee Girls' far more if that's your fancy.
Really Awful Exploitation
snicewanger13 July 2019
I don't know whose idea it was to make this film, but they should be locked in a padded room. My colostomy was more entertaining than this movie. It is really, really boring.. Not much to say. I watched Another Son of Sam on TCM Underground and that is were it belongs. Buried underground.
Original title: Hostages
DBCely1 March 2004
As embarrassing as it is to admit, I was listed as production manager on this film... my very first! As a matter of fact, it was the first feature film for almost everyone who participated. Watch carefully, and you even get to see me in one of the opening scenes, as a soon-to-be-murdered asylum attendant named... "Cely" (my own last name).
Originally titled "Hostages" this picture was changed to "Another Son of Sam" by the Producer-Director who wanted to cash in on the serial killer in the news at the time. Nothing could have helped. I don't even think this picture was good enough to be shown on "MST 3K!"
The film was shot primarily with a collection of old Mitchell cameras and early Arriflex hand held cameras. Matter of fact, the shot of the helicopter during the hostage siege was filmed with my own WWII era Arri. The picture was filmed entirely in Charlotte and Belmont, North Carolina in the mid seventies. Most of the "Stars" were local TV newscasters, and the rest of the crew were just inexperienced enough or gullible enough to believe former stuntman and Producer-Director, Dave A, Adams' delusions of adequacy.
If you enjoy watching this kind of picture, you might love the work of another North Carolinian, the legendary Earl Owensby.
Originally titled "Hostages" this picture was changed to "Another Son of Sam" by the Producer-Director who wanted to cash in on the serial killer in the news at the time. Nothing could have helped. I don't even think this picture was good enough to be shown on "MST 3K!"
The film was shot primarily with a collection of old Mitchell cameras and early Arriflex hand held cameras. Matter of fact, the shot of the helicopter during the hostage siege was filmed with my own WWII era Arri. The picture was filmed entirely in Charlotte and Belmont, North Carolina in the mid seventies. Most of the "Stars" were local TV newscasters, and the rest of the crew were just inexperienced enough or gullible enough to believe former stuntman and Producer-Director, Dave A, Adams' delusions of adequacy.
If you enjoy watching this kind of picture, you might love the work of another North Carolinian, the legendary Earl Owensby.
Amateur night in every aspect
Wizard-816 March 2019
When I was a teenager, this movie was in one of my local video stores. Although the title and the artwork of the box intrigued me, all the same I got the whiff that the movie was a real stinker, so I never rented it. But the other day, it was broadcast on Turner Classic Movies (of all places!), and I decided to watch it since it would be free. Well, all I've got to say is that I was a very smart teenager. Actually, the movie is even worse than I imagined it to be. Your twelve year-old son or daughter could write, direct, or even edit their own production more competently than these results. There's hardly any story here, with the screenplay ridiculously padded despite the movie running less than 75 minutes long. The scenes with the psychopath doing his thing are so ineptly staged that you don't get the least bit of feeling of horror or even mild creepiness. You also don't get a sense of what this psychopath is like, given that we don't really see him until the final few minutes of the movie. And what's with all the freeze-frame moments, slow motion moments, or for that matter scenes that abruptly end or start? While the ineptness of the movie does occasionally generate unintended chuckles, for the most part this movie will test the patience of even the most forgiving viewers. The only people I would recommend to watch it are independent filmmakers about to start making their own movie - it would reassure them that while they may end up making a bad movie, it would in no way be as bad as this movie.
schismatic 70s grindhouse thriller.
EyeAskance19 April 2004
Law-enforcement agents hunt down a rampaging, kill-crazy asylum escapee, and the psychopath's mother offers her aid in his capture. Not much else to be said about this one except that it's a VERY strange presentation dusted with quirky stylistic touches(scenes end in abrupt freeze-frame fadeouts, lumbering "point of view" camera-work abounds, and several scenes conclude with a perplexing audio/visual dissonance). These aesthetic flourishes, however, are so erratic and unfamiliar that they may be nothing more than the salient indicia of inept amateur film-making. Oddly enough, it's the movie's eccentricity/unique mishandling which makes it more-or-less watchable. Had there been even the slightest bit of aptitude applied to this project, the result would have been a garden-variety grindhouse psycho-on-the-loose mess. It's bad, to be sure. BEYOND bad, actually...but something about its clunky, infelicitous artsy inclinations becomes oddly inveigling.
A helicopter features prominently during the film's climax. It's a real, honest-to-goodness helicopter, which is surprising to see in such a remote-controlled-toy-helicopter sort of picture. There's also some deliciously tacky filler featuring the charismatic Johnny Charro...a lounge singer in a poly-dacron bellbottom onesie, unzipped past his navel to showcase a bird-sanctuary of deep-shag chest chair. He's Engelbert Humperdinck, Evel Knievel, and in-extremis Elvis all rolled into one. Sideburned 70s machismo personified...you never had it so good.
Most people will dismiss this uncharted thriller as a toilsome slasher genre prototype...and they're probably right. I maintain, however, that there's a charmingly disadvantaged quiddity to ANOTHER SON OF SAM, though I can't quite put my finger on it.
3.5/10
A helicopter features prominently during the film's climax. It's a real, honest-to-goodness helicopter, which is surprising to see in such a remote-controlled-toy-helicopter sort of picture. There's also some deliciously tacky filler featuring the charismatic Johnny Charro...a lounge singer in a poly-dacron bellbottom onesie, unzipped past his navel to showcase a bird-sanctuary of deep-shag chest chair. He's Engelbert Humperdinck, Evel Knievel, and in-extremis Elvis all rolled into one. Sideburned 70s machismo personified...you never had it so good.
Most people will dismiss this uncharted thriller as a toilsome slasher genre prototype...and they're probably right. I maintain, however, that there's a charmingly disadvantaged quiddity to ANOTHER SON OF SAM, though I can't quite put my finger on it.
3.5/10
Ineptitude all around
ethelangel15 July 2019
I watched this because it was on my favorite channel (TCM) so there must be something there. Ben Mankiewicz owes me an explanation! I really do wish I could see his introduction!
My favorite scene was when the officers were huddled in the dormitory while the killer went about his business (bodies everywhere) and the lieutenant, deep in thought, scratched his cheek with the barrel of his gun. I laughed and laughed!
My favorite scene was when the officers were huddled in the dormitory while the killer went about his business (bodies everywhere) and the lieutenant, deep in thought, scratched his cheek with the barrel of his gun. I laughed and laughed!
TCM ran this...still wondering why.
ccc2386819 March 2019
Another lousy movie
Woodyanders9 November 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Vicious and unhinged psycho Harvey embarks on a brutal killing spree after escaping from a sanitarium. It's up to a shockingly incompetent SWAT team to end Harvey's reign of terror.
Man, does writer/director Dave Adams fumble the ball with jaw-dropping ineptitude: We've got a meandering story which unfolds at a plodding pace, a crippling dearth of tension and excitement, clunky and jarring frequent use of freeze frames, equally awkward moments of strenuous slow motion, shaky hand-held cinematography, hit or miss acting from a highly variable cast, flat (non)direction, insipid characters, lots of dull talking, and clumsily staged outbursts of unconvincing violence. On the plus side, the presence of real-life police officers as basically themselves gives this picture a modicum of authenticity. A total clunker.
Man, does writer/director Dave Adams fumble the ball with jaw-dropping ineptitude: We've got a meandering story which unfolds at a plodding pace, a crippling dearth of tension and excitement, clunky and jarring frequent use of freeze frames, equally awkward moments of strenuous slow motion, shaky hand-held cinematography, hit or miss acting from a highly variable cast, flat (non)direction, insipid characters, lots of dull talking, and clumsily staged outbursts of unconvincing violence. On the plus side, the presence of real-life police officers as basically themselves gives this picture a modicum of authenticity. A total clunker.
For Those With A Taste For Grindhouse
boblipton16 March 2019
It's another cheaply shot grindhouse movie in a print so badly cared for that every color has faded to tan, where half the actors can't speak their lines and the script about a SWAT team raid, trying to take a serial killer is negligible. Yet the director, cameraman, editor and even the uncredited individual who who scored this clearly knew what they were doing and did it well, from performers who know how to move, to point-of-view shots from the killer's perspective, to tracking shots to a gradually increasing pace of cutting.
None of this makes it good, even when I consider that I've been looking at a lot of Poverty Row movies from the 1930s. The lead actresses are awful...well, they never showed up again. The hard work and sincerity don't compensate for the cheap shock shots. Even so, there are a lot of people with a taste for this sort of movie. For someone with that sort of taste, this is a well-done example of of the no-frills variety.
None of this makes it good, even when I consider that I've been looking at a lot of Poverty Row movies from the 1930s. The lead actresses are awful...well, they never showed up again. The hard work and sincerity don't compensate for the cheap shock shots. Even so, there are a lot of people with a taste for this sort of movie. For someone with that sort of taste, this is a well-done example of of the no-frills variety.
poorly made film with a few good ideas
HEFILM16 July 2019
Yes this is a regional movie filled with actors who either weren't actors or did small theatre work. Yes this seems like a movie made in the late 1960's not in 1977. And yes the title doesn't have anything to do with the movie which is more like Richard Speck than "Son of Sam." Finally it's an exploitation movie with almost no real exploitation, there is no nudity at all and the violence that occasionally happens is done so poorly it doesn't have much of any impact.
Having said all that the basic idea is solid and a bit unusual, the killer is trapped in the building early on with police sneaking in to try to find him. The killer is mostly only seen in bits and pieces--wearing kind of goofy brown loafer shoes. But the use of shadowy eye and eyebrows moving amid shadows while an electric tone/music drones on is rather novel and occasionally effective. Also the movie uses freeze frames to end scenes rather frequently rather than dissolving of cutting away. Also a few of the murder scenes come when you don't expect them. And the movie moves along pretty well, or well enough that you don't have to fast forward--if you don't just stop watching because of the cheapo production and acting.
These odd elements and the general crudity of the production gives it some grit. The budget is so low--they don't seem to be able to really purchase or rent even one really convincing police uniform, let alone the motely mismatched SWAT uniforms on display.
It also has and probably always had, sort of poor lab work with flat lighting and, now, faded and shifting colors, but this too now is seen as part of a Grindhouse Esthetic--in that way time has been kind to this movie.
It may be barely a movie but it tries, if doesn't succeed, at some style and has a few surprises, so can't say it's totally worthless, especially for those who will watch something that lacks the easy slickness of Hollywood films that can have no real ideas to offer.
Having said all that the basic idea is solid and a bit unusual, the killer is trapped in the building early on with police sneaking in to try to find him. The killer is mostly only seen in bits and pieces--wearing kind of goofy brown loafer shoes. But the use of shadowy eye and eyebrows moving amid shadows while an electric tone/music drones on is rather novel and occasionally effective. Also the movie uses freeze frames to end scenes rather frequently rather than dissolving of cutting away. Also a few of the murder scenes come when you don't expect them. And the movie moves along pretty well, or well enough that you don't have to fast forward--if you don't just stop watching because of the cheapo production and acting.
These odd elements and the general crudity of the production gives it some grit. The budget is so low--they don't seem to be able to really purchase or rent even one really convincing police uniform, let alone the motely mismatched SWAT uniforms on display.
It also has and probably always had, sort of poor lab work with flat lighting and, now, faded and shifting colors, but this too now is seen as part of a Grindhouse Esthetic--in that way time has been kind to this movie.
It may be barely a movie but it tries, if doesn't succeed, at some style and has a few surprises, so can't say it's totally worthless, especially for those who will watch something that lacks the easy slickness of Hollywood films that can have no real ideas to offer.
'Another Son of Sam' is like no other Son of Sam you could ever possibly imagine'
Weirdling_Wolf14 October 2022
Not a popular, or especially cogent rationale, but I sincerely believe that frequently exposing sensation-seeking minds to ever more jarringly skewed genre films like D. I. Y Grindhouse iconoclast Dave A. Adams's fascinatingly unnatural, reality tweaking psycho thriller 'Another Son of Sam' might constructively disrupt your synapses with more paradigm shifting intensity than ingesting a bathtub of DMT! ASOS isn't so much cinema as a miraculous lapse of reason, while the stylistic apparatus utilised herein is continuously clumsy, this apparently guileless mise en scene flagrantly confounds all the inexorable laws of rational filmmaking, and yet, Adams brusquely draws you smilingly into his doubtlessly earnest, deliciously dopey, spectacularly rudimentary 70s serial killer yarn. I don't believe anyone can ever consciously set out to make a tantalizingly torpid slasher with the abundantly outre charms of 'Another Son of Sam'; like squalling Typhoons, male pattern baldness, city sucking sinkholes and three-headed Hagfish, nature will out, dude!!!
PG rating ?
james1-494-82685726 August 2020
This is more of a comment then a review but- I don't know how you could have a movie about a serial killer rated PG. PG means your 10-year-old daughter can watch it that's all I have to say. And that's really all that needs to be said. That observation is stronger than any review you could read. There are logistical problems with a serial killer movie rated PG. What is he tickling people with his gun? Are they playing duck duck goose? I don't know but ask your 10-year-old daughter as she is allowed to watch it also. After she's done playing dolls, playing hop scotch or water coloring she can tell you all about the people being bludgeoned and murdered...I guess......it's PG as is Harry Potter or Cinderella or Bugsy Malone for that matter.
An oddity
BandSAboutMovies6 October 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Made in Charlotte, North Carolina by one and done director/writer/producer/editor/stunt coordinator/casting director Dave A. Adams, this movie isn't even about David Berkowitz - or whoever was really the Son of Sam - much less a new version of this occult killer. No, instead, it's about Harvey.
Who is Harvey, you may ask. Well, he's a killer escaped from a mental hospital in a movie that has moments that seem to be Halloween a year before that even hit theaters. Don't think that this has any Carpenter directorial highlights or moments of Dean Cundy-esque camera brilliance. The movie tends to pause for several seconds while dialogue just keeps running and the camera seems to be a window into the mind of someone tripping balls while the coolest synths ever play.
Speaking of music, the real star of this show is a lounge singer named Johnny Charro who still plays shows to this day. Oh yeah, there's also SWAT officers in action, a stuffed dog who seemingly wants to take a shower with his owner and an abortion, because, well, I honestly have no idea why.
Harvey has been killing people because his mom assaulted him as a child. Why did the cops bring her out to try and talk him out of a hostage situation? Seriously, that's some giallo-level police buffoonery.
Who is Harvey, you may ask. Well, he's a killer escaped from a mental hospital in a movie that has moments that seem to be Halloween a year before that even hit theaters. Don't think that this has any Carpenter directorial highlights or moments of Dean Cundy-esque camera brilliance. The movie tends to pause for several seconds while dialogue just keeps running and the camera seems to be a window into the mind of someone tripping balls while the coolest synths ever play.
Speaking of music, the real star of this show is a lounge singer named Johnny Charro who still plays shows to this day. Oh yeah, there's also SWAT officers in action, a stuffed dog who seemingly wants to take a shower with his owner and an abortion, because, well, I honestly have no idea why.
Harvey has been killing people because his mom assaulted him as a child. Why did the cops bring her out to try and talk him out of a hostage situation? Seriously, that's some giallo-level police buffoonery.
Working with Dave Adams
christydimon23 May 2006
I never met the cast but I did meet the editor. Dave Adams convinced me to pour money into this project and I have never seen the final version of the film. I was unaware it is available for purchase and this is the first web site I've found since 1977 that acknowledges the film. Dave Adams dropped off my radar when he moved back to Charlotte and he has never responded to my letters or calls. Is he still alive and if you know his whereabouts, what is he doing today? Where does he live and is he still in the film business? I knew the film was rough but it was made during a time when interest was high on serial killers so Dave thought the public interest would swarm to the movies to see this film just out of curiosity.
The worst movie ever?
jellopuke30 November 2019
This is incredibly amateurish in all ways with a terrible script, terribly edited (with strange freeze frames everywhere), terrible actors giving terrible dialogue, and a beyond boring pace. STAY FAR AWAY. This is 75 minutes of your life you will never get back. Do ANYthing else with your precious time on this earth. PLEASE.
Say Cheese!!!
drace20252 August 2019
Oh my word....to say the least. This has "Cheese" written all over and in it. I even fast forwarded through some of the parts because it was so lame. How did this make it to video? I could have done a better job on filming this myself.
Pretty Bad Exploitation Picture
Michael_Elliott27 July 2017
Another Son of Sam (1977)
* (out of 4)
An insane psychopath escapes from a mental hospital and before long he's stalking the streets and killing anyone he runs into.
That plot description makes this sound like a pretty good movie, right? Well, it starts off extremely entertaining as we hear gunshots and then see about several previous serial killers with a total number of victims. Then starts the title credits and from this point on ANOTHER SON OF SAM turns into a horribly boring and rather awful movie. This here was filmed in North Carolina so it's one of those regional horror movies that has picked up popularity over the years but sadly there's very little entertainment to be had here.
So, what's wrong with this movie? Pretty much everything but we can start with the plot, which is pretty messed up and rarely makes too much sense. It's almost as if they were filming the movie and forgot to film certain scenes as there are moments where things don't see to be connected or things happening out of place. The next awful thing is the editing, which is just downright bizarre at times and again there are a few moments where it seems like the film is broken.
The performances? Forget about it as they are quite awful but we don't really come to these types of movies for the performances do we? With that said, the dialogue is just as awful and there's really not too much going on here. What's worse is the fact that this clocks in at just 71-minutes and even at that time things drag.
* (out of 4)
An insane psychopath escapes from a mental hospital and before long he's stalking the streets and killing anyone he runs into.
That plot description makes this sound like a pretty good movie, right? Well, it starts off extremely entertaining as we hear gunshots and then see about several previous serial killers with a total number of victims. Then starts the title credits and from this point on ANOTHER SON OF SAM turns into a horribly boring and rather awful movie. This here was filmed in North Carolina so it's one of those regional horror movies that has picked up popularity over the years but sadly there's very little entertainment to be had here.
So, what's wrong with this movie? Pretty much everything but we can start with the plot, which is pretty messed up and rarely makes too much sense. It's almost as if they were filming the movie and forgot to film certain scenes as there are moments where things don't see to be connected or things happening out of place. The next awful thing is the editing, which is just downright bizarre at times and again there are a few moments where it seems like the film is broken.
The performances? Forget about it as they are quite awful but we don't really come to these types of movies for the performances do we? With that said, the dialogue is just as awful and there's really not too much going on here. What's worse is the fact that this clocks in at just 71-minutes and even at that time things drag.
See also
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