Claiming to act on demonic orders delivered by a neighbor s black dog and calling himself Son of Sam, he killed six people and wounded seven. Most were shot sitting in cars late at night. The key player is Vinny played by a thoroughly believable John Leguizamo a sex-addict hairdresser. Shaken by the proximity to death, he starts to fall apart. These are not gratuitous choices.
Sex is a critical ingredient in the explosive cocktail fueling the action.
So is the heat, which hit record highs in 1977 and is evoked here in the film s bleary, atmospheric vision. As the summer goes on, the heat causes a blackout, which leads to riots and looting and neighbors patrolling their streets with baseball bats. Disco and unfettered sexual experimentation is all the rage, and one night Vinny and Dionne find themselves in the middle of an orgy at at Plato s Retreat, the notorious sex club. That scene culminates in a confrontation between the husband and wife, screaming profanities in the middle of a cemetery while Abba s Dancing Queen plays in the background. The Bronx neighbors keep on twisting themselves into a mob, Vinny grows more desperate, and worst of all, the murders continue.