Summer of Sam

Factual error: Set in the summer of 1977, serial killer David Berkowitz is seen throughout the film wearing a US Army woodland camouflage pattern field jacket. The Army did not start using these jackets nor were any ever made until the early 1980's. They were all solid green until then.

Factual error: Near the beginning of the movie, which is set in 1977, the song "Grace of God" is playing in a club. "Grace of God" didn't come out until 1979.

wizard_of_gore

Factual error: There is a scene where Vinny is holding a pack of Marlboro Red cigarettes in a box. On the side of the box you see Marlboro Miles. The film is based in the 70s and Marlboro Miles weren't introduced until many years later.

Continuity mistake: When Vinny's vigilante friends confront him in his apartment, they pull his phone off the wall when he tries to call the police. You can see that the phone is just a prop as there is no phone jack or brackets holding it in, just one nail sticking out of the wall.

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The Dog: Kill. Kill. Kill.

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Trivia: Throughout the movie the killer is portrayed as a childish, tantrum-throwing, reclusive psychopath with no self-control, who receives orders to kill from neighbor Sam Carr's black dog that trots into his bedroom. The character portrayal is inaccurate and the scene with the dog was obviously added to be a darkly humorous moment. In real life David Berkowitz served in the army, held jobs afterward, participated in satanic cult rituals, and used hallucinogenic drugs. And when pressed for his true motives by an FBI agent after his conviction he admitted that he targeted young ladies because he harbored negative emotions toward women. The order from the dog was a story that he initially told the police to preserve the option of pleading insanity, but he would later choose to plead guilty.

More trivia for Summer of Sam

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