SPIKE ON THE DEFENSE

Monday March 29, 1999 12:00 AM EST

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Yahoo Buzz
• E-mail

Spike Lee says his new movie about the killer Son of Sam isn't a sellout. The movie, to be released this summer, depicts the hunt for David Berkowitz, who terrorized New York in 1976 and 1977, killing six people and wounding seven others in random shootings. (Berkowitz is serving life in prison.) Lee told students at the University of Georgia on Tuesday that the film isn't a diversion from his black-themed movies but a look at the region he loves. "Black folks are saying Spike's sold out," he said. "For me this is a New York story."