Details
Movie Description
Happy homemaker Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner) has a charmed life--a beautiful suburban home, a successful dentist husband (Sam Waterston), and two normal teenagers, Misty (Ricki Lake) and Chip (Matthew Lillard). But she also has a good deal of underlying rage waiting to escape....Just be sure to follow her rules: Be polite to your neighbor, always recycle, rewind your videotapes, and never, ever wear white shoes after Labor Day. When one of her son's teachers speaks disparagingly of the boy at a parent-teacher conference, Bev runs the instructor over in the school parking lot. Suddenly she has an insatiable taste for murder. Six homicides later, the cops get wise to her crimes, which are committed with weapons ranging from a leg of lamb to a fireplace poker. A media frenzy ensues, turning an unrepentant Beverly into a media celebrity.
A serial-killer comedy mixed with courtroom-drama social satire, the raunchy SERIAL MOM was John Waters's return to R-rated fare after the sweet-natured duo of HAIRSPRAY and CRY-BABY. Suburban life is duly skewered here as the serenity of Beverly's upper-middle-class surroundings are continually sullied by her comedically disturbing acts of violence. Turner appears to relish the opportunity to play such an over-the-top role, and the usual Baltimore-based supporting players make welcome appearances.
Synopsis
SERIAL MOM is John Waters's spoof of (and homage to) the perfect suburban housewife--and the homicidal impulses seething beneath that cheery exterior.
Film Notes
Shot on location in Baltimore, Maryland, in Technicolor.
Additional cast: Justin Whalin (Scott), Patricia Dunnock (Birdie), Lonnie Horsey (Carl), Doug Roberts (Ralph Sterner), Kathy Fannon (Betty Sterner), Scott Wesley Morgan (Detective Pike), Walt MacPherson (Detective Gracey), Tim Caggiano (Marvin Pickles), John Badila (Mr. Stubbins), and Patricia Hearst (Juror #8).
"Tomorrow" written by Charles Strauss and Martin Charmin; "Gas Chamber" performed by L7.
Additional credits: Animal Actors (animal provider); Cheryl M. Wheeler (stunt double for Kathleen Turner); Ardis Cohen (key hairstylist); and Betty Beebe (key makeup).
Rated BBFC 18 by the British Board of Film Classification.
Copyright 1994 Savoy Pictures, Inc.
Available to rent in the UK.
Industry Reviews
"...Turner leaps into the most delicious role she has had in years....[Waters] concocts a cute suburban satire, a warmly funny movie that even a mother could love..."
James
"...There's a martini dryness to Waters's sick sense of humor that's perfectly embodied in Turner's performance." -- Rating: B+
Entertainment Weekly - Glenn Kenny (08/26/1994)
"...This is a high Waters mark....The renegade director/writer kicks the nation smack in its collective groin, marvelously mocking the oh-so-current mania over crime figures and tabloid scandals..." -- 3 1/2 out of 4 stars
USA Today - Susan Wloszczyna (04/13/1994)
Quotations
"I never say the 'P' word out loud!"--Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner), when accused of making an obscene phone call to a neighbor
"Somebody ought to kill her...give her a happy face..."--Garbage man to Beverley when discussing a neighbor who doesn't recycle
"Now I'll never get a boyfriend!"--Misty (Ricki Lake), after her mother is announced on the radio as a serial killer
"Chip, you know I hate the 'brown word.'"--Beverly to her son, Chip (Matthew Lillard), after he says a certain four-letter word
"You can't wear white shoes after Labor Day!"--Beverly to Juror #8 (Patricia Hearst)
"Do you think I need to call a lawyer?"--Beverly to Chip
"You need an agent."--Chip
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