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Serial Mom

Serial Mom

Overview
Serial Mom is a 1994 American
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...

 dark satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

 written and directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 by John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...

, starring Kathleen Turner
Kathleen Turner
Mary Kathleen Turner is an American actress. She came to fame during the 1980s, after roles in the Hollywood films Body Heat, Peggy Sue Got Married, Romancing the Stone, The War of the Roses, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Prizzi's Honor...

 as the title character, Sam Waterston
Sam Waterston
Samuel Atkinson "Sam" Waterston is an American actor and occasional producer and director. Among other roles, he is noted for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Sydney Schanberg in 1984's The Killing Fields, and his Golden Globe- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning portrayal of Jack McCoy...

 as her husband, and Ricki Lake
Ricki Lake
Ricki Pamela Lake is an American actress, producer, and television host. She is best known for her starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray, her ground-breaking documentary film The Business of Being Born, and her talk show which was broadcasted internationally from...

 and Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lyn Lillard is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his roles as Stu Macher in Scream, Stevo in SLC Punk , and Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby-Doo film series and the Animated reboot series.-Early life:Lillard was born in Lansing, Michigan, and grew up in Tustin, California...

 as her children. Despite statements to the contrary in the movie, the story is completely fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...

al. Patty Hearst
Patty Hearst
Patricia Campbell Hearst , now known as Patricia Campbell Hearst Shaw, is an American newspaper heiress, socialite, actress, kidnap victim, and convicted bank robber....

, Suzanne Somers
Suzanne Somers
Suzanne Somers is an American actress, author, singer and businesswoman, known for her television roles as Chrissy Snow on Three's Company and as Carol Lambert on Step by Step....

, Joan Rivers
Joan Rivers
Joan Rivers is an American comedian, television personality and actress. She is known for her brash manner; her loud, raspy voice with a heavy New York accent; and her numerous cosmetic surgeries...

, Traci Lords
Traci Lords
Traci Lords , also known as Traci Elizabeth Lords and Tracy Lords, is an American film actress, producer, film director, writer and singer...

 and Brigid Berlin
Brigid Berlin
Brigid Berlin is an American artist and former Warhol superstar.-Early years:Berlin was the eldest of three daughters born to socialite parents, Muriel Johnson "Honey" Berlin and Richard E. Berlin, into a world of Manhattan privilege. Her father was chairman of the Hearst media empire for 32 years...

 make cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...

s in the film. Movies by Waters' creative influences, including Russ Meyer
Russ Meyer
Russell Albion "Russ" Meyer was a U.S. motion picture director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, actor and photographer....

, Otto Preminger
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austro–Hungarian-American theatre and film director.After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura and Fallen Angel...

, William Castle
William Castle
William Castle was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Castle was known for directing films with many gimmicks which were ambitiously promoted, despite being reasonably low budget B-movies....

, and Herschell Gordon Lewis
Herschell Gordon Lewis
Herschell Gordon Lewis is an American filmmaker, best known for creating the "splatter film" subgenre of horror...

, are seen playing on television sets throughout the film.
Discussion
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Quotations

Officer, I'm sorry, but we don't allow gum in this house.

Life doesn't have to be ugly. Look at the birds out there; listen to their call. [makes bird noises] Hwee, hwee, hwee, hwee.

[after murdering someone] I don't know what it is about today but I feel great!

Are those... pussy willows?

[after bludgeoning Mrs. Jenson] Rewind!

Suzanne Sommers! This is my bad side!

Eugene Sutphin: [during sex with Beverly] Oh honey, you are hot tonight!

Chip Sutphin: [in response to Misty telling the family about her new love interest] You sure can pick 'em.

Misty Sutphin: Chip! Our mother is Charles Manson|Charles Manson!

Ralph Sterner: [while having teeth drilled] Help me Betty! He's worse than the dentist in the Marathon Man!

Encyclopedia
Serial Mom is a 1994 American
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...

 dark satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

 written and directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 by John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...

, starring Kathleen Turner
Kathleen Turner
Mary Kathleen Turner is an American actress. She came to fame during the 1980s, after roles in the Hollywood films Body Heat, Peggy Sue Got Married, Romancing the Stone, The War of the Roses, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Prizzi's Honor...

 as the title character, Sam Waterston
Sam Waterston
Samuel Atkinson "Sam" Waterston is an American actor and occasional producer and director. Among other roles, he is noted for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Sydney Schanberg in 1984's The Killing Fields, and his Golden Globe- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning portrayal of Jack McCoy...

 as her husband, and Ricki Lake
Ricki Lake
Ricki Pamela Lake is an American actress, producer, and television host. She is best known for her starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray, her ground-breaking documentary film The Business of Being Born, and her talk show which was broadcasted internationally from...

 and Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lyn Lillard is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his roles as Stu Macher in Scream, Stevo in SLC Punk , and Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby-Doo film series and the Animated reboot series.-Early life:Lillard was born in Lansing, Michigan, and grew up in Tustin, California...

 as her children. Despite statements to the contrary in the movie, the story is completely fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...

al. Patty Hearst
Patty Hearst
Patricia Campbell Hearst , now known as Patricia Campbell Hearst Shaw, is an American newspaper heiress, socialite, actress, kidnap victim, and convicted bank robber....

, Suzanne Somers
Suzanne Somers
Suzanne Somers is an American actress, author, singer and businesswoman, known for her television roles as Chrissy Snow on Three's Company and as Carol Lambert on Step by Step....

, Joan Rivers
Joan Rivers
Joan Rivers is an American comedian, television personality and actress. She is known for her brash manner; her loud, raspy voice with a heavy New York accent; and her numerous cosmetic surgeries...

, Traci Lords
Traci Lords
Traci Lords , also known as Traci Elizabeth Lords and Tracy Lords, is an American film actress, producer, film director, writer and singer...

 and Brigid Berlin
Brigid Berlin
Brigid Berlin is an American artist and former Warhol superstar.-Early years:Berlin was the eldest of three daughters born to socialite parents, Muriel Johnson "Honey" Berlin and Richard E. Berlin, into a world of Manhattan privilege. Her father was chairman of the Hearst media empire for 32 years...

 make cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...

s in the film. Movies by Waters' creative influences, including Russ Meyer
Russ Meyer
Russell Albion "Russ" Meyer was a U.S. motion picture director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, actor and photographer....

, Otto Preminger
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austro–Hungarian-American theatre and film director.After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura and Fallen Angel...

, William Castle
William Castle
William Castle was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Castle was known for directing films with many gimmicks which were ambitiously promoted, despite being reasonably low budget B-movies....

, and Herschell Gordon Lewis
Herschell Gordon Lewis
Herschell Gordon Lewis is an American filmmaker, best known for creating the "splatter film" subgenre of horror...

, are seen playing on television sets throughout the film.

The film was screened out of competition at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival
1994 Cannes Film Festival
The 1994 Cannes Film Festival started on 12 May and ran until 23 May. The Palme d'Or went to the American film Pulp Fiction directed by Quentin Tarantino.-Official Selection:*Clint Eastwood *Catherine Deneuve...

.

Though the beginning of the movie says that everything in it is true, when questioned, John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...

 said he made it up, as a gag.

Plot


Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner
Kathleen Turner
Mary Kathleen Turner is an American actress. She came to fame during the 1980s, after roles in the Hollywood films Body Heat, Peggy Sue Got Married, Romancing the Stone, The War of the Roses, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Prizzi's Honor...

) appears to be a typical suburban housewife living with her dentist husband Eugene (Sam Waterston
Sam Waterston
Samuel Atkinson "Sam" Waterston is an American actor and occasional producer and director. Among other roles, he is noted for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Sydney Schanberg in 1984's The Killing Fields, and his Golden Globe- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning portrayal of Jack McCoy...

) and their children, Misty (Ricki Lake
Ricki Lake
Ricki Pamela Lake is an American actress, producer, and television host. She is best known for her starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray, her ground-breaking documentary film The Business of Being Born, and her talk show which was broadcasted internationally from...

) and Chip (Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lyn Lillard is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his roles as Stu Macher in Scream, Stevo in SLC Punk , and Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby-Doo film series and the Animated reboot series.-Early life:Lillard was born in Lansing, Michigan, and grew up in Tustin, California...

). Behind her chipper facade, however, she is a serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...

, murdering people over the smallest criticism, insult or slight. The film opens with the Sutphin family having breakfast and Beverly attentively taking care of family's needs until two police officers arrive to question the family about the mail threats and obscene phone calls to a fellow resident of the area, Dottie Hinkle. After a brief interview the family members and the police leave the house to begin their day; except Beverly whom goes to the upstairs master bedroom and makes obscene phone calls by changing her voice to Dottie; revealing herself as the predator who has been bothering her. The reason for this is that Dottie stole a parking space from Beverly at the mall. Beverly's friend and neighbor, Rosemary enters the house and surprises her as she finishes her prank call. This is so she can lend Beverly her sewing supplies and materials; including a pair of scissors.

The first murder she is known to commit occurs after Beverly attends a PTA where Mr. Stubbins (John Badila), Chip's high school math teacher, criticizes her son's morbid fascination with violent horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...

s and further questions the strength of family unit as well as recommending therapy for Chip. She runs him over with her car, killing him. A woman smoking marijuana witnesses the incident. The following morning, Beverly's husband, Eugene is called into the office by Betty Sterner. Misty is visibily upset when she gets stood up by a date, Carl Pageant (Lonnie Horsey). Beverly cautions Misty about using words she doesn't mean and subsequently sees the police investigating her trash cans and her car. Beverly skillfully deflects the cops questions and her husband asks the cops to leave. Later, seeing Carl with another girl (Traci Lords
Traci Lords
Traci Lords , also known as Traci Elizabeth Lords and Tracy Lords, is an American film actress, producer, film director, writer and singer...

) at a local indoor swap meet, Beverly impales him in a men's restroom with a fireplace poker that her friend had purchased. Again a miscreant, a pervert, looking through a hole in one of the stalls, witnesses one of her murders.

Among the first to suspect Beverly's crimes is her neighbor, Dottie Hinkle, the person to whom she had been making obscene phone calls and sending threatening letters. After hearing Beverly speaking one afternoon, Hinkle realizes the identity of the person harassing her. After being interviewed by the police at his dental office, Beverly's husband Eugene uncovers disturbing items hidden under their mattress, including an autographed beefcake
Beefcake
Beefcake is a term denoting the use of nude or semi-nude male bodies. It can refer to a genre or a person. It often is used to denote male sexual attractiveness stemming from physical build but the definition has expanded to include anyone interested in physical fitness, bodybuilding and weight...

 photo of Richard Speck
Richard Speck
Richard Franklin Speck was a mass murderer who systematically tortured, raped and murdered eight student nurses from South Chicago Community Hospital in Chicago, Illinois on July 14, 1966.- Monmouth, 1941–1950 :...

 (addressed to her from Speck in prison), an audiotape of Ted Bundy
Ted Bundy
Theodore Robert "Ted" Bundy was an American serial killer, rapist, kidnapper, and necrophile who assaulted and murdered numerous young women during the 1970s, and possibly earlier...

 (voice of John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...

), and a scrapbook filled with newspaper clippings of Jonestown
Jonestown
Jonestown was the informal name for the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, an intentional community in northwestern Guyana formed by the Peoples Temple led by Jim Jones. It became internationally notorious when, on November 18, 1978, 918 people died in the settlement as well as in a nearby...

 and Charles Manson
Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...

. After realizing her mother's role in Carl's death, Misty visits the video store where her brother works and announces to Chip and his friends, "Our mother is Charles Manson."

That evening over dinner, Beverly's son comments that his friend Scotty thinks that she is the killer. Beverly promptly gets up from the table and leaves. A moment later, the family hears Beverly's car driving away and sets off in pursuit; thinking she is going to kill Scotty. Beverly's husband and children, go to Scotty's house and break in only to find him alive and masturbating to a pornographic movie. The police barge in as well, to Scotty embarrassment. Beverly, in fact, is going to kill the Sterners and after some very skillful driving evades the police car following her. Upon arriving at the Sterners' house, she spies on the Sterners who are having a chicken dinner whereas Beverly is an avid bird watcher. This, in concert with the fact that Betty called Eugene into the office on a Saturday morning as well as disregarding her husband's advice about not eating sweets, makes Beverly decide they must die. Beverly promptly sneaks into the house via the upstairs window in the bedroom and hides under the bed. When Betty opens the closet, Beverly stabs her in the stomach with scissors. When Ralph runs upstairs, he finds his wife dead and Beverly unsuccessfully tries to throw the same pair of scissors at him and kill him. Ralph runs outside calling for help and Beverly topples an air conditioner onto him, killing him.

When the Sutphins go to church that Sunday (followed by a fleet of police cars), they hear a news report on the car radio naming Beverly as the suspect in two more murders — Betty (Kathy Fannon) and Ralph Sterner (Doug Roberts). When they arrive at church, they are met with suspicion and fear by the other congregants. The church's message board announces that the day's sermon is "Capital Punishment
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...

 & You". The church service ends in pandemonium when a suspicious sound causes everyone, except Beverly, to panic and flee the church, including the minister.

Police detectives confirm that Beverly's fingerprints match those at the Sterner crime scene and attempt to arrest her, but she manages to escape. She hides at the video rental store where her son works. She overhears a customer named Mrs. Jensen bickering with Chip over paying a fee for failing to rewind a videotape. After renting the film version of Annie
Annie (film)
Annie is a 1982 American musical film directed by John Huston and choreographed by Arlene Phillips. The film is an adaption of the 1977 stage musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the 1924 Little Orphan Annie comic strip by Harold Gray. The movie features music by Charles Strouse,...

, Mrs. Jensen calls Chip a "son of a psycho". Beverly enters Mrs. Jensen's house while she's watching the opening credits of Annie and singing along to "Tomorrow", then bludgeons her to death with a leg of lamb. She then notices one of Chip's friends, Scotty (Justin Whalin
Justin Whalin
Justin Garrett Whalin is an American actor best known for his role as Jimmy Olsen in the American television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.-Early life:...

), spying from a window and begins chasing him. She tries to stab him with a knife through the car's convertible roof while yelling at him, "Wear your seat belt! It's the law!" Scotty drives off, but Beverly carjacks
Carjacking
Carjacking is a form of hijacking, where the crime is of stealing a motor vehicle and so also armed assault when the vehicle is occupied. Historically, such as in the rash of semi-trailer truck hijackings during the 1960s, the general term hijacking was used for that type of vehicle abduction,...

 a passing van and follows him to Hammerjack's
Hammerjack's
Hammerjack's Concert Hall and Nightclub was a large concert hall in downtown Baltimore through the 1980s and into the 1990s owned by Louis J. Principio III. The club attracted many big-name national acts, but also showcased many rising stars in the music world...

, where the all-girl band Camel Toe (L7
L7 (band)
L7 was an American rock band from Los Angeles, that was active from 1985 to 2000. Due to their sound and image, they are often associated with the grunge movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s.-History:...

) is playing. Scotty tries to escape by running on stage, but Beverly causes a light fixture to fall on him and sets him on fire using a cigarette lighter and an aerosol can onstage in front of the deranged crowd listening to the band. Her family arrives and the police arrest Beverly.

Her trial becomes a national sensation. She is dubbed "Serial Mom" by the media, and a TV movie about the case starring Suzanne Somers
Suzanne Somers
Suzanne Somers is an American actress, author, singer and businesswoman, known for her television roles as Chrissy Snow on Three's Company and as Carol Lambert on Step by Step....

 is planned. Chip hires an agent to manage the family's media appearances, while Misty and her new boyfriend, a reporter for The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....

, sell merchandise about their mother's trial outside the courthouse.

During opening arguments, Beverly notices that a member of the jury (Patricia Hearst
Patty Hearst
Patricia Campbell Hearst , now known as Patricia Campbell Hearst Shaw, is an American newspaper heiress, socialite, actress, kidnap victim, and convicted bank robber....

) is wearing white shoes after Labor Day, a fashion faux pas
Faux pas
A faux pas is a violation of accepted social norms . Faux pas vary widely from culture to culture, and what is considered good manners in one culture can be considered a faux pas in another...

, during the whole trial. When Beverly brings this to the attention of her own attorney, he dismisses the comment, and claims that Beverly is not guilty by reason of insanity. She asks that her lawyer be fired and that she be permitted to represent herself. The judge reluctantly agrees and the trial begins.

Beverly proves to be quite formidable defending herself at trial. When Dottie Hinkle testifies that Beverly is her prank phone caller, Beverly's courtroom antics cause Dottie to explode in a cursing fit; destroying her credibility and the judge holds her in contempt of court
Contempt of court
Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...

. When Rosemary Ackerman takes the stand, Beverly destroys her credibility by revealing that it was Ackerman's magazine which was the source for the nuisance letters to Dottie Hinkle, Ackerman's firepoker (which she purchased at the same swap meet where Carl was killed), which was used to kill Carl Pageant, and Ackerman's scissors (which Beverly "borrowed") that were found at the Sterner murder scene. Beverly gets Ackerman to admit she doesn't recycle, which provokes exaggerated disgust from the jury. During the testimony of Marvin Pickles (Tom Caggiano), who had seen her through a peephole in the restroom stall with the poker just before Carl's murder, Beverly fans her legs, sexually arousing the man and confusing him into to saying he had lied and never saw Beverly in the stall. Lu-Ann Hodges, the stoner
Stoner
-People:* Stoner , bass guitarist* Alyson Stoner , American actress and dancer* Andrew Stoner , Australian politician, member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, and the Leader of the New South Wales National Party...

 who saw Beverly's car drive over Mr. Stubbins is discredited by her intoxicated demeanor, only recalling a blue car rather than a blue station wagon. Beverly questions Detective Gracey about the merits of judging her by her reading materials, which he obtained by searching her garbage, bolstering her own argument by displaying a porno magazine, Chicks with Dicks, which she claims was found in the detective's trash by her garbage man friends (Bus Howard and Alan J. Wendl). During the second detective's testimony, the entire courtroom is starstruck and distracted from crucial evidence by the sudden appearance of Suzanne Somers
Suzanne Somers
Suzanne Somers is an American actress, author, singer and businesswoman, known for her television roles as Chrissy Snow on Three's Company and as Carol Lambert on Step by Step....

, who would be portraying Beverly as the heroine of a television movie.

When the verdict is read and Beverly is found not guilty on all charges, she laughs and announces "Oh, I'm coming home!" to her family, who are clearly stunned and unnerved by her acquittal. During the post-trial interviews, Beverly follows the juror wearing white shoes to a pay phone in a conveniently empty ladies' room. After lecturing the juror on the folly of wearing white after Labor Day
Labor Day
Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...

 and refusing to accept her apologies, Beverly kills the juror by striking her in the head hard with a payphone receiver. She joins her family just as Somers wants to have a picture taken with Beverly, who doesn't want to. Beverly gets increasingly angry at Somers' insistence before yelling at her "Suzanne Somers! This is my bad side!" At that moment someone discovers the juror's body and begins screaming. Somers realizes what Beverly's family already knows: that the woman Somers pretentiously labeled a feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...

 heroine is indeed "Serial Mom". The film ends with a close in on Beverly's face, as her lips quiver into a small but diabolical smile.

Cast

  • Kathleen Turner
    Kathleen Turner
    Mary Kathleen Turner is an American actress. She came to fame during the 1980s, after roles in the Hollywood films Body Heat, Peggy Sue Got Married, Romancing the Stone, The War of the Roses, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Prizzi's Honor...

     as Beverly Sutphin
  • Sam Waterston
    Sam Waterston
    Samuel Atkinson "Sam" Waterston is an American actor and occasional producer and director. Among other roles, he is noted for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Sydney Schanberg in 1984's The Killing Fields, and his Golden Globe- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning portrayal of Jack McCoy...

     as Eugene Sutphin
  • Ricki Lake
    Ricki Lake
    Ricki Pamela Lake is an American actress, producer, and television host. She is best known for her starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray, her ground-breaking documentary film The Business of Being Born, and her talk show which was broadcasted internationally from...

     as Misty Sutphin
  • Matthew Lillard
    Matthew Lillard
    Matthew Lyn Lillard is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his roles as Stu Macher in Scream, Stevo in SLC Punk , and Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby-Doo film series and the Animated reboot series.-Early life:Lillard was born in Lansing, Michigan, and grew up in Tustin, California...

     as Chip Sutphin
  • Scott Wesley Morgan as Detective Pike
  • Walt MacPherson as Detective Gracey
  • Patricia Dunnock as Birdie
  • Mink Stole
    Mink Stole
    Nancy Paine Stoll better known by the stage name Mink Stole, is an American actress from Baltimore, Maryland. She began her career working for director John Waters, having appeared in all of his feature films to date...

     as Dottie Hinkle
  • Mary Jo Catlett
    Mary Jo Catlett
    -Life & career:Catlett was born in Denver, Colorado, the daughter of Cornelia M. and Robert J. Catlett. She is best-known for her role as housekeeper Pearl Gallagher on Diff'rent Strokes....

     as Rosemary Ackerman
  • Beau James as Timothy Nazlerod
  • Traci Lords
    Traci Lords
    Traci Lords , also known as Traci Elizabeth Lords and Tracy Lords, is an American film actress, producer, film director, writer and singer...

     as Carl's Date
  • Tom Caggiano as Marvin A. Pickles
  • Jeff Mandon as Howell Hawkins
  • Kim Swann as Luann Hodges
  • Suzanne Somers
    Suzanne Somers
    Suzanne Somers is an American actress, author, singer and businesswoman, known for her television roles as Chrissy Snow on Three's Company and as Carol Lambert on Step by Step....

     as herself
  • Joan Rivers
    Joan Rivers
    Joan Rivers is an American comedian, television personality and actress. She is known for her brash manner; her loud, raspy voice with a heavy New York accent; and her numerous cosmetic surgeries...

     as herself
  • L7
    L7 (band)
    L7 was an American rock band from Los Angeles, that was active from 1985 to 2000. Due to their sound and image, they are often associated with the grunge movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s.-History:...

     as Camel Lips
  • Bess Armstrong
    Bess Armstrong
    Elizabeth Key "Bess" Armstrong is an American film and television actress.-Life and career:Armstrong was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Louise Allen , who taught at Bryn Mawr, and Alexander Armstrong, an English teacher at the Gilman School...

     (uncredited) as Eugene Sutphin's dental secretary.
  • Kathy Bates
    Kathy Bates
    Kathleen Doyle "Kathy" Bates is an American actress and director.After several small roles in film and television, Bates rose to prominence with her performance in Misery , for which she won both the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe...

     (uncredited) as a woman outside courthouse.
  • John Waters
    John Waters (filmmaker)
    John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...

     (uncredited) as voice of Ted Bundy
    Ted Bundy
    Theodore Robert "Ted" Bundy was an American serial killer, rapist, kidnapper, and necrophile who assaulted and murdered numerous young women during the 1970s, and possibly earlier...

    .


During the pre-film casting discussions, Waters suggested other actresses for the role of Beverly including Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep
Mary Louise "Meryl" Streep is an American actress who has worked in theatre, television and film.Streep made her professional stage debut in 1971's The Playboy of Seville, before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season in 1977. In that same year, she made her film debut with...

, Kathy Bates
Kathy Bates
Kathleen Doyle "Kathy" Bates is an American actress and director.After several small roles in film and television, Bates rose to prominence with her performance in Misery , for which she won both the Academy Award for Best Actress and a Golden Globe...

 and Glenn Close
Glenn Close
Glenn Close is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and...

, before ultimately choosing Turner.

Reaction


The film received a mixed response from critics, and currently holds a 64% rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...

 awarded it an average two stars (out of a possible four) and said in his print review: "Watch "Serial Mom" closely and you'll realize that something is miscalculated at a fundamental level. Turner's character is helpless and unwitting in a way that makes us feel almost sorry for her - and that undermines the humor. She isn't funny crazy, she's sick crazy." However other critics lauded the film and Turner's performance; "Turner has never been so over the top hilarious!" said the reviewer from Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...

magazine; Scene magazine called the film "Hysterically funny!".

Critics lauded Waters' style and savage satire of America's obsession with true crime
True crime
True crime is a non-fiction literary and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people.The crimes most commonly include murder, but true crime works have also touched on other legal cases. Depending on the writer, true crime can adhere strictly to...

, such as when Beverly Sutphin's daughter, Misty, is seen selling T-shirts outside the courthouse where her mother's fate will be decided. The film was a moderate success, however the $13 million dollar movie earned less than half its budget, grossing around $7.8 million in domestic box office sales. The film has become something of a cult classic
Cult Classic
Cult Classic is a Blue Öyster Cult studio recording released in 1994, containing remakes of many of the band's previous hits.-Track listing:# " The Reaper" - 5:05# "E.T.I...

 since its release.

DVD release


Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Universal Studios Home Entertainment is the home video division of Universal Pictures...

 and Focus Features
Focus Features
Focus Features is the art house films division of NBC Universal's Universal Pictures, and acts as both a producer and distributor for its own films and a distributor for foreign films....

 released a collector's edition DVD of the film on May 6, 2008, replacing the original HBO Home Video DVD release, which is out of print.

External links