Serial Mom

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Serial Mom
U.S. DVD cover
Directed by	John Waters
Produced by	John Fiedler Mark Tarlov
Written by	John Waters
Starring	Kathleen Turner Sam Waterston Ricki Lake Matthew Lillard
Music by	Basil Poledouris
Cinematography	Robert M. Stevens
Editing by	Janice Hampton Erica Huggins
Distributed by	HBO Films
Release date(s)	April 13, 1994
Running time	95 min
Language	English
Budget	$13,000,000
IMDb profile

Serial Mom is a 1994 film directed by John Waters, starring Kathleen Turner as the title character and Sam Waterston as her husband. Despite statements to the contrary in the movie, the story is completely fictional. Patty Hearst, Suzanne Somers, Joan Rivers, Traci Lords and Brigid Berlin make cameo appearances.

Movies by Waters' creative influences, including Russ Meyer, Otto Preminger, William Castle, and Herschell Gordon Lewis, are seen playing on TV sets.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Murders 3 Cast 4 Reaction 5 Trivia 6 Goofs 7 Note 8 External links

[edit] Plot summary

The film begins on May 14, 1993, just as the Sutphin family -- Matriarch Beverly (Turner), dentist father Eugene (Waterston), and teenage siblings Misty (Lake) and Chip (Lilliard) -- is having an idyllic breakfast. Two police detectives visit the family to ask questions about a series of vulgar and threatening phone calls and letters being delivered to their neighbor, Dottie Hinkle (Stole). The parents are shown one of said letters, referring to Hinkle as "pussy face." Shortly after the detectives and the rest of the family leave, it is revealed that Beverly is the one who has been harassing Dottie, over an incident some time before where Hinkle stole Beverly's parking space at a grocery store.

Later that day, Beverly stops by Chip's school to have a PTA meeting with his math teacher, Mr. Stubbins. Beverly starts out the meeting by generously giving Mr. Stubbins a box of cookies. Mr. Stubbins tells Beverly that Chip does well in class but voices his concern over Chip's unhealthy obsession with gory horror films (Chip happens to be an assistant manager of a local video rental store). After questioning Beverly about any unfortunate situations Chip might be dealing with at home, Mr. Stubbins concludes that "[Beverly is] doing something wrong" about her parenting. This causes Beverly to snap, and she waits behind the school for Mr. Stubbins to leave. Just as he apporaches his car, still carrying the box of cookies Beverly gave him, she brutally runs him over with her station wagon. Unbeknownst to Beverly, a female student smoking marijuana witnesses the crime. Beverly then leaves the school to have the blood stains on the car removed at the local car wash.

[WILL BE AMENDED SOON]

[edit] Murders

One of the most famous aspects of the film is the elaborate and at times over-the-top murder sequence. Beverly murders her enemies with a variety of weapons, most notably a leg of lamb while the musical number "Tomorrow, Tomorrow" from the musical version of "Annie" plays in the background.

[edit] Cast

• Kathleen Turner as Beverly Sutphin
• Sam Waterston as Eugene Sutphin, D.D.S.
• Ricki Lake as Misty Sutphin
• Matthew Lillard as Chip Sutphin
• Mary Jo Catlett as Rosemary Ackerman
• Justin Whalin as Scotty Barnhill
• Patricia Dunnock as Birdie
• Mink Stole as Dottie Hinkle
• Patricia Hearst as Juror #8
• Suzanne Somers as Herself
• Scott Morgan as Detective Pike
• Walt MacPherson as Detective Gracey
• Lonnie Horsey as Carl Pageant
• John Badila as Mr. Paul Stubbins
• Kathy Fannon as Betty Sterner
• Doug Roberts as Ralph Sterner
• Traci Lords as Carl's Date
• Bess Armstrong as Dr. Eugene Sutphin's Nurse (uncredited)
• John Waters (filmmaker) as Ted Bundy (voice) (uncredited)

[edit] Reaction

Mixed reviews resulted in a poor box office showing, as the $13 million dollar movie only amassed $8 million in domestic box office sales.

[edit] Trivia

• The original choice for the role of Beverly Sutphin was Susan Sarandon, but her asking price was too high for such a low budget film.
• John Waters was the voice of Ted Bundy on Beverly's secret tape under the bed.
• A picture of Charles Manson is in Beverly's secret killing worship stash.
• Opening credits say "This film is a true story. The screenplay is based on court testimony. Sworn Declarations. And hundreds of interviews conducted by the film-makers. Some of the innocent characters' names have been changed in the interest of a larger truth. / No one involved in the crimes received any form of financial compensation."
• The copyright holders of the song "Tomorrow," as heard when Mrs. Jenkins watches Annie (1982) in her living room, charged $60,000 for the rights to use the song because of the explicit content of John Waters' past films.
• The punk band L7 was featured in the movie under the name "Camel Lips."
• Mary Vivian Pearce, a Waters regular, had a cameo appearance as a book buyer.
• Waters is obsessed with true crime and often attends gory trials across America. A lot of the courtroom events were based on things he witnessed.
• The high school used in the movie, Towson High School, was the same school that frequent Waters collaborater Divine attended.
• The Pee Wee Herman doll served as a tribute to Pee Wee during his public exposure scandal.
• Columbia Pictures was originally going to make the film before it ended up at Savoy Pictures.
• The Wilhelm scream was used by a man eating shish kabob when Carl is killed outside the bathroom.

[edit] Goofs

• When Carl is killed in the bathroom his "liver" is lying next to him. When he is discovered, it is gone.
• When Serial Mom is in the beige van chasing Scotty in the red LeMans, the LeMans' hood is ajar during one shot in the middle of the chase, and shut the rest of the chase.
• In the opening scene, when Beverly swats the fly on the table, she clearly brings the swatter back up after hitting the fly. However, the next shot is a close up of the swatter, still down on the fly. It is then brought up to show the fly guts and director's credit.
• When Beverly goes in for a PTA meeting at Chip's school, Mr. Stubbins says that Chip is "off to a fine start this year". However in the opening scene, it says that the story takes place in May 1993, not September.

[edit] Note

A similar idea was recycled in the 2005 film Keeping Mum, where the new housekeeper tries to save the family by killing their antagonists.

[edit] External links

• Serial Mom at the Internet Movie Database