Starring Kathleen Turner, Sam Waterson, Matthew Lillard, Ricki LakeDirected by John WatersDistributed by Scream FactoryJohn Waters’ style is generally understood among serious cinema aficionados, enough so that anyone going into one of his pictures would rightly expect two things: subversion and perversion. His early films were packed with both, usually earning an “X” rating when it came time for general release. He softened a bit in the late 80’s and began making pictures with a little more commercial viability, albeit still without major success. After delivering back-to-back retro musicals, Waters turned to a more serious subject: murder. Tackling serious subjects with gallows humor requires a delicate balance of both. Waters perfectly nails the balance between happy home and horror with Serial Mom (1994), a subversive serial killer satire that plays against expectations.
Making his murderer a housewife whose chipper disposition belies the bloodthirsty monster within tackles many slasher stereotypes with tongue planted firmly in cheek. I became a fan when the film hit VHS a few months after it bombed in theaters, and it’s a title I revisit yearly because even after dozens of viewings Waters’ film feels fresh and relevant as ever.The following is based on a “true story”. Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner) is the perfect housewife, doting to her husband, Eugene (Sam Waterson), and firm parent to her two children, Misty (Ricki Lake) and Chip (Matthew Lillard). She cooks breakfast.
She sings to the birds. She absolutely detests chewing gum. Oh, and she is secretly a psychopath who torments her neighbors over the slightest of transgressions. Poor Dottie Hinkle (Mink Stole) has been receiving harassing calls for weeks from an anonymous person, with the caller (Beverly) spewing every vile epithet in the book. Dottie’s “crime”? She inadvertently stole Beverly’s parking space one afternoon. It does not take much to get on her bad side.Beverly’s bloodlust begins to boil over and it isn’t long before she escalates her predatory game to include killing.
First, a schoolteacher is run down; next, a former lover of Misty’s is impaled with a fire poker; more follow, none of whom did anything so terrible as to deserve death. But Beverly just can’t let anything go, and if she doesn’t give some comeuppance when she feels it’s due, well, again, you don’t want to get on her bad side. The woman is impressively relentless. Eventually it gets to the point where Beverly isn’t even trying to conceal her actions, running off on a killing spree with childish glee whenever the urge strikes. But as the police close in and her reign of terror on the streets seems over, the true nature of media takes over and suddenly Beverly finds herself in a surprisingly favorable position: America’s “Serial Mom”.Who would ever suspect the neighborhood super mom of being a killer? Nobody, especially when she’s played by Kathleen Turner, who delivers a twistedly twee performance as the can-do mom with half her marbles missing. Beverly is a true psychopath with no consideration for the extremity of her actions.
In her mind everything is justified. She relates to men who kill. The woman even keeps a correspondence with Ted Bundy!
The film leaves it ambiguous as to whether or not Beverly has been killing all this time or if it is a new venture, but Waters provides a number of little character moments to show this is no fly-by-night “hobby”. Turner plays the character as someone who is always in control, or at least thinks she is, although she doesn’t seem to grasp there is something wrong with her mind. Her face and mood can turn on a dime, dropping the daytime housewife routine to show her true nature. But these moments are filled with constant levity because Waters always keeps it over the top.Beverly also gets the award for Most Inventive Weaponry because victims in this film are killed with a fire poker, air conditioning unit, public pay phone, and a leg of lamb.
And since she always needs the last word, Beverly usually tosses in a sarcastic quip after doing the deed. Her hubris only intensifies after being arrested, and that’s when Waters turns his lens on the bizarre celebrity of serial killers. Beverly, acting as her own attorney, argues her case to a sympathetic jury and a crowd of fervent supporters; everyone just likes her so much, how can she lose?! Misty takes to selling branded “Serial Mom” t-shirts outside the courthouse, the crowd snapping them up as quickly as possible.
Even before the trial ends a film version is announced and Suzanne Somers, set to star, shows up in court. This is true of murder culture still, where the killers wind up with more press and notoriety than any victims.
These infamous celebrities captivate the public and almost become mythic despite their vile actions. Waters, unable to resist every attempt at irony, ends the trial with a reminder that a tiger can’t change its stripes – and it doesn’t even want to.Serial Mom is Waters’ vision of June Cleaver by way of Herschell Gordon Lewis (whose pictures are referenced throughout). Absolutely madcap and reveling in cathartic fantasy, it is a rare dark comedy that is so absurd it can be easy to forget how deeply disturbing it is at its core. Turner leads the pack, but strong supporting turns from the likes of Waterson, as the clueless husband; Lillard, as the horror-obsessed son forced to accept his mother as a slasher icon; and every other cast member on the down the line has the film brimming with colorful personalities that resonate. Mary Jo Catlett as Rosemary Ackerman, the nosiest neighbor on the block, sticks in my mind so clearly; her wonky eye contorting as she decries to the police, “It was covered in gore!” Serial Mom has more than earned its place among cult horror comedies and Scream Factory deserves high praise for giving it the feature-rich edition fans have been craving.Serial Mom makes its stateside Blu-ray debut via Scream Factory, featuring a 1.85:1 1080p image This is a clear upgrade over both previous DVD releases, and it is on par with the U.K. Blu-ray that has been available for some time.
Scream doesn’t tout any new scan information, so I can only assume this is, in fact, that same master used for the foreign release. And it looks perfectly fine, although I can’t help but think a new 2K (or 4K) scan might have yielded a tighter image with more fine details. Colors appear natural and neutral; they are bold but never quite leap off the screen with any pop. Detail within the frame is frequently evident and often sharp, though there is slight softness to many shots that may be inherent due to the time period Waters is channeling.
Serial Mom Courtroom Legs
The print is clean and free from dirt & debris. Black levels are rich and dark.I was a little shocked to be reminded the great Basil Poledouris composed the score, something that sounds very much outside his wheelhouse. The English DTS-HD MA track is available in both 2.0 stereo and 5.1 surround sound flavors.
Dialogue is expertly balanced and constantly clear; the baritone delivery of “pussy willows” has never sounded fuller. Much of the audible action is relegated to the front assembly, though the rears do come into play for courtroom chatter, roaring car engines, and during the performance by Camel Lips (actually L7), which is ear shattering in its own right.
We are living in a time where true crime is more popular than ever before. The podcast Serial seemed to help push the genre’s popularity to incredible heights and since it first appeared there has been an incredible amount of podcasts, documentaries, and books that appear to have been inspired by it.Although true crime is a current pop culture phenomenon, people becoming obsessed with real crime stories (especially ones involving murder) is not new in the slightest. The brilliant filmmaker ( Cry-baby, Pink Flamingos) portrayed this fascination with murderers and their trials in his 1994 comedy Serial Mom. Despite the film “flopping” in the box office, it did something that was quite special: It predicted the current true crime craze that has taken over the media.Crime. GmailIn 1993, the Menendez brothers’ were on trial for the murder of their parents. The trial became a national sensation and was aired live on TV for the country to sit around and take in as entertainment. The following` year, topping the Menendez bros received, O.J.
Simpson’s infamous trial for the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman gained an even larger amount of publicity and was also aired live on TV. The car chase that preceded his arrest was even shown live on TV as it unfolded, causing television networks to interrupt the coverage of the 1994 NBA finals.
Simultaneously, John Waters finishes the filming of Serial Mom, a dark comedy about a housewife who becomes a murderer, and a media sensation. She receives celebrity status from both her family and strangers, not unlike people that the country was seeing become actual, real life media sensations in their own backyard.
Waters even begins the film with title screens explaining that the movie is based on true events, which of course it wasn’t, but even I believed it may have been until a quick google google search after watching it for the first time. GmailThere are a lot of reasons that John Waters’ Serial Mom should be considered a classic, but the simple fact that it almost holds up better now than it even did 25 years ago is mind-blowing. The relevance that the film had with current events at the time of its release is notable by itself, but it has definitely gained a whole new sense of relevance since 1994.All of these profound characteristics are additions to the films’ humorous way of dealing with such heavy topics. The satirical nature of the movie is beautifully over-the-top, which is where so much of its humor derives from.
The sermon the pastor gives is a fantastic example of this. As they enter the church, we get a shot of the church’s marquee which reads “Today’s Sermon: Capital Punishment and You.” This is followed by the pastor giving a ridiculously hilarious sermon claiming that because Jesus did not take a stand against capital punishment on the cross and because it is now law, that it only makes sense for them all to approve and promote capital punishment. Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner), the titular “Serial Mom”, a clever name given to her by the media, attempts to murder her son’s best friend and follows him to a club where a rock band is performing. While she waits outside in the line to get into the venue, people begin recognizing her as if they are her fans and start letting her go ahead of them while the bouncer excitedly lets her in. Once inside, she begins killing Scotty Barnhill (Justin Whalin) with an entire crows of onlookers cheering her on. In the poor boys final moments, the crowd goes wild with their applause and even begin chanting “ Serial Mom! Serial Mom!” The celebrity status that Beverly is given at this club is alarming, shocking, and comical.
GmailThe bigger examples of the satire in the film all reside in the trial of Beverly Sutphin. The film’s trial is immediately a media circus, just as we saw with O.J.
Simpson’s trial and plenty of high profile trials afterward. In a key moment, Beverly‘s daughter Misty (Ricki Lake- Hairspray, ) poses for photographers as they are walk into the trial. Her mother is about to appear in court for committing multiple murders and she doesn’t hesitate to show off in front of the cameras. Later she can be seen outside the courthouse selling “Serial Mom” t-shirts alongside her new love interest, the photographer, who is also selling Serial Mom books to other housewives. One woman even asks him to sign the book to her as a “Future Serial Mom.”Beverly‘s son Chip, played by Matthew Lillard, can also be found outside the courtroom on the phone booking talk shows appearances for him and his family.
Topping that is a hilarious moment with a family member of one of Beverly‘s victims. He approaches Chip and yells “ Your mom killed my brother” before punching him in the face. Chip calms the mourning family member down quickly and immediately asks him if he’s “signed off yet.” The brother of the deceased responds, You mean for TV or print?Towards the end of an elaborate trial sequence, Suzanne Somers ( Three’s Company) makes a late entrance into the courtroom distracting everyone, including the detective on the stand, the jury, and even the judge.
Somers arrives to the trial because she is in talks to play Beverly Sutphin in an upcoming TV movie chronicling the larger-than-life story. She even does an interview after Beverly is acquitted where she calls Beverly “a normal housewife” and praises her feminism. GmailSerial Mom accomplishes a lot despite its slightly overlooked immediate release. Whether or not the film is ever considered one of John Waters greatest films, it deserves a place among some of the best dark comedy movies.
Its satire and its humorous take on violence was ahead of its time and can be considered a fantastic social commentary just as much now as it was in the 1990s. The casualness of those involved and obsession of those that weren’t, display a reality that exists in the world right now. But the film doesn’t even need those references to real things or any commentary at all, because on its own Serial Mom is an excellent and entertaining dark comedy.How will you be celebrating Serial Mom’s 25th annversary? Let us know what your favourite scene is on, in the, and on Facebook in the!