Serial Mom (1994)

John Waters meets mainstream and the resulta are spectacular! This was Waters' first real studio film-- 13million budget and it really took us where we wanted to go. Kathleen Turner is perfectly cast as Beverly (Serial Mom) and this is the definite must-see for all interested in superbly written comedies!

Fmovies: Serial Mom is an absolute gem of a movie. Turner's acting is truly excellant, as is the whole casts. Although a little ridiculous at first, any flaws it has are made up for in the way Beverley carries out her murders, my favourite being the guy in the toilets gruesome demise.

I really enjoyed this movie because Kathleen Turner and John Waters just let loose with the demented psychotic energy of a parent who takes many legitimate parental urges to the next level - or maybe the next 5 levels. She is protective, proactive, and supportive where her family is concerned, just a bit more so than is good for her or the rest of the world. The movie is funny and Turner is superb. The various strategems she uses to distract witnesses at her trial are delivered with the precision of a knife and she does more acting in the defendant's chair than most actors manage in a typical Hollywood flick today. I gave it a 7 rather than something higher because the action around her is okay but delivered more as a set-up for her various exercises in family values, and the plot itself doesn't seem driven by anything other than her proclivities for a particular problem solving approach. But it is a very entertaining film, though I wouldn't watch it with a kid under the age of 15, however jaded by the media today's youths may seem to be.

Serial Mom fmovies. This movie was offensive, vulgar, shocking, and yes, mean spirited. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't that was John Waters is all about? Kathleen Turner and Sam Waterston do a wonderful job of overacting (badly) in classic Waters fashion. Liver on a fireplace poker? Turner as June Cleaver making obscene and threatening phone calls? Juror 8 (Patty Hearst) wearing white shoes after Labor Day? How can you not love it? This movie ranks up there with Citizen Ruth or Heathers as one of the best black comedies ever. And it also seems to have given some inspiration to Natural Born Killers, the finest of the genre. (Although not nearly as easy to stomach.)

Imagine this: the main character is a woman called Beverly Sutphin. Her husband is a dentist and she does her best to bring up her children. In short, she is a respectable human being with the particularity of being a real stickler for good manners . Maybe, a little too respectable so that when someone speaks ill of one member of her family, Beverly is ready to kill to defend her family!

Only one filmmaker seemed designated to shot this highly entertaining black comedy: John Waters, the king of bad taste and extravagance. In "Serial Mom", most of the comical situations are structured about the two quoted characteristics. The whole is condensed in one hour and a half. You don't get bored one moment and you honestly laugh in front of all these murders. In "Serial Mom", you also recognize Waters' strong taste for bloody, gore and horror movies. Moreover, for this extraordinary director, it is the occasion to harm the model image of the American family.

All in all, a delightfully politically incorrect comedy led by a Kathleen Turner on top form.

This film won't be to everyone's liking, but is certainly an all-time favorite of mine. Only a film like this can combine so many great elements into one entertaining movie.

Kathleen Turner is just purely brilliant as sweet mother Beverly Sutphin, who would look more at home in a show like Bewitched. However, we soon learn that she's not all that she seems. I love any movie that takes a classic element (in this case the innocent housewife) and completely turns it on its head.

And so the film leads us on a journey through Beverly Sutphin's life and motivations. The film grabs on, and doesn't let go, keeping the pace until the very last scene.

In bad taste? Well, yes. Sick humor? Quite often. Good? Oh yes. If you have a dark sense of humor, don't miss it for the world.