SERIAL MOM

'''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

Plot summary

Cast

Cameos

Reaction

Trivia

Goofs

Note

References

External links

Plot summary

The film begins on Friday, May 14, 1993, just as the Sutphin family -- Matriarch Beverly (Kathleen Turner), dentist father Eugene (Sam Waterston), and teenage siblings Misty (Ricki Lake) and Chip (Matthew Lillard) -- is having an idyllic breakfast. Two police detectives, named Gracey and Pike, visit the family to ask questions about a series of vulgar and threatening phone calls and letters being delivered to their neighbor, Dottie Hinkle (Mink 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 fruit cake. 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 approaches his car, still carrying the box of fruit cake 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.
Later on at home, Chip is in his room watching Blood Feast (by Herschell Gordon Lewis) with his girlfriend Birdie (Patricia Dunnock) and their friend, the porn-obsessed Scotty (Justin Whalin). Beverly comes in serving Chip cookies and telling his friends to leave, and also cuts off Chip's TV, telling him about Mr. Stubbins' concerns about his horror movie infatuation. Soon after this, she turns the horror movie back on, enthralled over a bloody Satanic ritual scene. Her behavior seems to confuse Chip.
While the Sutphins are having dinner, their nosy elderly neighbor, Rosemary Ackerman (Mary Jo Catlett), comes rushing to their house to inform them about Mr. Stubbins' murder. They watch a news report about the crime on television, where the pothead witness gives the description of a car that is very similar to Beverly's station wagon. Beverly shrugs off the comparison, saying, "I'm not that bad of a driver." As the news report concludes, Eugene proclaims his belief that the killer deserves the death penalty.
When Beverly and Eugene go to bed that night, Beverly reads a book which Eugene thinks is a book on birdwatching (as they plan to go birdwatching the following day) but is really a book on serial killers, with pictures of Charles Manson and Richard Speck, only with the bird book's outer jacket. Beverly and Eugene then decide to have sex, and the resulting tryst is so loud that Misty and Chip can do nothing but listen to their lovemaking in disgust.
The following morning, on Saturday, May 15, Beverly is watching a bird from her bedroom window with her binoculars when she sees Mrs. Ackerman talking to the two detectives from the previous day, most likely telling them about the description of Beverly's car. Eugene gets a call from two patients of his, Mr. and Mrs. Sterner, complaining about Mr. Sterner's intense toothache. Eugene has no choice but to cancel the birdwatching expedition with his wife. An angered Beverly then charges to Chip's room, where she screams his name into his ear to wake him up, startling him. Downstairs, Misty sits at the dinner table crying, because a boy she liked named Carl Pageant was supposed to pick her up that morning but has apparently stood her up.
Detectives Gracey and Pike soon visit the Sutphins once more, as well as Birdie and Scotty. Detective Pike then notices that the letter "P" on the cover of a ''Premiere'' magazine issue Scotty is reading has been cut out -- "P" standing for "pussy." Beverly quickly points out that the magazine belongs to Mrs. Ackerman, as proven by the subscription label.
Later that morning, while Beverly is in the dining room sorting recycable items, she notices Mrs. Ackerman wastefully dumping trash in a receptacle, spilling litter everywhere. This causes Beverly to snap again, and she clutches a pair of scissors to kill her neighbor for her failure to recycle. However, when she sees two garbage men collecting recycables down her driveway, her murderous rage diminishes. Beverly meets the garbage men and gives them cookies as well as a shot of alcohol. The two garbage men and Beverly all express their hatred of Mrs. Ackerman and her wasteful ways, and the garbage men further express a desire to kill her because of it. Beverly agrees, and says, "For the sake of this planet, someone just might!"
Beverly soon begins stalking around Mrs. Ackerman's house, spying on her and Dottie Hinkle watching ''The Joan Rivers Show'' on television. She is caught, startling Dottie, though Mrs. Ackerman lets Beverly into the house. When Beverly compliments Mrs. Ackerman's potted Pussy Willows, Dottie recognizes Beverly's voice as that of her threatening phone caller. Beverly acknowledges this and immediately smashes one of Mrs. Ackerman's Franklin Mint fabergé eggs and blames Dottie for it. Beverly then hurriedly rushes Mrs. Ackerman away to the flea market where Beverly and Misty are vendors, presumably to kill her environmentally ignorant neighbor.
Detectives Gracey and Pike visit Eugene Sutphin's office during his appointment with Mr. Sterner. The detectives show Eugene certain true crime books owned by Beverly found in the family's garbage. The books, including ''Helter Skelter'', are exclusively about serial killers, leading Eugene to believe that the books really belong to Chip. The detectives counter that they have proof through MasterCard records that Beverly brought them at a bookstore. Detective Gracey then asks, "Dr. Sutphin, is your wife mental?"
At the flea market, Beverly and Misty sell items at their vending booth, though Misty is still in a sour mood after being stood up by Carl. Beverly soon spots Carl and his girlfriend (Traci Lords) browsing nearby. Beverly stalks the two -- wielding a fireplace poker fraudelently brought by Mrs. Ackerman -- until Carl goes to the men's room. Beverly follows him, but is forced to hide in a stall after another flea market customer makes an exit. Beverly is seen in the stall through a peephole by an apparent vandal and sexual pervert, who hurriedly leaves in confusion. Beverly finally manages to kill Carl as he is urinating by stabbing him in the lower back with the poker, though she is forced to deal with a piece of Carl's liver, stuck on the murder weapon. After Beverly manages to get the liver off of the poker, she accidentally slips on it. Before she leaves the crime scene, she flushes the urinal he was attending.
Soon after the murder, Carl's body is found. As the body is put into a bodybag, Misty arrives amongst the curious crowd, and screams when she sees the dead Carl. This is noticed by the suspicious Detective Gracey. When Misty tells Beverly about the murder, Beverly seems euphoric, apparently ignoring the gravity of the situation. Mrs. Ackerman, having previously noticed Carl's liver residue on Beverly's shoe, discovers Carl's blood on the fireplace poker, and realizes Beverly is the killer.
Meanwhile, Eugene snoops around his and Beverly's bedroom, and finds some disturbing items. They include a scrapbook containing newspaper clippings about serial killers such as Charles Manson and mass killings such as Jonestown. Eugene also finds a bizarre autographed photo of Richard Speck addressed to Beverly. He also discovers an audiotape given to Beverly by Ted Bundy (John Waters himself), who says that the tape was made shortly before his execution and that "it's lonely here on Death Row." As Eugene snaps off the tape in disgust, he listens to a radio report about Carl's murder.
Misty leaves the flea market and travels to Chip's video store, informing Chip and his friends that "our mother is Charles Manson." Chip and his friends don't believe her and make sarcastic jokes, but Misty tells Chip that the situation is real and someone else might die if Beverly isn't stopped.
That night, the atmopshere at the dinner table is tense, though this seems to be oblivious to the almost euphoric Beverly. Chip tells Beverly that Scotty thinks she's responsible for the recent murders. Beverly shrugs off the claim but abruptly leaves the table. They listen as Beverly leaves in her car, followed by another automobile, a police car, before they leave as well.
As Beverly is driving towards her destination, she notices that she's being tailed by the police car. She begins playing a Barry Manilow song loudly and loses the police car by cutting through a front lawn and onto an adjacent road.
The Sutphin family, believing that Scotty is Beverly's next victim, speed over to his house, unknowingly followed by police. Hearing Scotty screaming, the family breaks into his house and make their way to his room. Upon entering his room, however, they discover Scotty masturbating while watching a porno movie starring Chesty Morgan; Scotty's screaming was really an orgasm. After Detectives Gracey and Pike enter the room and also find Scotty in his humiliating position, he hides under his blanket in embarrassment.
It turns out that Beverly wasn't heading to Scotty's house, but was really heading for the residence of Eugene's patients, the Sterners. When she arrives, she spies on them through their dining room window, watching them grotesquely eating chicken. As the food reminds Beverly of the birds she enjoys watching with her husband, she snaps again. The Sterners seal their fate as Beverly enters the house, when she overhears them insulting Eugene. Later on, while Mrs. Sterner is undressing upstairs, she discovers Beverly hiding in the walk-in closet, along with a rat hiding in a shoebox (which promptly chews at her leg). Beverly stabs Mrs. Sterner in the chest with her scissors, killing her. When Mr. Sterner comes across the scene, Beverly tries to throw the scissors at him, but to no avail. As Mr. Sterner stands at his front door calling for help, Beverly drops the air conditioner on top of him from the bedroom window, which kills him instantly. Beverly then goes home where she meets her family, who are relieved that Scotty is safe and no longer think that Beverly is a murderess.
The following morning, on Sunday, May 16, the Sutphin family prepare to go to church. Outside, they are greeted by a whole fleet of police cars, led by Detectives Gracey and Pike. As the family drives to church with the police in tow, they listen to a radio news report about the murders of the Sterners and the naming of Beverly as a prime suspect. The family now realizes that Beverly ''is'' a serial murderess, but Beverly shrugs off the suggestion, saying "the only 'cereal' I know anything about is Rice Krispies."
When they arrive at church, the family is met with scorn and suspicion by the other congregants, including Dottie Hinkle, Mrs. Ackerman, Scotty, and Birdie's parents, who refuse to let Birdie talk to Chip. Even the church itself has turned against her, with the church's message board announcing that that day's sermon is titled "Capital Punishment & You." Indeed, during the sermon, the minister attempts to justify the death penalty by rhetorically suggesting that Jesus Christ could have spoken out against capital punishment while he was being crucified.
During the sermon, Detectives Gracey and Pike receive confirmation that Beverly's fingerprints on the scissors at the Sterner crime scene match the prints found on one of her true crime books, and are given permission to "bust the bitch." The police silently enter the church and blend in with the congregants, preparing to take her in. Unfortunately, Beverly sneezes on a baby in the pew in front of her, which causes a catastrophic commotion in the chapel. In the chaos, Birdie and Chip help Beverly escape and steal Scotty's car. They make their way to Chip's video rental store, where Beverly is hidden in a back room.
Soon after their arrival, a customer named Mrs. Jensen stops by to drop off a copy of ''Ghost Dad'', asking for the film version of ''Annie''. In a confrontation overheard by Beverly, Chip forces Mrs. Jensen to pay extra for the purchase, as Mrs. Jensen failed to rewind the previous movie. Mrs. Jensen begrudgingly does so, calling Chip a "son of a psycho." After she leaves, Chip and Birdie discover that Beverly is missing, and realize that she must be going to Mrs. Jensen's house. They find that the house is nearby and quickly depart, followed by Scotty, who followed them from the church.
Beverly indeed follows Mrs. Jensen to her house and breaks in while Mrs. Jensen is watching the movie's opening credits, singing the theme "Tomorrow" along with the film. Chip and Birdie make it to the house, but fail to look inside because of the elevated window. Scotty, however, climbs to the top of a nearby garage and witnesses the ensuing scene. Beverly at first tries to stab Mrs. Jensen with a knife but relents at the last minute, deciding to kill her with a solid leg of lamb instead. She does so, brutally killing Mrs. Jensen. She then notices Scotty from the window and the two begin a chase back to the video store and Chip's car.
Beverly, having taken the knife, tries to stab at Scotty through the car's convertible roof, telling him to "buckle your seatbelts" (something that has bothered Beverly throughout the film). Scotty drives off, but Beverly manage to carjack a passing van. It takes her a while, but she manages to catch Scotty in a club where an all girl band called the Camel Lips are playing. When Scotty tries to escape by running on the stage, the bass player pushes him back off. Beverly cuts the light fixture which falls on him. She then sets him on fire using a lighter and an aerosol can. Her family arrives just in time to watch Scotty die.
By the time Beverly's trial begins on Monday, October 4, 1993, her story has become a national sensation. She is dubbed "Serial Mom" by the media, and a TV movie about the case is in the works, starring Suzanne Somers as Beverly. Chip now has an agent, managing the family's media appearances and overseeing the production of the TV movie. Misty and her new boyfriend, a reporter for the ''Baltimore Sun'', sell merchandise about their mother's trial outside of the courthouse. Eugene seems to have become an anti-death penalty activist, while Birdie seems to have had an epiphany and now is opposed to violence of any kind. She hands out flyers reading "Stop the Violence" as she and the Sutphin family enter the courthouse for Beverly's trial.
During opening arguments, Beverly notices that a member of the jury, Juror #8 (Patricia Hearst), is wearing white shoes after Labor Day, a conservative fashion ''faux pas''. When she tries to bring this to the attention of her attorney, he ignores her and claims that Beverly is not guilty by reason of insanity. This causes Beverly to appeal that her lawyer be fired and that she be permitted to represent herself during her trial. The judge rules on her behalf, and the trial begins.
Defending herself, Beverly proves to be quite formidable during her trial. When Dottie Hinkle testifies about the incident when she identified Beverly as her threatening caller, Beverly's questioning and hidden mouthing of "Fuck you" to her causes Dottie to explode in a fit of vile cursing, causing the judge to hold her in contempt of court. When Mrs. Ackerman takes the stand, Beverly destroys her neighbor's credibility by forcing Mrs. Ackerman to admit that she doesn't recycle. During the testimony of the man in the bathroom stall, Beverly swings her legs open and closed in a rapid motion, sexually arousing the man and causing him to commit perjury. Beverly doesn't have to question the girl who saw her murder Mr. Stubbins; the girl appears in court high on drugs. While questioning Detective Gracey, Beverly questions him about the merit of his snooping through her garbage to judge her personality, and bolsters her argument by displaying a porno magazine called "Chicks With Dicks," which she claims was in Gracey's garbage; it is implied, however, that the magazine really belongs to Detective Pike. And during the testimony of a forensics expert, the entire courtroom is starstruck and thus completely distracted by the arrival of Suzanne Somers.
On Thursday, October 7, the verdict is read. Beverly Sutphin is found not guilty of all charges, causing Beverly to laugh manically and exclaim to her family, "Kids, I'm coming home!" Her family, however, is really less than thrilled by her acquittal. To avoid any more murders or violence, they decide to "try not to get on her nerves."
Outside of the courtroom, while Eugene is holding a press conference, Beverly follows Juror #8 to a nearby payphone. Beverly tells the juror that white shoes shouldn't be worn after Labor Day, asking if "your mother [taught] you anything" as she strikes the juror in the head with the telephone receiver. Juror #8 pleads with Beverly, saying "fashion has changed!" Beverly responds, "No, it hasn't," striking her a second time, killing her.
Beverly reunites with her family and tries to make a hasty escape from the courthouse, but she is stopped by Suzanne Somers, who wants Beverly to pose in some pictures with her. Beverly snaps at Somers, shrieking, "This is my bad side!" As this happens, the jury's foreman discovers Juror #8's bludgeoned body and screams. Everyone, including Suzanne Somers, blankly stare at Beverly as she eerily smiles at Somers.

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

★ 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

Cameos

★ John Waters as Ted Bundy (voice)

★ Suzanne Somers as Herself

★ Traci Lords as Carl's Date

★ Bess Armstrong as Eugene's Nurse

★ Joan Rivers as Herself

★ Mary Vivian Pearce as Book Buyer

★ Patricia Hearst as Juror #8

★ Nat Benchley as Macho Man

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. However, like many of Water's other films, it gained a sort of cult following after its video release. ^[1]

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.

Goofs

★ When Carl is killed in the bathroom his "liver" is lying next to him. When he is discovered, it is gone.

★ When Beverly 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.

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.

References

1. Frank the Movie Guy.''Hidden Gem: Serial Mom''. 23 April, 2007. Retrieved on 7 June, 2007

External links

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