SERIAL MOM is
one of John Waters' more mainstream movie offerings and
thus lacks the edge of earlier efforts (PINK FLAMINGOES,
POLYESTER), though does have Kathleen Turner in one of her
most accomplished tour-de-forces.
Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner) seems like your ordinary
stay-at-home wife and mother, but nothing could be further
from the truth. Anyone who crosses her path and defiles
her code of morals is instantly killed or abused, starting
with neighbour Dottie Hinkle (Mink Stole) whom Beverly
harrasses with shocking prank phonecalls after Dottie
rudely cut her out of a parking space. Then there's the
boy who broke daughter Misty's heart, impaled by a
Franklin Mint fire-poker; the rude man who doesn't floss,
crushed by his airborne cooler-unit; the woman who doesn't
rewind her videos, bludgeoned by a lamb chop, and the list
goes on...!
Beverly's murder trial takes on a life of it's own and
becomes a media circus. Suzanne Somers is the frontrunner
to play Beverly in a TV miniseries and Beverly acts as her
own defence. Too bad about the annoying juror (Patty
Hearst) who is wearing white shoes after Labour Day...
Kathleen Turner glows in her ghoulishly-gleeful turn as
Beverly. John Waters directs a fine cast (including Waters
stalwarts Mink Stole and Ricki Lake).
This movie is simply delightful off-kilter comedy at it's
best. Ricki Lake and Matthew Lillard play Beverly's teens
Misty and Chip with Sam Waterston as Beverly's guileless
husband. The cast also includes the punk band L7, Traci
Lords, Scott Wesley Morgan, Walt MacPherson, Justin Whalin,
Patricia Dunnock, Lonnie Horsey and Mary Jo Catlett
