Serial Mom (1994) | Movie Review

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:06]Hey there. Welcome back to another video. This time around it is my review of the 1994 black comedy film Serial Mom. I I think that this is 100% worthy of its cult status and then some because I loved this. I thought this was really funny and uh very entertaining. Now, before I get around to sharing more of my thoughts on Serial Mom, I would like to give a special shout out to Andrew for requesting this review. And if there is another film, TV show, or topic that you would like to see me discuss in the future, feel free to donate to either my PayPal, my Patreon, or my Cash App. Uh the links to uh all three are going to be in the video description down below. and I will try to get to your request as soon as I possibly can. Serial Mom is directed by John Waters and for years John Waters was really known more as a kind of grindhouse indie uh filmmaker. He was known as a guy who had very low budgets and for a lot of people uh they considered him to have very low standards or you know very uh low uh taste you know because a lot of his films were considered to be in bad taste.

[00:01:28]But John was always somebody to me that uh I I think he was very much in a tour and also somebody who was a lot smarter and a lot more talented than a lot of people gave him credit for. And by the time that Serial Mom came to be, uh, people in the industry started to realize this, uh, cuz you've had, you know, Crybaby with Johnny Depp and, you know, Hairspray. And so people started to realize how multiaceted and and talented John uh, really was. and Seavoy Pictures decided to give him a pretty good chunk of change to uh make uh this film and as a result uh honestly I think you get some of his best work as a filmmaker because he's given the biggest uh and most expensive sandbox to play in. He can actually afford to hire, you know, a a high-end set designer. he can afford uh some, you know, decent production design. He can actually build sets and utilize them uh for his uh film uh which is something that he never really had a lot of the opportunity to do so most of the time because he didn't have the budget. And you could just really see uh the glee uh that John was clearly feeling when it comes to shooting this film in every frame because he's just so happy that he has this opportunity. And he gives it everything that he has and then some.

[00:03:12]The framing in this is impeccable. It is so good. the uh uh camera work is uh hands down in my opinion uh his best uh or at least up there with some of his best. And you know, he he's so good at just creating these these realms and these worlds that look so natural and like normal but not. And Serial Mom is definitely no exception.

[00:03:45]And I just love the way that he shoots the opening of the movie, you know, making it look like, you know, this it's just kind of a normal suburban uh uh drama, you know, or or, you know, comedy or, you know, a sitcom from like Leave it to Beaver or something, but in a John Waters way. So even though it it looks kind of normal, there's still that element of the surreal that he brings to it. uh whether it's an occasional uh strange camera angle or you know a different uh approach to the framing of a shot or you know a zoom or a pan in a way that isn't normally uh where you would see it. So, he just does a lot of that in Serial Mom and it just it's really impressive in my opinion from a technical standpoint uh when it comes to his direction and because he's just so good and so experienced with this kind of dark comedy. He just nails every scene that is trying to, you know, get a laugh out of you when it comes to just the the demented nature of it. uh like the various different uh scenes involving Beverly and her victims and even the courtroom scene which it was shot in a way that looked like you know your average courtroom sequence but then as things you know continued on and continued further things got more and more you know warped uh they got weirder and uh Waters's uh direction also uh you know shifted to match the the energy that Kathleen Turner was bringing uh in in that sequence, you know, when she decides to uh defend herself in the courtroom and um goes through all these extreme lengths to discredit everybody who who uh appears on the witness stand. And to me it is just a really uh uh great wonderful uh uh uh film uh in terms of you know the visuals and the style and the flare and it just represents everything that I personally really admire and really love about John Waters. Uh he's just fearless here just like he always is but this time he's given you know so much more to work with. He's given more to work with than he's ever had until this point in his career. And it's just such a treat, such a joy to watch uh Waters, you know, work his uh weird magic uh uh in Serial Mom.

[00:06:36]Now, Waters also wrote the film, and I think he does a wonderful job uh with the screenplay as well. I think it's one of his best. Uh, and John actually said in an interview on this Blu-ray that he actually does consider Serial Mom to be his best movie. It's his favorite film of his that he's done that he's written and directed. And I can definitely see that. uh not just because he has the opportunity to work with, you know, $13 million, but you know, to work with Kathleen Turner and such a great cast and just this really uh witty and fantastic screenplay, this ahead of its time uh uh sorted tale of um uh true crime and u dark comedy that he was able to come up with for this movie. The opening to me is brilliant. It starts out like a whacked out uh um sitcom, you know, with Beverly and her family. And it just definitely seems like there's just just something that's just a little off.

[00:07:50]whether it's, you know, Beverly herself and how, you know, the way that she's carrying herself and acting like, you know, she's June Cleaver, but, you know, not, you know, the kind of thing where, you know, she's trying to do it, but it definitely feels like it's more of an act and it's more force than it is, you know, like her naturally being, you know, this uh um cookie cutter uh vision of an American housewife. life and there's just these little subtle things, you know, this this whole bit where she gets really annoyed with a fly that's buzzing around her head in the kitchen uh while she's, you know, uh having breakfast with her family in the morning to the point where she actually snaps and kills it with a with a fly swatter.

[00:08:45]And it just is a great subversion of the whole concept of, oh, you know, so and so wouldn't hurt a fly. It's like, no, she would and she'll do a lot more than that. Uh, and then you have the police who come over and they're talking to her, you know, and questioning her about these telephone calls uh these uh calls that are harassing uh the neighbor Doie because Doy has gone to the police because somebody is uh harassing her with vulgar vulgar telephone calls. And then I just love how you get the twist and the twist is that that Beverly is the one that's making these calls and it just shows you how genuinely whacked out this lady is, but in a way that's honestly very witty, unexpected, and hilarious as hell and so quintessentially John in terms of just how daring it is with the dialogue.

[00:09:57]Uh Doie, you know, she picks up the phone and this is after, you know, Beverly goes up to the to her bedroom with just this just a look of just glee.

[00:10:10]Uh she's a demented glee as she's like calling the number on the phone in her bedroom.

[00:10:17]Uh she's and Doie answers and she's all like, "Hello." And then Beverly puts on a a a screwed up uh a voice and she's all like, "Is this a [ __ ] residence?" And then daddy's like, "God damn you. Stop calling here. Is this 4215 [ __ ] way, you bitch." Now, let me check the zip code. 212. [ __ ] you.

[00:10:45]The police are tracing this call this very minute. Well, Daddy Hinkle, then why aren't they here? Huh? [ __ ] face.

[00:10:53][ __ ] you. And then uh Doy hangs up and then Beverly just cackles and then immediately calls Doy back.

[00:11:04]Doy answers. Did I just say [ __ ] you? I beg your pardon. Who is this? Mrs. Wilson from the telephone company. I understand you're having problems with an obscene phone caller. Uh yes, I am.

[00:11:19]I'm sorry, Mrs. Wilson. But this is driving me crazy. I've had my number changed twice already. Please help me.

[00:11:28]Well, what exactly does this sick individual say to you? I I can't say the words out loud. I don't use bad language.

[00:11:37]Oh, well, I I know it's difficult, but we need to know the exact words. I'll try.

[00:11:44][ __ ] That's what she calls me.

[00:11:47]And then Beverly just turns the tables in such a great way and goes back to the original screwed up voice. Listen to your filthy mouth, you [ __ ] [ __ ] Godamn you, [ __ ] [ __ ] And then just Doy hangs up and it it's just so messed up, whacked out, but I love it. It's it's it's it's definitely the kind of uh sense of humor, you know, that that I I'm all for and I find really funny. And there's just a lot of, you know, whacked out moments like that in Serial Mom.

[00:12:27]And it it's at that moment where I was like, "Okay, all right.

[00:12:32]Uh, this is going to be a good time."

[00:12:34]And it definitely was because it just gets crazier because after that, after you know the phone call, Beverly winds up uh going to a PTA meeting.

[00:12:50]I think that's I think that's what it is. And she winds up talking to uh her son Chips, a math teacher. And the math teacher tells her that her son's not doing well in math. and also tells her about uh these drawings that he's he's uh uh doing in class that are violent and and gory because he's a horror film fan.

[00:13:14]And so he's drawing, you know, gory images of like, you know, murders and vampires and stuff and zombies. And the math teacher, you know, who has a stick up his ass, uh he thinks that there's something wrong with him. uh and then tries to insinuate that the reason why, you know, he's struggling in math and the reason why he's doing these pictures and the reason why there's something wrong with him is because of Beverly. And Beverly doesn't take uh that well. In fact, she uh follows him in her car uh after uh the meeting, waits till he's uh by himself about ready to go into his car, and then runs his ass over and kills him.

[00:14:08]And so after the murder of M Mr. stubbins.

[00:14:15]She then has gotten a taste of blood.

[00:14:19]And this is this is a woman who you already get a sense is close to having some sort of psychotic break. I mean, with the whole thing with the fly at the beginning during breakfast, the whole stuff that she does with Die, you find out the reason why she did this to Dottie is because Die uh took her parking spot.

[00:14:42]So, she's so whacked it out there.

[00:14:44]She'll go to that extreme and just mess with this woman and make her life a living hell just because she took her parking spot earlier. And then she finds out that her, uh, daughter Misty, she is stood up by her crush, uh, uh, Carl, who, you know, said he's going to go out with her, but he he doesn't show up to her date, but then he spots her with another girl at a swap meet that she's at, and then follows him into the men's bathroom and takes a fire poker in with her. and then stabs him to death with it. And that entire sequence is laugh out loud hilarious to me because she stabs him in the back with the poker and then pulls the poker out and she pulls out his liver. So there's this piece of liver that's like stuck on the end of the poker and she's like trying to shake it off. She's frantically trying to get it off and she eventually like daintily just slides it off and then makes a look of disgust on her face.

[00:15:56]She's just like and then she almost slips on the the piece of liver that's on the floor like that. I I died laughing at that scene.

[00:16:07]It it killed me.

[00:16:11]And speaking of killing, uh Beverly just keeps on killing.

[00:16:17]Any excuse that she can have to take somebody out, she's going to take it.

[00:16:22]She hears about Scotty uh Scotty's friend uh uh her um her uh well, Chip is her Chip is her son. So she hears about Scotty, who is Chip's friend. My bad. So she hears that Scotty is suspicious of her. And so the family is now starting to be suspicious about Beverly. So they think that the, you know, Beverly's going to try to silence Scotty. But then you find out that he is safe because Beverly winds up running into like Scotty's neighbors and he winds up killing uh Ralph and Betty Sterner instead who are this couple that called her husband to treat uh uh this guy's toothache while they uh were supposed to uh uh go bird watching. So, she decides to get revenge for those two instead of taking out Scotty. But Scotty winds up uh getting his uh wanking session interrupted while he's watching um deadly weapons, a porno about with this woman with these giant tits.

[00:17:44]And so Beverly's uh husband and Chip and Misty, they barge in uh right when he's about to climax. And it's awkward and it's so honestly it's one of the more horrifying things in the movie. It's just that scene, but it's also really funny. And the way that Beverly takes out the Sterners is great. She stabs Betty with some scissors, pushes an air conditioner onto Ralph, and the police now, they've pretty much figured it out.

[00:18:23]They pretty much solved the case. You know, Beverly is the killer. uh the her husband, he's already convinced that she's the killer at this point, Eugene, because he wound up doing some digging in in in their bedroom, and he found all the serial killer paraphernalia, all these clippings from newspapers, uh letters from serial killers who were incarcerated to Beverly, a audio tape to Beverly from Dead Bundy, And so he's 100% for sure confident that she's guilty. And I love how the husband's like, you know, well, you know, we'll we'll love her anyway. It's like if she did this, if she's a serial killer, it's fine. You know, we we'll find a way to get through this as a family and we'll love her anyway. Uh, and the police, they're just basically waiting for uh some DNA or fingerprints to match so that it can nail Beverly. And Beverly winds up going to uh church uh the the Sunday after uh she killed the two more people. And th this is a small town. So, so word travels fast and things are just getting really crazy now in terms of, you know, the news talking about a serial killer, uh, talking about how Beverly is a suspect. And there's a hilarious scene where the cops are all like lined up in a row and like all these different police cars and they're like following her and like the slowest car chase ever uh when she's on her way to church. And that is, you know, precursor to the slow uh Ford uh, you know, Bronco chase with OJ Simpson that would happen after uh this film's release. And she's in church, the the the pastor, he's even doing a sermon about uh the death penalty and which I thought was really clever. There's some really great subversive writing by John Waters and the service winds up being ended abruptly because the police got the evidence and decide they decide to bring her in. Beverly sneezes though before that before she's able to get arrested that then causes everybody to freak out.

[00:21:05]She then escapes and she winds up uh getting um hid by her son uh Chip and his uh friend Birdie.

[00:21:17]And they hide her in the video store that Chip works at, which apparently was the same video local video store uh in Baltimore uh uh that uh would John Waters would frequent often. you know, that was his local uh video store. And this this lady comes by to return her tape. Yeah. This uh this woman named Mrs. Jensen who's like a regular customer and she returns Ghost Dad and she's like, "Oh, I just love that Bill Cosby." and she's the type of person who like talks bad on horror movies because uh she's disgusted at the Texas Chainsaw Massacre uh tape that's playing uh uh in uh the uh video store. And that is honestly something that because of, you know, what happened years later with Bill Cosby is so much funnier because it now it has a different connotation to it where she's all like, "Oh, I just love that Bill Cosby. You know, he's, you know, wholesome and not like these sick twisted horror movies." And if only she knew, if only she knew the truth about Bill.

[00:22:36]and she gets a copy of Annie and Chip when he got ghost ad back he's like this isn't rewound and she gives him all this crap about you know not rewinding the tape and Chip's like I'm going to have to charge you for this and she gives him crap for that and Beverly's hiding in the back and she hears that and of course she is just so out there now she's completely lost it to the point where anything that can trigger her into a a murder spree, uh, she's got to do it. And so she hears that this lady doesn't want to rewind her tapes. And so she sneaks out the back of the video store, follows uh uh Mrs. Jensen to her house. And Mrs. Jensen's a freak, too. Like, she's watching Annie, and she's having her dog lick her feet. And she's saying things like, "Oh yeah, get them all nice and wet." And Beverly, she at first grabs like a giant knife that's sitting next to this like rack of lamb, but then she decides, "Uh, I'm not going to do that." And grabs the rack of lamb instead and then beats Mr. Jensen to death with it while uh the opening credits of Annie are playing. So you have this scene of, you know, the the opening credits of Annie.

[00:24:04]So it's going, you know, tomorrow, tomorrow, da da da, tomorrow. And the Mrs. Jensen's singing along. And Beverly sneaks up behind her and bashes her her over the head with a rack of lamb. And then after she's killed Mrs. Jensen, she says, "Rewind." and then rewinds the tape.

[00:24:32]Oh my god, it it that is just so messed up but so funny. Just like rewind, you stupid [ __ ] And Scotty, he actually saw this all happen cuz he's been he was actually watching um from like a house next door. Beverly sees that then starts to chase after Scotty and finds him at a heavy metal bar where uh the band L7 is playing as a different band called Camel Lips.

[00:25:11]And they're actually like wearing outfits that like show like camel lips.

[00:25:16]It It's just so so wild and hilarious.

[00:25:24]And Beverly corners him and Scotty's like trying to beg for his life and he's all like, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Miss Sutman. I I'll wear my seatelt." uh because she's pissed at him because he doesn't wear his seat belt. And then she lights him on fire and she gets a standing ovation basically at the rock at the, you know, the metal bar from everybody that's there. She eventually gets arrested and then when she's put on trial, she decides to uh come to her own defense and it actually works. and the way that she's able to just turn the tables and all of these people who are coming to the stand who are these witnesses uh and just make it seem as if they are, you know, the criminals or they are the ones that are uh more whacked in the head than she is like and how she gets her to become so riled up that she cusses her out on the stand or the the lady who doesn't recycle and so like you know and exposing her as as as a litter bug to the entire courtroom and just really just fun clever stuff like that. And eventually, you know, despite her, you know, defending herself as her own lawyer, she actually winds up winning the case. She gets a not guilty guilty verdict. And also there is a little bit of some coercion from uh u the the media and also celebrities in particular Suzanne Summers because she's doing research for the serial mom movie uh or TV movie or miniseries that she's going to star in where she's going to play Beverly and she actually shows up in the courtroom and this whole sequence is just so subversive and brilliant in terms of the writing. just some really great uh twisted but tremendous uh uh satire in terms of the the criminal system and true crime in general, especially people who try to make a buck off of it because there's this whole bit with, you know, her son Chip who's like getting he's on the phone with all these deals for like books and for movies and television appearances. He's also uh joined by his sister Misty who's like selling merchandise, serial mom merchandise uh outside the courtroom, you know, before people go in uh to the trial. And just the way that Beverly turns the tables and gets away with it is hilarious. And it's also another thing that predicts, you know, what would happen later on with OJ Simpson. You didn't just have the car chase, the slow car chase. You also had, you know, the end result of the OJ trial. And I love how it ends where Suzanne Summers is there and she's walking with Beverly and Beverly throughout the whole trial, she was resisting the urge to take out this juror who was wearing white after Labor Day. But as soon as she gets let off, she corners this woman while she's on a pay phone and then beats her to death and then winds up uh you know putting on the smiles for the press and everything. And Suzanne Summers is there and Suzanne Summers is, you know, trying to, you know, get uh Beverly to answer some questions and Beverly is not having any of it. And Beverly basically winds up uh giving a look that tells Suzanne that she is legitimately psycho and she was she did kill all these people. And it ends with a postcript that says that Beverly refused to cooperate with the makers of this film because this is also a movie that had an opening that tried to insinuate that it was based on a true story. which is just another brilliant aspect of of the opening of the film and just uh the screenplay in general by uh John Waters.

[00:30:07]So I yeah just I I I just find the ending to be really sharp and punchy and just uh just very perfect for you know the kind of you know sick twisted uh uh crazy wild uh romp that this movie is.

[00:30:27]And uh I just thought, you know, the fact that she got away with it was really unexpected and was a great bit of writing because uh that's definitely not a turn that you would necessarily think is going to happen. Uh, so yeah, I I I don't really have any problems with this screenplay except for maybe a little bit in terms of some of the characters uh and and the way that they shifted like Chip and Misty near the end. They shifted a little bit too far in terms of them, you know, going along with their mom being a murderer and trying to take advantage of it in terms of making some sort of financial gain out of the serial mom thing. But other than that, I I don't really have any issues with the screenplay. I thought everything was on point. Uh everything was, you know, brilliant and clever. Even the commentary about horror films too was was nice because I mean there's like a line from uh uh Chip's friend where they wind up see you know grabbing Beverly you know after she sneaks out of the church you know and and and she this one girl she's like you know you're bigger than Freddy and Jason now only you're real like so there there's just a lot of just great subversive clever uh writing in this uh and it's a big part of why I I I just loved this screenplay and I just loved this movie.

[00:31:59]But another reason why is the cast and primarily Kathleen Turner. Kathleen Turner was tremendous. She was terrific as Beverly.

[00:32:10]She just approached this role with just so much demented glee and, you know, menacing mirth that it was just so fun to watch. Like, you could not take your eyes off of her. And it's one of my favorite performances of her for sure.

[00:32:27]And it's even more impressive when you realize that she was going through the early stages of her illness. Uh that would ultimately cause her to, you know, not work as much and it would take a lot of her looks away and it would, you know, affect her physically uh in a lot of different ways. Uh I think I think it might have been rheumatoid arthritis. I think I I could be wrong, but it was some some kind of condition like that.

[00:32:54]And she was getting fevers. She was getting, you know, uh, faints, like she would sick to her stomach. She was having a lot of issues, health issues while she was shooting this. But you could never tell because it just felt like it was just uh a really um, energetic, really strong performance. It didn't seem like anything was holding her back. Uh, but throughout the entire production, Kathleen was dealing with a lot and it just makes her performance in this all the more impressive and all the more not noteworthy. And the rest of the cast is good, too. I mean, Sam Wat is a good straight man as Eugene, her husband. Ricky Lake is fine as Misty.

[00:33:40]Uh, Matthew Lillard in his acting debut is is a lot of fun as Chip, you know, uh, Beverly's horror fan of Son. Uh the detectives, Scott Wizzley Morgan and Walt McFersonson, who played Detective Pike and Gracie, they're just kind of there. Justin Whan, it was nice to see him, you know, from Child's Play three uh as uh Scotty. Uh I like Patricia Donuk, who played Birdie in this. Uh Chips friend and and you know, girlfriend uh who worked with him at the video store. Mink stole. She steals every scene that she's in as usual uh in this asyle.

[00:34:22]Uh definitely had a lot of fun with Mary Joe Catlet as well as Rosemary Acriman and you know Kathy Fannon and Doug Roberts as the Sterners. Tracy Lords has a small role in this as Carl's date. Uh Suzanne Summers plays herself in a in a pretty memorable cameo. Uh so does Joan Rivers and like a little talk show segment. Bess Armstrong from Jaws 3. She has an uncredited cameo as a secretary at Eugene's dental office. And then you have L7 who plays Camel Lips and John Waters who plays the voice of Ted Bundy which I thought was pretty funny. And the cinematography is by Robert M.

[00:35:05]Stevens and I think he did a very uh solid job with it. Uh, it features some great editing by Janice Hampton and Erica Huggins that definitely matches, you know, the the warped uh uh uh vibe and overall, you know, feel the film.

[00:35:21]Well, the music is by Basil Polodoris and it starts out weird. It sounds like something from a sci-fi movie, but then once Basil starts to really get into a groove, it's another really uh good score by him and it definitely elevates the film and adds a lot to it as did, you know, the the songs that they used for it. And I mean, tomorrow by Annie, like apparently they had to pay like $60,000 just to use that song in the movie. It was money well spent. I I I love it. I I thought it was just a blast. Like, I really enjoyed the movie. That's just uh my thoughts on Serial Mom. And as always, thanks for watching and I'll see you later.

[00:36:30]Heat.