| | | "Every Mom Wants to Be Wanted, But Not for Murder One."
Features: DVD, English, French, Spanish, Dolby, Dolby Digital (5.1)
Director John Waters puts a twist on the everyday mediocrity of suburban life in the hilarious satire Serial Mom. See Kathleen Turner like never before as Beverly Sutphin, the seemingly perfect homemaker who will stop at nothing to rid the neighborhood of anyone failing to live up to her moral code. Featuring a digitally remastered picture and 5.1 surround sound, Serial Mom is a killer comedy that will take you over the edge with laughter!
"Deliciously wicked and deliriously funny, Serial Mom is one of Waters' most accomplished works." Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress
"Uproarious...killingly funny...Kathleen Turner is dynamite..." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Editor's Note
Happy homemaker Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner) has a charmed life--a beautiful suburban home, a successful dentist husband (Sam Waterston), and two normal teenagers, Misty (Ricki Lake) and Chip (Matthew Lillard). But she also has a good deal of underlying rage waiting to escape....Just be sure to follow her rules: Be polite to your neighbor, always recycle, rewind your videotapes, and never, ever wear white shoes after Labor Day. When one of her son's teachers speaks disparagingly of the boy at a parent-teacher conference, Bev runs the instructor over in the school parking lot. Suddenly she has an insatiable taste for murder. Six homicides later, the cops get wise to her crimes, which are committed with weapons ranging from a leg of lamb to a fireplace poker. A media frenzy ensues, turning an unrepentant Beverly into a media celebrity. A serial-killer comedy mixed with courtroom-drama social satire, the raunchy SERIAL MOM was John Waters's return to R-rated fare after the sweet-natured duo of HAIRSPRAY and CRY-BABY. Suburban life is duly skewered here as the serenity of Beverly's upper-middle-class surroundings are continually sullied by her comedically disturbing acts of violence. Turner appears to relish the opportunity to play such an over-the-top role, and the usual Baltimore-based supporting players make welcome appearances.
Plot Summary
SERIAL MOM is John Waters's spoof of (and homage to) the perfect suburban housewife--and the homicidal impulses seething beneath that cheery exterior.
| Features | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Feature Audio Commentary With Director John Waters | | Feature Audio Commentary With Director John Waters & Star Kathleen Turner | | Featurettes: Serial Mom - Surreal Moments, The Kings Of Gore - Herschell Gordon Lewis & David Friedman, & The Making Of Serial Mom | | Interactive Menus | | Original Theatrical Trailer | | Scene Selection | | Subtitles: English, French, Spanish |
| Technical Info
|
Release Information
| | Studio: Universal |
| Release Date: 5/6/2008 |
| Running Time: 135 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1994 | | Catalog ID: 62103472 | | UPC: 00025195027489 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Available Subtitles: English, French, Spanish | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Memorable Quotes| "I never say the 'P' word out loud!"----Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner), when accused of making an obscene phone call to a neighbor | | "Somebody ought to kill her...give her a happy face..."----Garbage man to Beverley when discussing a neighbor who doesn't recycle | | "Now I'll never get a boyfriend!"----Misty (Ricki Lake), after her mother is announced on the radio as a serial killer | | "Chip, you know I hate the 'brown word.'"----Beverly to her son, Chip (Matthew Lillard), after he says a certain four--letter word | | "You can't wear white shoes after Labor Day!"----Beverly to Juror #8 (Patricia Hearst) | | "Do you think I need to call a lawyer?"----Beverly to Chip|"You need an agent."----Chip |
|
| | Professional Reviews | Premiere
"...Polite, perverse, sublime..." - Recommended 09/01/1994 p.112Rolling Stone
"John Waters and Kathleen Turner bring out the sicko best in each other in SERIAL MOM. It's a killingly funny spoof of crime and nonpunishment..." 05/05/1994 p.47-8 New York Times
"...Turner leaps into the most delicious role she has had in years....[Waters] concocts a cute suburban satire, a warmly funny movie that even a mother could love..." 04/13/1994 p.C15 Entertainment Weekly
"...There's a martini dryness to Waters's sick sense of humor that's perfectly embodied in Turner's performance." -- Rating: B 08/26/1994 p.120 USA Today
"...This is a high Waters mark....The renegade director/writer kicks the nation smack in its collective groin, marvelously mocking the oh-so-current mania over crime figures and tabloid scandals..." -- 3 1/2 out of 4 stars 04/13/1994 p.1D Reel.com 8 of 10
Serial Mom may be John Waters lite, but that does not mean his material is any more sedate. In his audio commentary, Waters describes Serial Mom as Female Trouble, Part 2. He points out that both this and the earlier, wilder comedy starring his longtime collaborator, the drag queen Divine, are primarily concerned with the connection between "crime, beauty, and celebrity." Long fascinated by both the criminal justice system and serial killers -- Waters has even taught film classes to prisoners -- it was perhaps only a matter of time before Waters finally wrote and directed a comedy about serial murder...Turner and Waterston, both normally associated with much more mainstream fare, give exuberant performances, delighting, perhaps in their walk on the wild side. (Waters seems to take special glee in scoring the oh-so-serious star of The Killing Fields for Serial Mom.) Rounding out the cast are Waters' regulars Mink Stole, Traci Lords, and Patricia Hearst, all adding their own particular brand of stardust...Serial Mom may seem in poor taste, particularly in today's overly sensitive climate. Maybe, but it is also very, very funny, cheerful, and surprisingly warm-hearted. - Pam Grady
|
| |
|
|
|
