As a writer, I'm in the house enough as it is, so I relish opportunities to get out into the real world, and believe me, if I had a video store like the one that Beverly's son Chip (Matthew Lillard) works at, you can bet your ass I'd be there every single day.įirst off, they have a killer horror movies section, complete with a hand-drawn "horror" sign and homemade box covers printed on colored craft paper. I know services like Netflix are super convenient 'n all, but damn if I didn't love walking down the aisles of local video rental stores, checking out all the killer horror movie box art (I'm looking at you, The Video Dead). Independent video rental stores were amazing places.Įvery time I see an independent video rental store in a film, it just makes me want to see them make a huge comeback. ![]() Beverly whispers "fuck you" to her when nobody is watching, and this pushes Dottie completely over the edge, as she yells, " Fuck you too, you whore!" The judge warns her, but she just can't hold it in any more, so the bailiffs drag Dottie out of the courtroom as she's charged with contempt of court and sent to jail.Īnd why did all of this happen to poor ol' Dottie? Because she once unwittingly stole a parking space from Beverly. Towards the end of the film, Dottie appears in court as a witness against Beverly, trying to place the blame for all the prank calls on her. While Dottie is clearly becoming unhinged due to the stress of these calls, Beverly can barely contain her laughter. Shortly after, we see Beverly up in her room prank calling Dottie and unleashing a tidal wave of obscenities onto her. Naturally, they deny knowing anything about it and the detectives leave. They show Beverly and her husband Eugene one the the ransom-like letters which reads, " I'll get you pussy face" along with a smiley face. Near the start of the film, some detectives show up at the Sutphin family home to see if they know anything about the profane messages and prank phone calls their neighbor, Dottie Hinkle (Mink Stole), has been receiving. If you constantly call somebody "pussy face", they'll lose their mind. With that in mind, join me now as I attempt to extract useful life lessons from Serial Mom, and maybe, just maybe we'll all end up learning some better manners along the way too. While the movie is a dark comedy, that doesn't mean we can't find some useful morsels of knowledge in it too. It's absolutely hilarious watching Beverly descend deeper into madness as the film progresses, and you'll see exactly what I mean shortly. I'm not talking about serious offenses either I'm talking about things like chewing gum or somebody not wanting to date her daughter. ![]() The truth, however, is that she has uncontrollable homicidal impulses that rise to the surface whenever anybody does something she doesn't approve of. The story is all about Beverly Sutphin (portrayed by Kathleen Turner), who on the surface, appears to be a happy housewife living in suburbia with her family. John Waters has made some fantastic cult films over the years, but for my money, it just doesn't get any better than the dark comedy that is Serial Mom. Even Beverly believes that she can clear herself of all charges despite the overwhelming evidence against her.Serial Mom is one of those movies that immediately brings me back to a the glory days of video rental stores, and man did I ever rent the hell out of this one when it finally came out on VHS. Those accusations end up being not an issue to most in the Sutphin family, who use their fifteen minutes of fame to their advantage. Beverly laughs off such suggestions, but even her family members end up believing she is guilty of all the murders, with possibly more to come. ![]() Slowly, evidence mounts that Beverly is the perpetrator of obscene telephone calls to neighbor Dottie Hinkle, and the murders of several people in their neighborhood who have crossed their family in some form or another. In that perfection, Beverly does and will not tolerate anything against her sensibilities, especially if it affects her or her family, and will take whatever measure to ensure people adhere to that sensibility. Beverly in particular is seen as being "perfect" in her quest to be just like the television mothers of the late 1950s. The Sutphins - dentist father Eugene, housewife mother Beverly, and late teen children, boy-crazy and flea market aficionado Misty, and horror movie fan Chip - are a stereotypical suburban family living in Baltimore.
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