RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Serial Mom
Serial Mom

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Serial Mom (1994)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
63 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:43

Fresh:27

Rotten:16

Average Rating:5.8/10

Runtime: 2 hrs 15 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: 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... 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. [More]

Starring: Kathleen Turner, Sam Waterston, Ricki Lake, Matthew Lillard

Starring: Kathleen Turner, Sam Waterston, Ricki Lake, Matthew Lillard, Suzanne Somers, Scott Wesley, Mink Stole

Director: John Waters

Director: John Waters
Screenwriter: John Waters
Producer: John Fiedler, Mark Tarlov
Composer: Basil Poledouris

[See More Credits]

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Jul 13, 1999

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Serial Mom

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

An uproariously funny, marvellously malicious performance from Turner.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out

Kathleen Turner should win an Oscar for her demented Mom role...

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

[Turner's] efforts fail to make Serial Mom into anything more than merely watchable.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
09/15/03
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews

While the idea sounds fertile, the execution is uneven, and the comedy sporadic at best.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Offensively tame and almost (gasp) tasteful.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Joe Brown
Joe Brown
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If you're not weak of stomach, heart, or mind, go see Serial Mom.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Brundage
James Brundage
Filmcritic.com

I am not sure why this isn't very funny, but it's not.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Waters's in-your-face irreverence has an irresistible gusto, and his outrageous, satiric approach cuts to the quick.

Full Review Source: Movieline | comment Comment
01/09/02
Stephen Farber
Stephen Farber
Movieline

The film may be a bad-boy satirist's mournful acceptance that America has finally become sicker than anything he could dream up.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/23/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

The murders are multiple but the joke is strictly one-note.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
04/12/02
Rick Groen
Rick Groen
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Deliciously wicked and deliriously funny, Serial Mom is one of Waters' most accomplished works.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
08/24/03
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

A loose remake of Female Trouble with Polyester's subversively accessible polish, Serial Mom is the strongest film of the post-midnight-movie chapter of John Waters's career.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
05/06/08
Eric Henderson
Eric Henderson
Slant Magazine

The film goes off in so many directions, and Waters is so self-satisfied with shock and gross-out elements, that it wears out its welcome before we even get to the courtroom.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment 1 Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Too realistically gory to really be funny.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment 1 Comment
01/01/00
Rita Kempley
Rita Kempley
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No better than cable fare.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Mark R. Leeper
Mark R. Leeper
rec.arts.movies.reviews

This is one of Waters' tamest and most accessible pictures (even played at Cannes Fest!) and one of the few to feature a legit star, Katheleen Thurner, who gives a gusto performance as the middleclass houusewife committed to protect her family.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
12/01/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Neither satirically relevant nor shocking enough.

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
05/20/03
Neil Martin
Neil Martin
Palo Alto Weekly

Rather mild and scattershot in its satiric marksmanship...

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
05/08/08
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This is "Twin Peaks" as performed by The Three Stooges.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Scott Renshaw
Scott Renshaw
rec.arts.movies.reviews

I never laughed out loud, but I kept a constant grin on my face from ear to ear.

Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Steve Rhodes
Steve Rhodes
Internet Reviews
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
77% 77% The Hangover
88% 88% Inglourious Basterds
66% 66% Public Enemies
24% 24% G-Force
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
90% 90% District 9
86% 86% 500 Days of Summer
63% 63% Extract
06% 06% All About Steve
78% 78% It Might Get Loud

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

Best of the Decade

Best of the Decade

Find out what movies made our list!

Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2

Watch the brand new trailer now!

Clash of the Titans

Clash of the Titans

Prepare to Clash with Titans in this trailer!

Total Recall

Total Recall

RT looks back on Jude Law's best movies!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
90
  • New Toy Story 3 Clip, Photos Posted Source: Slashfilm
24
  • Danny Trejo Talks Machete, Possible Sequels Source: Collider.com
14
  • It's Official: Jackass 3-D Coming in 2010 Source: Collider.com
16
  • Bryan Singer Returning to X-Men for First Class Source: Superhero Hype
102
  • Mark Strong Talks Kick-Ass, John Carter, and Robin Hood Source: Collider.com
1
  • How Avatar Happened: The Path to Innovation Source: CinemaBlend.com
19
  • Rob Marshall Says Pirates 4 Is Still a Maybe Source: ComingSoon.net
32
  • ET Teases Iron Man 2 Teaser Source: Collider.com
28
  • Tobey Maguire Refutes Hobbit Rumors Source: Hollywood Reporter
9
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Avatar Soars to #1 Spot
262
  • RT's Best of the Decade!
155
  • Five Favorite Films With Peter Jackson
71
  • Total Recall: Jude Law's Best Movies
56
  • Critics Consensus: Sherlock Holmes Is Worth Investigating
33
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: District 9 and (500) Days of Summer
32
  • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
30
  • Friday Harvest: Sherlock Holmes, Toy Story 3, and more!
10
  • What We're Watching on Blu-ray from Disney!
9
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Five Favorite Films With Peter Jackson
71
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
21
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
24
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
16
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
24
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Serial Mom at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Serial Mom at IGN

Fresh Links

Featured
Best Dozen of the Decade
Best Dozen of the Decade External Link

Last week, MSN gave us their top 09 films. Now see what their favorites of the decade are!

Top 50 of 2009
Top 50 of 2009 External Link

Here's a list of the 50 best movies of 2009, according to the good people over at Moviefone.

Santa's Naughty List
Santa's Naughty List External Link

Hollywood.com takes a stab at determining who in movies will be on Santa's naughty list in 2009.

Top 10 Movies of 2009
Top 10 Movies of 2009 External Link

TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.

Top 20 of the Decade
Top 20 of the Decade External Link

Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!

Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Follow RT on Twitter External Link

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo
About Us | Advertise | Contact Us | Press | Careers
IGN | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | Direct2Drive | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Game Sites | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | GIGA.DE | What They Play | Battlefield Heroes
By continuing past this page, and by your continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. | Support | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! RSS Feeds
IGN’s enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA.
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.