John Waters’ 1994 film “Serial Mom,” presented like a true crime drama, tells the “real” story of Beverly Sutphin (Kathleen Turner), a placid and peaceful stay-at-home mom in suburban Baltimore who secretly commits murders on the side. At breakfast with her family (Sam Waterston, Ricki Lake, Matthew Lillard), Beverly is the perfect sitcom version of a matriarch, always smiling and sunny and helpful, cooking nutritious meals and shying away from curse words. When left alone, Beverly’s other side emerges, and she makes dark prank phone calls to her exasperated neighbor (Mink Stole), gleefully unleashing a fusillade of obscenities. Beverly has serial killer memorabilia in her nightstand drawer, and sometimes listens to audio recordings of Ted Bundy (voiced by Waters).
Whenever someone violates Beverly’s stringent sense of suburban perfection, she snaps and flies into a murderous frenzy. She kills her daughter’s ex-boyfriend with a fireplace poker when he’s caught canoodling with a secret girlfriend, for instance. Later in the film, she’ll spot someone wearing white after Labor Day. Woe to that person.
“Serial Mom” is a hoot, a delightfully bloody sendup of bland, 1950s-style “Ozzie & Harriet” morals. Also, Turner is excellent in the role, giving an Oscar-worthy performance as Beverly. She flutters with the best of them and gnashes with supreme gusto. Sadly, “Serial Mom” was a bomb when it was first released, earning a piddling $7.8 million on its $14 million budget. It wasn’t terribly well-reviewed either (although everyone unilaterally loved Turner), and it left theaters quickly. Like all of Waters’ films, though, “Serial Mom” has gained a cult audience since and enjoys well-attended shows on the midnight movie circuit.
Early in the film, attentive viewers might have taken note of a portrait of Beverly hanging above the Sutphin family mantelpiece. It’s intense and creepy. Turner recently spoke with the good folks at Vulture, and she revealed that she was allowed to keep the creepy portrait once filming had wrapped. Also, she recently sold it to a fan via eBay.
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Kathleen Turner sold that creepy painting from Serial Mom
A creepy painting of Beverly Sutphin in Serial Mom – Savoy Pictures
Vulture asked Turner about her acting techniques for capturing Beverly Sutphin’s two distinct personalities. Turner noted that the happy-go-lucky Beverly was just as genuine as the murderous Beverly. One was not constructed to mask the other. Although viewers could see a creepy, intense look in the eyes of the murderous Beverly, as seen in the above-mentioned portrait. Turner, as it turns out, hated it. She said:
“It’s all true; she actually means both sides. When her eyes go [intense glare]. When you see that look come into her eyes, oh my God. They did a painting of Beverly for the living room, above the mantelpiece, and the eyes are Serial Mom eyes, not Beverly eyes. They gave me that painting afterward. I couldn’t bear it! I couldn’t stand to have it in my house. Anyway, I finally sold it on eBay.”
The interviewer asked who might have the portrait now, but Turner doesn’t recall. She also doesn’t reveal how much money she got for it. From the sound of her statement, though, Turner was just grateful to have it out of her house. Looking at the portrait above, though, I can’t imagine why. It’s a fantastic painting, and only slightly scary. It’s possible, though, that Turner wanted to rid herself of the painting, to shed the bad memories of watching “Serial Mom” bomb.
Also, Turner was eager to continue explaining the nature of her character, clarifying that Beverly Sutphin is not the same as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. “They’re both intentional,” she said, “and they’re both true.” That dichotomy may be why the film’s fans love it.
Luckily, “Serial Mom” has indeed been rescued from the cultural ash heap, and a high-end, features-heavy Blu-ray can now be purchased from the Shout! Factory.
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