This was the biggest production for John Waters with a $13 million dollar budget and the biggest star he had worked with up to that point. Any other star he had worked with were either on the rise on or on their way out.
The studio didn’t want to release it after seeing it complaining that the main character sets someone on fire. John Waters points out it was in the script showing that they never read it. A test screening John set up went well and the studio said it was because the audience liked him. The studio set up another screening in an area that they knew would not care for the movie. Ultimately Kathleen Turner spoke to a journalist that wrote an article stating to leave Serial Mom alone and the studio ultimately released it.
The owners to the song tomorrow charged the movie $60,000, more than the would normally, because of the content of the script.
The band playing Camel Lips is a real all girl punk band L7.
Because of the text at the beginning and end of the movie some people thought this was a real case. - Dangerous Dave