'Serial Mom'

And you want a movie about a murderous ma, look no farther than Strait-Jacket (1964, Columbia TriStar). Joan Crawford has a one-woman orgy of histrionics as a mother recently released from an asylum, having chopped up her husband and his floozy 20 years before. As she begins a relationship with her now grown-up daughter, ax murders suddenly resume. A- For more of Serial Mom star Kathleen Turner being simply mean — but funny mean — there's her turn as the femme fatale opposite Steve Martin in The Man With Two Brains (1983, Warner), a send-up of mad-scientist flicks. B+ If you'd like a movie about a serious, nonmaternal murderer, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1990, MPI) is just that. Michael Rooker captures a psychopath's charisma in a film as raw as a fresh blade wound. B+