The Bad Seed (1956)

People are voting emotionally.

Overrated and overhyped

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

This is a wonderful, educated, and well-produced film about a psychopath child and her mother's journey in discovering the fact and putting the pieces together. While it can be classified as a 'horror' movie, it is more of a psychological thriller as it does not employ any supernatural plot devices or gore, and I am thankful for that because it makes it a more well-thought out film. Rhoda isn't murderous because she is the spawn of the devil, or even some Russian killer disguised as a child. She's simply born a psychopath, and however much the film has exaggerated the odds of that happening (only skipping ONE generation?), it is a pure and serious treatment of the subject.The acting of Eileen Heckart steals the show, though Nancy Kelly remains captivating throughout. The film puts our characters through some very difficult scenarios, and the handles the outcomes perfectly. Mrs. Penmark is a very 'aware' mother, and though she does love Rhoda incredibly, that doesn't make her blind, gullible or immune to rising suspicions. Mrs. Daigle, the mother of the child who dies, is introduced to us as a drunk, grieving woman, and exits the screen as a drunk grieving woman, but nonetheless gives a performance that inspires nothing but empathy and sorrow. There are several scenes that put 8-year-old Rhoda beside the 'mean' gardener, which is very clever as it makes you go even more wide-eyed when the climax of THAT exchange unfolds.Overall, I applaud the writing, acting and direction in this movie, though I am a bit disappointed that it did not end a good ten minutes early at what I thought was a very dignified, thought- provoking conclusion, and instead proceeds to put poor Mrs. Penmark through more misery and everybody else through a lot more confusion.

Overall this was a pretty great movie. I thought there were a lot of areas where they could have just done away with a scene or two..... or three. Creepy kid movies like this one are the reason why I don't want kids. Rhoda was amazing. For being so young I thought she had the best performance out of all actors in this film. McCormack did an amazing job at playing this adorable little psychopath, I was genuinely freaked out and I couldn't stand the girl. I do wish that Christine wasn't such a weak character, I think the story would have been even more interesting if her and Rhoda were on opposing sides instead of working together. The ending was absolutely insane. Just when I thought it was over, the story turned another corner. As for the final scene all I can say is.... Karma.

This is one of the creepiest old movies I have ever seen. The girl Played by Patty McCormack is excellent. She is excellent in being very creepy and innocent at the same time. The song that the little girl plays seems innocent at first then gradually becomes more sinister as the movie goes on. The other music in the film is well placed and stirs your nerves the way its supposed to. The acting of the janitor Leroy is just a creepy as the girl. He acts dumb around the others but when he's with the girl he's almost normal. The drowned boys mother plays a good drunk the first time but the second she's outlandish and it makes her seem fake. The mother of the girl is a very good actress and she is believable the entire time. The camera-work is very good. I liked that it never showed anyone dying except for the little girl in the end. The costume design of the girl and her pigtails are always kept perfect. The movie is great but it's a very creepy movie because it deals with child murderers.

A great film about the psychopathic Rhoda. Although some acting leaves something to be desired, the film still holds up well. It is surprising how suspenseful some scenes are 60 years later. I would think that it would not hold up well to a contemporary audience, and although some aspects don't, the film as a whole really does. Perhaps one of the more memorable scenes is when Monica and Christine both incoherently talk to themselves after seeing a man burned alive. The overlapping sound was just unnerving. The ending of this film shows evidence of the production code of the time. The clear good coming out better than evil felt bland. Although I still enjoyed the film, I would love to have seen the unhampered result.