The Bad Seed

Rating:
Summary: THE PERFECT LITTLE GIRL.....
Review: Based on the famous Broadway play, "The Bad Seed" should be just fine on DVD. This chiller about the "perfect" Rhoda Penmark with her long blonde braids and cold, cold heart stars most of the play's cast---Patty McCormack as Rhoda, Nancy Kelly as her mother, Henry Jones as Leroy the apartment handyman and Eileen Heckart as the mother of one of Rhoda's schoolmates. While her pilot husband is away, Mrs.Penmark begins to suspect there's something wrong with her perfect little girl. You bet there is, she's a cold-blooded killer! As Rhoda's list of victims grows, so does her mother's terror as she begins piecing together the clues and facts. The film, shot in stark black & white, appears stagy but this works fine because it's all about the performances. They're brilliant. Mervyn LeRoy allows the characters to remain like they were on stage for maximum impact. The only complaint, Hollywood tacked on a dumb second ending to allow the characters their bows and to say "See? This was only a movie!" because in 1956 the subject matter (and original climax and ending) was quite shocking. But the film is still a classic of it's kind and very much a must see for those who havn't seen it. Watch for it.

Rating:
Summary: a little blonde classic monster
Review: I have seen this movie so many times, and it just keeps getting better as time goes by. Little Patty Mcormick is execlent as Rhoda Penmark and the chemistry she has with Nancy Kelley and Henery Jones is beyoned words. I get chills when I see the scene where she confronts Leroy about giving back her shoes!!!
Its about time this classic is comming out to DVD

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Horror Movie of all Time
Review: I personally feel that this is one of the greatest horror movie made. Forget all of that blood and guts and popping out of the bushes to scare people. That fear only lasts for a second...This movie plays with your mind and lasts forever. Nothing is scarier than polite Miss Rhoda Penmark.
This movie contains brilliant direction and an amazing cast. Many people feel that the acting is overdone and that they act like they are still in the stage version, entertaining an audience in a theater but that is the way it was meant to be made. Making it look like a regular movie would ruin the essence of the evil, 8-year old killer. Nancy Kelly is truly amazing as Christine. Her "breakdown" scenes are heart wrenching and done very well. She is most-natural and does a wonderful job in playing a woman going through the delemma of whether or not she should hate or love her daughter. Her performance is beautiful, "She killed him! But she's my little girl...and I love her!". The highlight of her acting is when Rhoda just kills one of her victims (I won't say who) and Rhoda is playing the song she always plays on the piano faster and faster and faster. It is such and amazing scene. She deserved the Tony she won during the play and the Oscar nomination. Now, there is Patty McCormack who is definatly chilling in this role. Her perfect smile is just as scary as her evil ways. When she describes the way she killed the little boy I always shudder ,"But he told me that he was going to tell on me...SO I HIT HIM WITH MY SHOES AGAIN!! I hit him harder that time." After the scene where she confesses her murders and Christine tells Rhoda to throw her shoes down the incinerator, the shot of Rhoda's sillouette tossisng the shoes while Christine just sits in the backround and watches with fear, as Rhoda smiles, brings chills down my spine. Her acting gets an A+ and she also deserved the Oscar nomination as well as Kelly. Another, nominated for an Oscar for her role, was Eileen Heckart for the role of (which I think is one of the greatest characters in theatrical history)Mrs. Dagel..the grieving mother of one of Rhoda's vicitms. Although only appearing in two scenes, she makes just as big of an impact as Christine and Rhoda do. Heckart is brilliant in the role and it would be almost imposible to find someone who could do as good of a job as she did. Her beautiful monolougues are truly amazing and heartfelt. Other great performances are that of Henry Jones, the creepy Leroy who is the only one who realizes that Rhoda is evil, Evelyn Varden, as the housekeeper, Monica, who spoils Rhoda terribly, Miss Fern (I can't quite think of her name), as the teacher at The Fern School, and Christine's father (I can't think of his name now either), who is a former mystery writer with a big secret that he is keeping from Christine, which has to do with why Rhoda is a bad seed, something inside of Christine that she passed down to her daughter.

There is a lot of controversy over the ending curtain call and the happy spank that Christine lays on Rhoda. I feel that the curtain call and spanking gives the audience a sese of relief since the movie is so disturbing.
I reccomend this movie to everyone that can handle a plot that is different and disturbing.
Don't blame Rhoda for her murderous acts. It isn't her falt, she is just a bad seed.