Review of The Bad Seed (1956) by Ben L — 21 Oct 2015

Is it possible that, in the 1950s, audiences were so naive that they could go to a movie with the title "The Bad Seed" and a poster that showed a little girl with a devilish smile, and actually be surprised that the little girl ends up being a cold-hearted killer.

This is a movie that drags at a snails pace, particularly because you can easily tell what is going on from the first scene. They telegraph their plot twists so much that I sat in agony waiting for something to come to fruition.

They play the whole thing as this great mystery, like we are clueless about what happened and they are shocking us with these big revelations. Then they spend hours talking about why things are happening, and debating psychology just so we can fully understand every little minute detail.

Then there's the acting, or should I say over-acting. Every emotional moment is just huge and overly dramatic. I wanted to plug my ears at certain times to block out the screeching and wailing. Do not waste your time with this movie, it's almost unwatchable.