Review of The Bad Seed (1956) by Tim S — 24 Jan 2012

The original 'evil child film', The Bad Seed is really what one would expect from a film of this genre being made in the 1950s. The casting of Patty McCormack as little Rhoda was a valuable decision as she really does a good job at balancing the sweet little girl with this small hint of psychotic tendencies.

For most of the film young Rhoda uses her mothers naivety to her advantage by being deceptively a complete sweetheart and its definitely a well-rounded performance from a young actress. The main problem I have with the film is that it just feels very "by-the-numbers' and really lacks in suspense and thrills.

For a major stretch of the film, it feels very much like a stage play as various characters frequent the home of the Penmarks, as more facts about the unsolved death of a young boy unfold. Nancy Kelly also gives a pretty good performance as the mother, who begins to slowly suspect that her daughter is a heartless killer.

I realize this is a film from the 1950s but they needed to ramp up the evil side of this character more and possibly have more examples of evil things the daughter had done. In the end maybe I just feel that the film is just too melodramatic and talky with not enough brooding atmosphere to make it anything more than a serviceable yet ultimately rather forgettable film.