Review of The Bad Seed (1956) by Carfax A — 06 Aug 2009

After seeing The Orphan the other day, I got the urge to re-watch The Bad Seed....and it still is very disturbing and effective,,,Of course a different style and tone of todays modern horror movies, you still come away feeling creepy and quietly rattled after watching this knowing, unfortunately, that these things really do happen in our world....

The way Patricia McCormick portrays this character is what makes the movie work...Her emotional swings from complete tantrum chaos to manipulative loving child in the same frame is incredible....I have not been around sociopathic homicidal children, except my own, but you get the feeling that her performance was based on something real and solid...not over the top Hollywood stuff...

One of the most horrifying scenes for me in this flick is when she sets fire to the cellar with the handyman locked in...you dont see this, you hear it....The camera is panned in on her mother as you hear the screams of the handyman trying to break out of the cellar...He breaks out and runs on fire, collapse and dies....Again, you see nothing, but hear it all... his scream of pain and death....disturbing shit....even by todays standard....

So treat yourself this weekend to a little homicidal child activity,but just make sure not to let the children see it....wouldn't want to give them any ideas....