Brian W.

Damn, this is a great movie! I'd never seen it before, but I recently did some work on the DVD, which should be out sometime later this year from Warner.

What puzzles me is how it can be such a camp-fest and still have the ability to draw me in and and shock me with its ending. I mean, the acting was so over the top, I found myself laughing aloud throughout the film at performances that made Mommy Dearest and Baby Jane seem subtle.

But, stagey or not, most of the acting retained a core of emotional truth. I found myself feeling genuinely sorry for the mother of the murdered boy. And I was quite unnerved by the climax. I mean, I can't think of a movie in recent years where I saw something so disturbing. I can only imagine what the reaction must have been in 1956, before you heard about such things on the news every day. (Although the way the film ended was bizarre.)

I'll definitely be buying this one when it's released.

Ken Koc

Ken

Jason_Els

GAH!! Please edit or spoiler the post above! Don't ruin the ending.

I have seen The Bad Seed and always thought Rhoda Penmark the female equivilent of Bill Mumy; capable of being cute or evil but always the wheels are turning with a slightly sinister purpose.

The film is shocking and I would not let a small child watch it despite its age and lack of rating. It is a good movie even if it is, as has been pointed out, over-the-top.

An aquaintance of mine wrote a book on carnivorous plants (The Savage Garden). He compared a particularly pretty, seemingly innocuous carnivore to Rhoda Penmark and I always laugh on reading that passage because it's so true.

For beauty is only a step removed from a burning terror we barely sustain, and we worship it for the graceful sublimity with which it disdains to consume us. - Rainer Maria Rilke

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Robert Crawford

A very good film that I'm looking forward to the dvd release and seeing it again in its OAR.





Crawdaddy

G.W. McLintock: Camille, you're on your own.

Ken Koc

I only mentioned how the PLAY ended, not the movie. They are VERY different!

Ken

Vickie_M

YES!YES!YES! This was one of my favorite films as a kid (I know, it warped my fragile little mind) and I've been so impatient to see it released on DVD. I have the VHS, but need this in my DVD collection. Will there be any extras?

Everything about this movie shocked the hell out of me. Because I saw it so many times (every time it was on TV) and loved it so much, I could never tell anyone if it was a good movie or not. I just know it worked on me. It was nominated for 4 Oscars though. Nancy Kelly - Best Actress, Eileen Heckart and Patty McCormack for Best Supporting Actress, and Harold Rosson for Cinematogrpahy (Black-and-White). It didn't win anything.

Mulling it over, I think this is the movie that got me into reading true crime, because I was fascinated by the thought of a book that told the story of

I agree that Eileen Heckart steals the movie as Hortense Daigle. She's abrasive and sympathetic at the same time. You want to slap her and hug her at the same time, then you feel guilty for wanting to slap her. Heckart won the Golden Globe for her performance.

Nancy Kelly is good as Christine Penmark. What a burden to bear! How many movies before this one dealt with, not just a murdering child, but

I also loved Henry Jones as the creepy LeRoy ("I thought I saw some mean little gals in my time, but you're the meanest!"). He pushed too hard and too far, but to die like that...horrific.

Most of all, Patty McCormack as Rhoda {{{shiver}}}! Even though probably no real kid has ever looked like that, she was perfect. Those pigtails! Those bangs! Those dresses! Those shoes, perfect for tap tap tapping, and killing.

It's been a long time since I've watched it. I can't remember how many people Rhoda had murdered. There was



Anyone else?


I'm so glad to hear this is coming out! Thanks for the tip.

Favorite film of 2008 (so far): The Fall

Favorite films of 2007: There Will Be Blood, Across The Universe, The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, Black Snake Moan

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Brian W.

I think that's all she murdered. That was part of what I found so surprising about the film, because I really expected her to go after her mother. But then the "other thing" happened.



Uhh... what's the OAR? It's not 1:33?