Sometimes what a mother sees in their child is a complete lie.
What they see as the next president or Mariah Carey usually ends up as a garbage man or a waitress at Denny’s. However, regardless of how far-fetched a mother’s view of their child is, never would they expect them to be a cold-blooded killer.
And even if they found out the truth, what would they do about it?
Add in a bit of old-school noir and classical story telling devices and you’ll essentially have 1956’s “Bad Seed,” a film that in spite of its predictability is utterly chilling at times.
So much so that even 50 years after its original release it’s still capable of inducing shudders.
Little Rhoda [Patty McCormack] looks and acts like the perfect young girl and no one in her family seem to suspect just how evil she is. The only person who sees through her charade is the gardener, LeRoy (Played brilliantly by Henry Jones. The cat and mouse game these two have throughout the film are some of the most enjoyable of the film and have aged fantastically.), but his snotty and lazy attitude make his opinion an untrustworthy one among anyone who’d decide to dig deeper.
The fact that mother, Christine, (Nancy Kelly) is in constant denial throughout the film only adds more to the drama and delightfully delays the climax. While this is a tale of murder, it’s far from brutal. Instead, it’s more sinister and psychological. The cleverly written dialogue keeps the secret for as long as it can, but gets the viewer to imagine the “what if.”
What if this child is this evil?
What if someone so presumably innocent and pure could do something this horrible?
After forcing you to ponder such questions, director Mervyn LeRoy throws the answers in your face and let’s the chips fall where they may. Watching the transformation of this child from serene to demonic, “Bad Seed” is able to captivate unlike many horror films released during its time can.
The end result is a cult classic that fans of Hitchcock will adore. Ironic, surreal and disturbing, “Bad Seed” will leave its roots on you.
Leave a Reply