The Bad Seed (1956)

This is one of the creepiest movies I have ever seen. Christine Penmark (Nancy Kelly) seems to have the perfect life. She is married to Kenneth (William Hopper), a Colonel in the Army and they have the perfect little girl, Rhoda (Patty McCormack). Soon Kenneth is told he has to report to Washington, DC for duty. Christine and Rhoda are alone with their landlady, Monica Breedlove (Evelyn Varden) and the strange handyman Leroy Jessup (Henry Jones). On the day of the school picnic Rhoda throws a fit about the penmanship medal she feels she should have won instead of Claude Daigle. As Christine and Monica sit around having tea with some friends an announcement comes over the radio that a child was drowned at the school picnic. Eventually another announcement is made that Claude Daigle is the child who has drowned. Soon it comes out that the penmanship medal he was wearing is missing. When Christine finds the medal hidden in the lining of Rhoda's treasure box she realizes that her perfect little angel maybe the devil in disguise.

This movie was very engrossing. McCormack is so creepy as the seemingly perfect Rhoda. Kelly is at times way over the top as the distraught mother but is also brilliant at times. The scene stealer is Eileen Heckart as the drunk grieving mother, Hortense Daigle. There was a Korean remake made in 1996 called Nabbun ai. There was also a made for TV version made in 1985 starring Blair Brown, Lynn Redgrave and David Carradine. Finally, according to IMDB there is is a remake in the works to be directed by Eli Roth who did Cabin Fever and Hostel. However, I do not think anything can ever top the creepiness of the original film.