The Bad Seed

This page is about the novel. For the 1956 film of the same title, go to The Bad Seed (film).

"Bad Seed" is also the name of the Nick Cave biography by Ian Johnston.

File:Badseedposter.jpg

Movie poster for The Bad Seed

The Bad Seed is a novel by William March which was adapted into a play by Maxwell Anderson.

The central character of the story is Christine Penmark, a young mother who finds out that her eight-year-old daughter, Rhoda, is a murderer. Influenced by a neighbor's dalliance in psychiatric theories and a chance visit from her father, Christine begins to recall her own childhood, which brings back memories of times before the people she remembers as her parents adopted her. She eventually figures out that she was actually the sole surviving daughter of "The Incomparable Bessie Denker," a well-known (fictional) serial killer. Bessie Denker's career is based very roughly on the real-life careers of Jane Toppan and some other "black widow" serial killers, and the description of her execution in the electric chair is based on that of Ruth Snyder.

Rhoda is portrayed as a sociopath, although the term was not in use at the time of the book. Like her grandmother, she has no conscience and will kill if necessary to get whatever she wants, whether that be a penmanship medal she felt she should have won, the silence of a janitor who knows more than she wants him to, or an opal pendant. By the time Christine manages to put the truth together, Rhoda has already killed two people. An adept con artist, she can easily charm adults; other children can sense something wrong with her, however, and fear and are repulsed by her.

Once her mother has come to the correct conclusions, she has to wrestle with a terrible dilemma. As young as Rhoda is, there are no guarantees that any arrangements made to confine her will prove permanent, and there would be a huge glare of publicity. At the same time, Christine knows full well that Rhoda will certainly kill again, and again; her grandmother is thought to have begun her career very young, by "accidentally" putting arsenic on bread she knew her brother would eat, and went on to kill over 20 people before she was executed.

Film versions

The play was adapted by John Lee Mahin for the screenplay of a 1956 movie directed by Mervyn LeRoy.

It was remade again in 1985 for television, adapted by George Eckstein and directed by Paul Wendkos.

There is also a reported second remake in the works for 2007. Eli Roth has been announced to direct.

Roth Set To Direct "Bad Seed" Remake

According to Variety Cabin Fever horror film dirctor, Eli Roth, is set to remake the motion picture "The Bad Seed" with Warner Bros Pictures.

Roth was noted as saing the follows:

• "The original was a great psychological thriller, and we are going to bastardize and exploit it, ramping up the body counts and killings," said Roth. "This is going to be scary, bloody fun, and we're going to create the next horror icon, a la Freddy, Jason and Chucky. She's this cunning, adorable kid who loves to kill, but also loves 'N Sync."

A writer is set to be hired in the coming future

This information comes from http://www.movieweb.com/news/80/4880.php

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421669/

External link

• The Bad Seed (1985) at IMDb
• The Bad Seed (2007) at IMDb