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By
NICK ZEGARAC
Even today the mention of
the name, Rhoda Penmark (Patty McCormick),
conjures up disturbing chills. And it's no wonder;
there is something genuinely unsettling in this,
"The Bad Seed."
On the surface Rhoda is a precocious
eight-year-old blonde moppet of considerable charm
and alarmingly mature lady-like grace. Under that
thin veneer however she is absolute poison,
inflicting pain, suffering and even death on
anything and anyone that gets in the way of her
selfish desires.
Like Linda Blair's Regan from "The Exorcist,"
McCormick's performance excels at generating mixed
feelings of guilt, compassion and reviled disgust
for this pintsize psychotic masquerading as Doris
Day. Nancy Kelly is outstanding as Christine,
Rhoda's conflicted mother, unable to choose
between disciplining her offspring and merely
ignoring her willful mayhem. Under Mervin LeRoy's
direction, the story nimbly unleashes its reign of
terror, ultimately shocking, confusing and leaving
its audience with many nightmares to come.
Warner's DVD transfer is superb. The image is
remarkably clean, with a very solid and
beautifully rendered grayscale, deep blacks and
excellent contrast levels. Fine details are fully
realized. There is a total lack of edge effects
and other digital anomalies for an exceptionally
smooth visual presentation. The audio is mono but
with a considerable punch to it. Extras include a
featurette (billed as a documentary) in which
present day Patty rambles on about the making of
the film and her involvement in the production.
Truthfully, McCormick's reminiscences boil down to
a "look at me, wasn't I wonderful?" diatribe with
inserts from the film included as predictable
filler. There's also an audio commentary with
McCormick and Charles Busch that's somewhat
entertaining. |
