This movie is by far my favorite "old" film that I have seen. I LOVE psychology and I find murderers especially fascinating to study. To start, Patty McCormack was incredible; she created Roda's character seamlessly with her seemingly perfect, sweet exterior while also showing her empathy-lacking, ruthless interior (a true psychopath!). Nancy Kelly was also fantastic as the mother; her facial expressions really showed the internal battle she was facing with regard to how she should react to her child. The eerie mood of this film was created flawlessly by many aspects of the movie. The beginning and end of the film were parallels in their settings of a dark, ominous storm. LeRoy continues to play with lighting throughout the film, with the room getting darker as Roda admits her crimes to her mother. Roda's creepy piano playing adds to the mood as well. I really enjoyed how this film brought up the age-old question of nature vs nuture. Of course, now, we have a better understanding of how it is more nature AND nurture, but this movie probably opened many people's eyes to such a possibility. Another uncomfortable thought that the film brings up: maybe we all are partly "bad seeds". Now, we must ask ourselves how to deal with it.

Wow...Just wow. Watch this film and you will see the origin of children psychopath films and it doesn't get better then this. Original fantastic creepy non-diegetic sounds and a female lead that knock the door down in terms of terrifying style. Had to watch this for a class and regret doing it late at night. Film utilized high key three point lighting throughout that really popped the characters faces and costumes. Excellent film would recommend.

this movie is a criminal and horror movie. But it is a child criminal movie which has been released to public at that sensitive years of movie production. this is the biggest challenge for this movie. And also there is a rumor says that the ending for this movie has been changed because of the strict movie production rules. The real ending is: mother died but the daughter survived. Personally speaking, I like this ending better. Because this is the ending that keeps the continuity of the whole movie genre. Also this new ending will have more impact to viewers. But ignore the ending, it still a good movie. It shows a young potential antisocial killer's movement. Somehow psychological factors are always associate with those suspense, horror and criminal movies. But it is a big challenge for director to perform this topic.

This is one of the creepiest old movies I have ever seen. The girl Played by Patty McCormack is excellent. She is excellent in being very creepy and innocent at the same time. The song that the little girl plays seems innocent at first then gradually becomes more sinister as the movie goes on. The other music in the film is well placed and stirs your nerves the way its supposed to. The acting of the janitor Leroy is just a creepy as the girl. He acts dumb around the others but when he's with the girl he's almost normal. The drowned boys mother plays a good drunk the first time but the second she's outlandish and it makes her seem fake. The mother of the girl is a very good actress and she is believable the entire time. The camera-work is very good. I liked that it never showed anyone dying except for the little girl in the end. The costume design of the girl and her pigtails are always kept perfect. The movie is great but it's a very creepy movie because it deals with child murderers.