My love for The Bad Seed is far too deep to be beaten by a village full of damned people. Rhoda forever. Why should I feel sorry? It was Claude Daigle got drowned, not me!
I love both of these films, and although VILLAGE is probably the more effective chiller THE BAD SEED is just so fucking classic with so many quotable lines and one of the best performances by a child I've ever seen--and considering the era it was made, it's even more impressive. "What would you give me for a basket of kisses?" And, is it me or did Faye Dunaway study Nancy Kelly's performance in this rather than any of Joan Crawford's roles when boning-up for MOMMIE DEAREST?
I thought about it for a while, as I really truly love both these movies, and I decided to go with The Bad Seed. Rhoda isn't an alien or under any kind of alien influence, and that's what makes her all the creepier in my opinion. She's just a rotten, evil, selfish kid. It's somehow more believable.
The Bad Seed, easily. The original Village of the Damned is dry and predictable with low stakes. The Bad Seed is overlong but the last 20 or so minutes are extremely impressive. Especially the... um: Spoiler attempted murder / suicide scene. Which, given the performance of the mother should be heartbreaking but it's actually pretty downright disturbing and tasteless. In a fascinating, cringe-worthy kind of way. (The music, the staging, the sound of the Spoiler gunshot right as the sappy music stops swelling. The Bad Seed takes risks that Village of the Damned does not, and winds up being a much more impressive, dark film for its' time. Village was just disappointing.
