The Bad Seed is a 1954 horror novel by American writer William March, the last of his major works published before his death. Nominated for the 1955 National Book Award for Fiction, The Bad Seed tells the story of a mother's realization that her young daughter is a murderer. Its enormous critical and commercial success was largely realized after March's death only one month after publication. In 1954, the novel was adapted into a successful and long-running Broadway play by Maxwell Anderson and into an Academy Award-nominated 1956 film directed by Mervyn LeRoy.
Adaptations (4)
The Bad Seed has been adapted 4 times, across film and television film, from 1956 to 2022. The most recent is The Bad Seed Returns (2022).
The Bad Seed1956 · film · 129 min · dir. Mervyn LeRoy · IMDb ↗Air Force Colonel Kenneth Penmark and his wife, Christine, adore their daughter Rhoda, despite her secret tendency for selfishness. Christine keeps her knowledge of her daughter's darker side to herself, but when a schoolmate of Rhoda's dies mysteriously, her self-deception unravels.
The Bad Seed1985 · television film · 100 min · dir. Paul Wendkos · IMDb ↗IMDb5.5Rachel is a 9-year-old girl who is perfection itself - unless she's crossed or challenged. Several disturbing recent incidents have led Rachel's mother Christine to suspect that her child is a latent murderess. Upon discovering that she herself is the daughter of a convicted killer, Christine becomes convinced that sweet little Rachel is a "bad seed" - an inherent killer who feels no remorse because she doesn't know any better.
The Bad Seed Returns2022 · television film · 88 min · dir. Louise Archambault · IMDb ↗IMDb5.5Several years after the murderous events of the first movie left her father dead, Emma is now living with her aunt Angela and navigating high school. Angela’s husband begins to suspect that Emma may not be as innocent as she appears and suggests sending her off to boarding school. Meanwhile, a new girl at school seems to know Emma’s secrets, leaving Emma no choice but to slip back to her old ways and take care of her enemies by any means necessary.
