"The Bad Seed (1956) sets this thriller in the suburbs and explores the age-old questions of the effects of nurture and nature on behavior and how they relate to the criminal mind. Seed is based on Maxwell Anderson's 1954 Broadway hit of the same name, and employs all , except one, of the play's principal actors. The film received a few Oscar nominations, including a nod for the young Patty McCormack. Despite the amusing broad acting which garners the Camp classification that this film gets today, Seed tackles serious questions of behavior, heredity, childrearing and class warfare that can resonate with people in any era." - Deborah Thomas, Examiner