Tag Archives: The Bad Seed

The Blog Marches On

Posted on March 2, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

How about a nice Slacker Saturday post to start my Sunday off right?  I know, several things wrong with that statement.  To begin with, I have been up for hours. Went to bed early, got up early, haven’t had coffee or tea yet… I think this might turn out to be a Slacker Sunday as well.  Last weekend I was down with a cold, this weekend, I am just… down.  Not severely down, just…

Sign of the times? Or just of my life?

I quick threw in a picture to pep things up, as I like to do, and this gem from last March caught my eye.  I remind myself not to dwell on being down.  For one reason it makes a dull blog post.

Well, why not slack once in a while?

I took this picture in March 2021.  A March day when it was warm enough to sit on the front porch!  Oh do I miss porch sitting!  I have been cheering myself up lately with plans for spring.  Oh yeah, I did that in my last blog post, didn’t I?  That seems like a long time ago. Maybe I shouldn’t have skipped the morning coffee.

Doesn’t she notice the crazy eyes?

I go a different way with my third picture, because weekends are also a good time for black and white movies, especially the cheesy kind.  Many people do not consider The Bad Seed an especially cheesy movie, but I find moments of lovely melodrama, and I agree with what my late husband Steve always said, how can anybody be surprised to find out that brat murders people?

So now I have rattled on for over 250 words and said not much.  Well I will try for a Mohawk Valley Adventure sometime today to make a blog post about, or at least a Pedestrian Post with Pictures.  As always, I thank you for tuning in.

 

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Another Stroll Down Movie Memory Lame

Posted on March 4, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Hello and welcome to another late Lame Post Friday post.  I even got up up later this Saturday morning than I usually do, having stayed up later on Friday night.  I am sitting in silence, other than the sound of my furnace and the irregular tip tip tip of my stylus pecking in one letter at a time.  I hope to purchase a new laptop at some point.  Then I can ten finger type in more places and postures.

Yesterday was a Blogger’s Sad Day.  It would have been my husband Steven’s 68th birthday.  Birthdays were a big deal for him.  He always made mine special, and I tried to do the same for him.  I felt relieved that I did not have to work (took the whole day because I had an appointment).  I thought I should do something to mark the occasion.

Lots of screaming in this movie, but nothing like the scream queens of the ’70’s.

Since watching movies together was one of our favorite things, I popped in one of our all time favorites, House on Haunted Hill, the original William Castle version, starring Vincent Price (I have no use for the remake).  The first time we saw this, I was in the army.  We had taken the long drive to my first duty station, gotten signed into billeting, and had time to relax. It was a Friday, and I didn’t have to sign into my unit till Monday.  We saw House on Haunted Hill was going to be on AMC, back when AMC was good and showed all movies.  We loved it!

I think her braids are too tight.

Next I went to The Bad Seed, another long time favorite.  This goes all the way back to Norwood, NY, where we lived in the ’90’s and spent a considerable amount of time renting videos.  I miss those rental places!  I know, some people prefer streaming and the fact that they can sit on their butt in sweats and watch whatever.  I loved going to the place and walking around, finding things I didn’t know I wanted to find.

So this my stroll down Memory Lame.  See how I looped back to Lame Post Friday?  Sometimes I think I’m clever, but I daresay I flatter myself.

 

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Cinema on Slacker Saturday

Posted on January 24, 2021 by mohawkvalleygirl

I pause in enjoying my evening for a Slacker Saturday Post. I made up my mind earlier this week to have a relaxing Saturday at home, and for once I succeeded in my ambition.

“You made up your mind in one minute!”

Earlier tonight we watched The Bad Seed, one of out favorite cheesy movies. In the above scene, Patty McCormick is still supposed to be the perfect, angelic child, not the selfish, bad-tempered murderess we know she is. No spoiler alert needed there; we all know what the movie is about.

Technically, the blood should be spurting out.

After The Bad Seed, Steven graciously agreed to watch one of my favorites, The Brain That Wouldn’t Die. The above picture does not feature said brain. Personally I feel it is just as well that blood is not spurting out of that arm hole, as I suggested in the caption.

It is sad to me how happy he looks.

We are now watching The Bride of Frankenstein, one of the few movies where the sequel surpasses the original, although I love the original as well. We often watch the two movies together, but I can’t do everything right, especially on Slacker Saturday.

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Scattered Movies After Garage Sales

Posted on July 19, 2020 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yeah, those eyes don’t look crazy!

I pause in my Saturday movie viewing to make a blog post.  I had thought to make a Scattered Saturday Post but did not take any pictures.  My friend Kim and I visited a some participants of Herkimer Village Wide Garage Sales.  It was too hot to thoroughly enjoy the exercise, although we did make a few fun purchases.  After that, we had lunch at Salvatore’s Pizzeria in Herkimer.  Ah, the air conditioning!

I returned home to find my husband, Steven, watching Remember the Titans, a very uplifting movie. Alas, I cannot find any pictures to share.  As I often say, I am not adept at these things.  We went on to a more guilty pleasure with Malice.

Oh dear, I should have included a spoiler alert!

Ah, I managed to add a photo from Malice.  We are currently watching The Bad Seed, as you may conclude from the first image in this post.  I guess there is not a theme to our movies this evening, nor even a connection from movie to movie.  However, I can content myself with the reflection that we agreed on each selection.

“May I have this dance?”

We have not discussed which movie to watch next, but I make bold to share images from House on Haunted Hill,  one of our all time favorites.  I can’t say we will watch it, but we might.

In the meantime,  I am over 200 words, so I feel free to say, Happy Saturday!

 

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Cinema Followed Scattered

Posted on May 3, 2020 by mohawkvalleygirl

I shall attempt a Saturday Cinema post.  We are in fact in the midst of the movie-watching portion of the day.  I am even missing one of my favorite scenes in The Bad Seed as I type this.

Crazy eyes!

Before The Bad Seed, we saw a flick with several killer kids with even crazier eyes: Village of the Damned, screened by Svengoolie.  We DVR all the Svengoolie episodes we can.

I need more rubber chickens in my life.

Before Svengoolie,  we watched one of our all time favorites,  Deathtrap.

Christopher Reeve and Michael Caine, up to no good?

We have not been watching movies all day.  This morning I wrote a few post cards and walked with them to the post office.  I took a long way home, because it was such a beautiful day.  Before leaving for the post office, I put a load of laundry in the washer.  I’m afraid that is the extent of my multi-tasking.  I was happy to be able to hang the laundry on the clothesline.

While the laundry flapped in the breeze, I wrestled the garage door up and hauled out my non-power mower.  Pushing that sucker up and down the lawn is some good exercise.  I figured that would make up for my not running this morning.

I rewarded myself for the yard work with a cold beer, purchased at Beer Belly Bob’s in Ilion (just to sneak in a plug for a local business).  Steven sat with me on the porch while I enjoyed my beverage.  We were both delighted that it was warm enough to do so.

So I guess my blog post has been both Cinema and Scattered Saturday.  Perhaps I should celebrate with another beer.

 

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Lame Me Entertain You

Posted on February 8, 2020 by mohawkvalleygirl

I never ask myself to do much on Lame Post Friday.  Right now I am sipping wine and watching movies with my husband, Steven.  We started with The Bad Seed and moved on to House on Haunted Hill.

Check out the crazy eyes!

Steven always remarks on how right away you can buy the little girl as a killer, although the other characters never seem to catch on.  Both of us would like to see a version where Rhoda really seems to be the sweet, wonderful child people seem to think her.  At least the above Rhoda is not as creepy as the girl in the Rob Lowe remake.

I had such high hopes for it.

In the first scene, the little girl looks out the window and notices a dead cat.  She says it in such a creepy, undead, movie psycho voice, I immediately retired all hopes of a classy suspense feature.  Still, I watched it till the end, I’ll give it that.  I will not voluntarily watch it again, but I sat through it once.

We moved on to House on Haunted Hill, an all-time favorite of ours.  I shared a picture from it yesterday.  However, I have other pictures I can use.

This was my cover photo for a while.

The actress on the left is a really good screamer.  I think the one on the right wore roller skates and was pulled along by stage hands.

I love a good director!

This, of course, is William Castle, coaching one of his actresses, or perhaps posing for a publicity still.  We LOVE William Castle. Some call his movies cheesy, and perhaps some of them are (although that is a selling point for me! ), but Castle loved what he did and had a sincere desire to entertain people.

I have that in common with Mr. Castle.  I hope I have entertained my readers.  Happy Friday, everyone!

 

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Donation, Decongestant, and DVDs, It’s Scattered Saturday

Posted on February 3, 2019 by mohawkvalleygirl

I almost forgot to make my blog post today. Isn’t that terrible?  Well, I will attempt a Scattered Saturday post.

It was COLD this morning!  Zero degrees, according to my thermostat.  I felt rather ill-used, since the weather reports had said it would warm up some today.  Still, I had a good reason to leave the house by ten this morning, so I did.  My car told me it was 5 degrees by then, which I was not happy about, but at least it was above zero.

My errand was a charitable one:  the Joe “D’Con” DeJohn Poker Run was happening in Frankfort, NY.  It is a snowmobile run followed by a spaghetti dinner with Chinese auction.  That is where I come in.  Last year I donated an afghan for the auction.  I had mentioned on a Facebook post I wanted to do that again, but I did not have my act together enough to call and arrange to do so before the fact (what, me not have my act together?  SAY IT AIN’T SO!!!).  I saw they had registration at The Brass Tack at 10 a.m., so figured I could drop the afghan off then.  I figured they would still take it

They not only still took it, they were expecting it!  They had seen the Facebook comment and thought I would drop it off. The people I saw were quite happy when I did.  There was never a better reason for going out in the freezing cold on a Saturday morning!

There was less reason for staying out in the cold.  I managed to stop at the drug store to get some decongestant that I wanted to take and stop by the post office to mail a few post cards, but then I went home to some warmth.  I did not stay more than a couple hours, however.  After a nap with my heated face mask (which I believe I have mentioned here before) and some food, I saw the temperature had reached double digits, so  ventured back out.

My goal this time was Basloe Library in Herkimer, NY (where I live, as regular readers will recall).  Steven had expressed a desire to see For Your Consideration, one of the Christopher Guest mockumentaries.   We have seen it once before and did not like it as well as, for example, Best in Show or A Mighty Wind, but lately both of us have though of giving it another view.  While looking at the DVDs, I thought of the Kenneth Branagh Murder on the Orient Express.  We have wanted to see that since before it hit theatres! I was delighted to find it.  I also grabbed a couple of Agatha Christie books and a biography of Rasputin (don’t ask me why; it just caught my eye as I went by).

After watching Murder on the Orient Express, we popped in our DVD of Deathtrap, and I am missing The Bad Seed as I type this.  It has been an enjoyable Saturday so far.  Not as lazy as last Saturday, not as ambitious as some.  I look forward to seeing what next Saturday will bring.  Or even tomorrow.  As always, I hope you will stay tuned.

 

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The Blog Seed

Posted on November 24, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

I know I had my Lame Post Friday on Wednesday this week, but I really don’t have much in me today except that silly title.  We are watching foolish movies and had made our way to The Bad Seed (1956) when I thought I had better make my blog post before I get too tired.

Those psycho eyes!

Steven always says he would like to watch a version of this where the little girl, Rhoda, really seems like a sweet little girl at the beginning, so you are shocked when she turns out to be a murderer (I didn’t need a spoiler alert for that; everybody knows that’s what The Bad Seed is about).  I wonder if I could get Ilion Little Theatre to let me direct it.  Then I wonder if I could find a kid actor good enough to be Rhoda.  Of course, I have supreme confidence in my own directing abilities to think I could pull it off.  I rather doubt I will have a chance to be disproved in this case.

Earlier today we watched The Ape (1940) with Boris Karloff.  Today (November 23) is Karloff’s birthday.  The movie is part of our DVD collection of 50 Horror Classics.  Karloff gets to use his beautiful voice, but the movie is kind of slow.

The poster is more exciting than the movie.

After that, we went on with the primate theme with The Ape Man (1943) starring Bela Lugosi.   The movie is part of a DVD I gave Steven called The Best of the Worst.  I don’t know if it was the worst movie, but it was certainly a very bad print.  We couldn’t understand most of the dialog.  When I had completely lost track of what was going on, I suggested we take it out and put in another movie, finally settling on The Bad Seed.

We did not watch long enough to see this dramatic scene.

There is no chance I will lose track of this movie, since we have seen it many times.  It is one of our favorites.  Still, what is the point of watching it if one does not actually watch it?  Therefore, I will hit Publish and return to the movie watching portion of my day.  Happy Friday, everyone.

 

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Sunday Cinema

Posted on September 17, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

I think I am going to change my Sunday feature to Sunday Cinema, because our favorite thing to do on Sunday is to watch movies.  We have been enjoying a few flicks today, and I will list them, with illustrations.

Hugging with eyes open is, of course, movie and TV shorthand for being up to no good.

We DVR’d The Bad Seed some time ago (oh, Sept. 9, according to this poster I found on Facebook) and finally got around to watching it today.  What a disappointment!  We are longtime fans of the 1956 movie with Patty McCormick, although we have problems with that one too.  I may write an entire blog post about it, but, um, not today.

Check out the psycho eyes!

Next Steven suggested we watch Murder on the Orient Express (1974), because yesterday was Agatha Christie’s birthday and today is Lauren Bacall’s.  We have yet to catch the 2017 remake of that. Rats!  This could have been Remake Sunday!  It lacks alliteration, but I like it.

There’s the birthday girl, with another favorite of ours, Albert Finney (I don’t know who the fellow in the background is, although the one cut off is Martin Balsam).

Next I got to pick and I chose Psycho (1960), because it is a Halloween movie.

“We all go a little mad sometimes.”

After Psycho I put on Snapped, but Steven preferred to watch another movie.  He decided to continue the Agatha Christie theme with Witness for the Prosecution (1957).  I am delighted to see this old favorite again.

Two more of my favorites: Elsa Lanchester and Charles Laughton.

So now I must stop blogging and go back to movie viewing. After all, it is Agatha Christie.  Happy Sunday, everyone.

 

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I Need Some Nosteratu

Posted on June 16, 2018 by mohawkvalleygirl

The obligatory psycho eyes!

Hey, it’s Lame Post Friday! I have not shared monster pictures all week, so I thought I might indulge tonight.  I open with a monster of the human variety (using the term “human” loosely), the murderous Rhoda in The Bad Seed, as played by Patty McCormack in the 1956 movie. She is shown with her mother, played by Nancy Kelly, who does a good bit of scenery chewing herself.  Steven and I are watching the movie now.  I wanted something cheesy, familiar, and fun.

I did not mean to make a real movie blog post about The Bad Seed.  I merely mention it to set the scene, as it were.  It is the end of a long week, and I am tired.  I need some Nosferatu.

“Ah, fresh air!”

Here is the picture I always think looks as if it is in front of Little Falls Antique Center at Canal Place.  Just to give a little local flair.  For a little more local flair, I am sipping some Reisling from Merritt Winery in Forestville, NY.  I have not been there but have sampled the wine at tastings at Valley Wine and Liquor in Herkimer, NY.

I just flashed on Dracula, saying, “I never drink… wine”  (of course he pronounced it “vine”).  That is where the vampire and I differ.  Therefore I will close with a picture of Frankenstein, “Drink!  Good!”  Come to think of it, he may have been talking about gin.  Well, one must make do after all.

Tea is good, too.

This is Boris Karloff in 1931’s Frankenstein, on a break.  Just to complete the scene, we are now at the point in The Bad Seed where the characters are drinking gin and tonic.  Damn, that’s one of my favorites!  Well, wine is good, too.  Happy Friday, everyone!

 

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