Good, but essentially a remake of The Bad Seed (spoilers)

Kudos for catching the literary sibling. I doubt that Tom Tryon would disagree with your detective work.

When I read the novel (some many years after reading The Bad Seed) I really didn't guess the 'sucker punch' until it was revealed.
Perhaps I just chose not to.
A LOT of people make bad decisions in the story - eventually leading to the inevitable ending which, if you're a horror aficionado, is probably predictable. That didn't detract from it one bit in my estimation. I STILL felt that punch when the 'secret' is revealed in the film, even though I already knew what it would be.

"No fate but what we make." -Terminator II

Perhaps you've only seen the movie - The Bad Seed, that is - and not read the book. In it, once she accepts the fact that Rhoda is a murderer, Christine agonizes over it, and what to do. Yes, she frustrates me to some degree - especially by her not telling her husband, even before deciding on her end-game, which if successful would have rendered this moot. But I'm not a parent; perhaps her wanting Rhoda to go out peacefully - ending of the book, and the movie version you and I have seen, anyway - was understandable to those who are. Not to mention, it makes the ultimate ending, with her being free to kill again, all the more intense.

Unacceptable at the time, hence the alternate endings filmed. And the author dead, so in no position to complain!

i don't think the comparison is particularly apt. i've read both books and haven't seen either movie.

the main similarity is superficial: the idea of an evil child murderer. there are a lot of differences.

the bad seed is more concerned with inserting this narrative about people born without consciences or empathy into the plot. it's been years since i read it, but i strongly recall the main character (the mother?) doing research and reading about people who murder their family members for a paltry sum of money and feel nothing. essentially the novel is about a young psychopath.

the other is totally different. it's interesting (to me) partly because of the setting, which is a southern plantation in the 20s. in the other, there's no suggestion that the child-murderer was born without a conscience. rather, his actions are explained by a combination of the death of his twin and his grandmother teaching him "the game" wherein he subsumes his own interpretation of his dead brother's personality. this narrative was so much more interesting to me than in the bad seed. it seemed interesting and well observed to me, both from a psychological standpoint and as a twin (although my brother is perfectly healthy). the other is also excellently written.

it's a shame the bad seed is so much more widely known. i don't think it's particularly impressive as a work of literature, especially compared to the other.

I haven't read every post here, and so this may not be a new observation, but I think this film owes a lot to Hitchcock. Niles has at least part of his own "self" through most of the film, but by the end, Holland has taken him over completely. As Simon Oakland so glibly (and I believe it hurt the film to add this "explanation,") explained it in Psycho, there were two personas at war in Niles, and in the end, the stronger one won: Niles finally "became" Holland in every respect. Happy Holidays to all and thanks for discussing one of my favorite flicks.

You're on to something in your comparison of the two films. The child in The Bad Seed was a murderous sociopath, completely devoid of empathy or moral conscience. The Rhoda character had a propensity for murder in her DNA, as did the twins. Similarly, Niles was a tortured sociopathic soul, dealing with inward isolation and alienation, but there's a lucid, loving truth in Niles' interactions with the central characters in the film -despite the fact he was directly responsible for upwards of five deaths. I ponder the question: were both brothers marred with a homicidal streak? Did Holland kill their father or was Niles responsible for both deaths? Did Niles simply continue where his brother left off? The only inconsistency in your comparison of the the two films is that Rhoda seemed incapable of developing any kind of loving bond. The bond between Niles and Ada is heart wrenchingly beautiful. No such dynamic existed between Rhoda and any of the adult characters in Bad Seed. Even the darkest thematic elements of The Other don't impinge upon it being a very spiritual film at the core.