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* ManOnFire: [[spoiler: Leroy's death.]]
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Blair Brown stars as Christine Penmark, with Carrie Wells as Rachel, Creator/LynnRedgrave as Monica Breedlove, Creator/DavidCarradine as Leroy Jessup, Richard Kiley as Richard Bravo, and Creator/DavidOgdenStiers as Emory Breedlove.
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Blair Brown stars as Christine Penmark, with Carrie Wells as Rachel, Creator/LynnRedgrave as Monica Breedlove, Creator/DavidCarradine as Leroy Jessup, Richard Kiley Creator/RichardKiley as Richard Bravo, and Creator/DavidOgdenStiers as Emory Breedlove.
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* AdaptationDyeJob: Rachel is a brunette, in contrast to the blonde Rhoda of previous versions.
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* AdaptationDyeJob: Rachel is a brunette, in contrast to the blonde Rhoda of previous versions.versions - though, in the original novel, Rhoda's hair ''was'' brunette, and nearly black.
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lol he's not a sociopath
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* EvenEvilHasStandards: In spite of readily admitting he is a mean and uncaring man who likes to get under a little girl's skin just for kicks, Leroy is genuinely disturbed when he realizes that kind of person Rachel really is. He's a sociopath too, but even he recoils at murder.
to:
* EvenEvilHasStandards: In spite of readily admitting he is a mean and uncaring man who likes to get under a little girl's skin just for kicks, Leroy is genuinely disturbed when he realizes that kind of person Rachel really is. He's a sociopath an asshole too, but even he recoils at murder.
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* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Christine.]]
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* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Rachel!
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* AdultFear: Discovering that your daughter is a cold, remorseless psychopath. [[note]] Though nowadays, the use of the term "psychopath" to describe a child would be considered inappropriate in most clinical circles. But then again many real clinical circles haven't treated nine year olds with multiple homicides on their record either.[[/note]]
* AntagonisticOffspring: Rachel.
* AntagonisticOffspring: Rachel.
to:
* AdultFear: Discovering that your daughter is AntagonisticOffspring: Rachel, who later turns out to be a cold, remorseless psychopath. [[note]] Though nowadays, the use of the term "psychopath" to describe a child would be considered inappropriate in most clinical circles. But then again many real clinical circles haven't treated nine year olds with multiple homicides on their record either.[[/note]]
* AntagonisticOffspring: Rachel.[[/note]]
* AntagonisticOffspring: Rachel.
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Previously adapted as a [[Theatre/TheBadSeed 1954 stage play]] and a [[Film/TheBadSeed1956 1956 feature film]], ''Literature/TheBadSeed'' saw its next incarnation in 1985 with this Creator/{{ABC}} MadeForTVMovie. Unlike the previous adaptations, this one attempted to modernize the plot. In practice though this relates more to setting and backgrounds, as the plot isn't altered that much. One most notable change being our murderous little girl is now named Rachel instead of Rhoda.
to:
Previously adapted as a [[Theatre/TheBadSeed 1954 stage play]] and a [[Film/TheBadSeed1956 1956 feature film]], ''Literature/TheBadSeed'' saw its next incarnation in 1985 with this Creator/{{ABC}} MadeForTVMovie. Unlike MadeForTVMovie written by George Eckstein and directed by Paul Wendkos.
This version modernizes theprevious adaptations, this one attempted to modernize the plot. In practice though this relates more to story in terms of setting and backgrounds, as although the actual plot isn't altered that much. One The most notable change being is that our murderous little girl is now named Rachel instead of Rhoda.
Rhoda.
Blair Brown stars as Christine Penmark, with Carrie Wells as Rachel, Creator/LynnRedgrave as Monica Breedlove, Creator/DavidCarradine as Leroy Jessup, Richard Kiley as Richard Bravo, and Creator/DavidOgdenStiers as Emory Breedlove.
This version modernizes the
Blair Brown stars as Christine Penmark, with Carrie Wells as Rachel, Creator/LynnRedgrave as Monica Breedlove, Creator/DavidCarradine as Leroy Jessup, Richard Kiley as Richard Bravo, and Creator/DavidOgdenStiers as Emory Breedlove.
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* AdaptationalHairColor: Rachel is a brunette, in contrast to the blonde Rhoda of previous versions.
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* AdaptationalHairColor: AdaptationDyeJob: Rachel is a brunette, in contrast to the blonde Rhoda of previous versions.
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Previously adapted as a [[Theatre/TheBadSeed 1954 stage play]] and a [[Film/TheBadSeed1956 1956 film]], ''Literature/TheBadSeed'' saw its next incarnation in 1985 with this Creator/{{ABC}} MadeForTVMovie. Unlike the previous adaptations, this one attempted to modernize the plot. In practice though this relates more to setting and backgrounds, as the plot isn't altered that much. One most notable change being our murderous little girl is now named Rachel instead of Rhoda.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_bad_seed_1985.jpg]]
Previously adapted as a [[Theatre/TheBadSeed 1954 stage play]] and a [[Film/TheBadSeed1956 1956 feature film]], ''Literature/TheBadSeed'' saw its next incarnation in 1985 with this Creator/{{ABC}} MadeForTVMovie. Unlike the previous adaptations, this one attempted to modernize the plot. In practice though this relates more to setting and backgrounds, as the plot isn't altered that much. One most notable change being our murderous little girl is now named Rachel instead of Rhoda.
Previously adapted as a [[Theatre/TheBadSeed 1954 stage play]] and a [[Film/TheBadSeed1956 1956 feature film]], ''Literature/TheBadSeed'' saw its next incarnation in 1985 with this Creator/{{ABC}} MadeForTVMovie. Unlike the previous adaptations, this one attempted to modernize the plot. In practice though this relates more to setting and backgrounds, as the plot isn't altered that much. One most notable change being our murderous little girl is now named Rachel instead of Rhoda.
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* AdaptationalHairColor: Rachel is a brunette, in contrast to the blonde Rhoda of previous versions.
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Direct link.
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* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: Rachel!
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* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Rachel!
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* InTheBlood: Christine discovers that [[spoiler: her biological mother was a serial killer and believes that she passed her murderous nature to Rachel.]]
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* VillainousLineage: Christine discovers that [[spoiler: her biological mother was a serial killer and believes that she passed her murderous nature to Rhoda]].
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* AffablyEvil: Rachel's always polite and sweet-acting, and only harms people when they have something she wants.
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* FauxAffablyEvil: Rachel may act sweet and polite, but she's still a murderous brat who has no empathy for anyone.
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Previously adapted as a [[Theatre/TheBadSeed 1954 stage play]] and a [[Film/TheBadSeed1956 1956 film]], ''Literature/TheBadSeed'' saw its next incarnation in 1985 with this Creator/{{ABC}} MadeForTVMovie. Unlike the previous adaptations, this one attempted to modernize the plot. In practice though this relates more to setting and backgrounds, as the plot isn't altered that much. One most notable change being our murderous little girl is now named Rachel Penmark instead of Rhoda.
to:
Previously adapted as a [[Theatre/TheBadSeed 1954 stage play]] and a [[Film/TheBadSeed1956 1956 film]], ''Literature/TheBadSeed'' saw its next incarnation in 1985 with this Creator/{{ABC}} MadeForTVMovie. Unlike the previous adaptations, this one attempted to modernize the plot. In practice though this relates more to setting and backgrounds, as the plot isn't altered that much. One most notable change being our murderous little girl is now named Rachel Penmark instead of Rhoda.
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None
Changed line(s) 1,2 (click to see context) from:
Previously adapted as a 1954 stage play and a [[Film/TheBadSeed1956 1956 film]], ''Literature/TheBadSeed'' saw its next incarnation in 1985 with this Creator/{{ABC}} MadeForTVMovie. Unlike the previous adaptations, this one attempted to modernize the plot. In practice though this relates more to setting and backgrounds, as the plot isn't altered that much. One most notable change being our murderous little girl is now named Rachel Penmark instead of Rhoda.
to:
Previously adapted as a [[Theatre/TheBadSeed 1954 stage play play]] and a [[Film/TheBadSeed1956 1956 film]], ''Literature/TheBadSeed'' saw its next incarnation in 1985 with this Creator/{{ABC}} MadeForTVMovie. Unlike the previous adaptations, this one attempted to modernize the plot. In practice though this relates more to setting and backgrounds, as the plot isn't altered that much. One most notable change being our murderous little girl is now named Rachel Penmark instead of Rhoda.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 1,2 (click to see context) from:
Previously adapted as a 1954 stage play and a [[Film/TheBadSeed1956 1956 film]], ''Literature/TheBadSeed'' saw its next incarnation in 1985 with this MadeForTVMovie. Unlike the previous adaptations, this one attempted to modernize the plot. In practice though this relates more to setting and backgrounds, as the plot isn't altered that much. One most notable change being our murderous little girl is now named Rachel Penmark instead of Rhoda.
to:
Previously adapted as a 1954 stage play and a [[Film/TheBadSeed1956 1956 film]], ''Literature/TheBadSeed'' saw its next incarnation in 1985 with this Creator/{{ABC}} MadeForTVMovie. Unlike the previous adaptations, this one attempted to modernize the plot. In practice though this relates more to setting and backgrounds, as the plot isn't altered that much. One most notable change being our murderous little girl is now named Rachel Penmark instead of Rhoda.
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None
Changed line(s) 1,2 (click to see context) from:
The Bad Seed saw it's next incarnation in 1985 with this made for television film. Unlike the previous incarnations this one attempted to modernize the plot. In practice though this relates more to setting and backgrounds, as the plot isn't altered that much. One most notable change being our murderous little girl is now named Rachel Penmark instead of Rhoda.
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* BlackAndGreyMorality: Rachel's a manipulative psychopath, Leroy, who is wise to her evil, is just a bully who acts dumb to get away with what he does, but then we also have [[KnowNothingKnowItAll Monica]] who willfully ignores Rhoda's [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior behavior]], and the most heroic character, Rhoda's mother Christine, is morally conflicted.
to:
* BlackAndGreyMorality: Rachel's a manipulative psychopath, Leroy, who is wise to her evil, is just a bully who acts dumb to get away with what he does, but then we also have [[KnowNothingKnowItAll Monica]] who willfully ignores Rhoda's Rachel's [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior behavior]], and the most heroic character, Rhoda's Rachel's mother Christine, is morally conflicted.
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* CreepyChild[=/=]EnfantTerrible: Rachel could have been the TropeNamer for these.
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* CreepyChild[=/=]EnfantTerrible: Rachel is a modernization of Rhoda who could have been the TropeNamer for these.
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* SchrodingersCast: Chistine's father Richard Bravo is alive and well in the play and movie, but had died before Rhoda was born in the book.
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* SchrodingersCast: Chistine's father Richard Bravo is alive and well in the play and movie, but had died before Rhoda Rachel's book character was born in the book.born .
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* SoundOnlyDeath: [[spoiler: Christine's [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]] is portrayed by a gunshot off-screen.
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* SoundOnlyDeath: [[spoiler: Christine's [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]] is portrayed by a gunshot off-screen. ]]
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* SettingUpgrade: This movie now sets the story in the 1980s.
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* SettingUpgrade: SettingUpdate: This movie now sets the story in the 1980s.
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Added DiffLines:
The Bad Seed saw it's next incarnation in 1985 with this made for television film. Unlike the previous incarnations this one attempted to modernize the plot. In practice though this relates more to setting and backgrounds, as the plot isn't altered that much. One most notable change being our murderous little girl is now named Rachel Penmark instead of Rhoda.
----
!!It contains examples of:
* AdaptationalNameChange: Rhoda is now Rachel, Claude is now Mark, Hortense is now Rita.
* AdultsAreUseless: Almost all of the adults buy Rachel's act; the children in her school know there's something wrong there and usually avoid her.
* AdultFear: Discovering that your daughter is a cold, remorseless psychopath. [[note]] Though nowadays, the use of the term "psychopath" to describe a child would be considered inappropriate in most clinical circles. But then again many real clinical circles haven't treated nine year olds with multiple homicides on their record either.[[/note]]
* AffablyEvil: Rachel's always polite and sweet-acting, and only harms people when they have something she wants.
* AntagonisticOffspring: Rachel.
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Leroy]] could be said to have had it coming. Even so...
* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler: Rachel gets away with everything in this version as well.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Rachel, full stop.
* BlackAndGreyMorality: Rachel's a manipulative psychopath, Leroy, who is wise to her evil, is just a bully who acts dumb to get away with what he does, but then we also have [[KnowNothingKnowItAll Monica]] who willfully ignores Rhoda's [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior behavior]], and the most heroic character, Rhoda's mother Christine, is morally conflicted.
* BreakTheCutie: Rachel's poor mother!
* ChangelingFantasy: Since childhood, Christine has had this thought in the back of her mind that she was adopted, though unlike most examples of this trope, the idea fills her with horror. Her parents (father in the movie) profusely deny this, and her friends assure her that this is a common childhood fantasy. Unfortunately for her, the truth is far worse than she could imagine.
* ChekhovsGun: Rachel's tap shoes
** The special vitamins and sleeping pills Monica gives to Christine
** Also, Christine mentions her husband keeping an actual gun in the house. [[spoiler: She later uses it to shoot herself.]]
* ChildrenAreInnocent: Mercilessly averted.
* CreepyChild[=/=]EnfantTerrible: Rachel could have been the TropeNamer for these.
* CrustyCaretaker: Leroy.
* DeathByAdaptation: Kenneth Penmark is deceased before the story begins in this version.
* DevilInPlainSight: Rachel, ''definitely!''
* DissonantSerenity: Rachel. She never shows much excitement, no matter what she's been up to.
* DespairEventHorizon: For Christine this is [[spoiler: Rachel's murder of Leroy. She is forced to give up any lingering denial she may have had about Rachel's evil nature or her, Christine's, inability to control her.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Christine.]]
* EnfantTerrible: No FreudianExcuse needed. Rachel was ''born'' evil. Hence the name of the story.
* EvilVersusEvil: Rachel and Leroy's confrontations.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: In spite of readily admitting he is a mean and uncaring man who likes to get under a little girl's skin just for kicks, Leroy is genuinely disturbed when he realizes that kind of person Rachel really is. He's a sociopath too, but even he recoils at murder.
* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: Rachel, a sweet looking eight year old girl, with the dangerous mind of a psychopathic killer.
* {{Foil}}: Leroy, the gardener, is the only adult who can see through Rachel's perfect child act, and enjoys teasing her to get under her skin.
* ForTheEvulz: Leroy's motivation for tormenting Rachel.
* HappilyMarried: Christine and Kenneth were happily married in this version.
* InTheBlood: Christine discovers that [[spoiler: her biological mother was a serial killer and believes that she passed her murderous nature to Rachel.]]
* JerkassHasAPoint: Leroy is correct about a number of the characters: Monica ''is'' an arrogant know-it-all, Christine's kindness ''is'' a bit condescending, and he is is quite right about Rachel's selfish, coldblooded personality.
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Rachel gets away with everything she's done.]]
* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Monica is described as an "amateur psychologist" but clearly doesn't have any ''actual'' expertise in the field. Her advice only serves to distress and upset Christine more and more, but she's totally blind to the fact that Rachel is a serial killer. Nicely contrasts her employee Leroy who's a case of ObfuscatingStupidity.
* LackOfEmpathy: When Christine asks Rachel if she understands the pain Mrs. Daigle must be going through after [[spoiler: discovering his medal that she stole from Claude's body]], she responds, "I guess." Later, she says, "If Mrs. Daigle wants a son so bad, why doesn't she get one from the orphanage?"
* LightIsNotGood: Rachel, with her blonde hair and spotless white dresses, is a classic example.
* LoveMartyr: A familial example: Christine sacrifices her sanity, integrity, and [[spoiler: her life]] out of the love she has for her daughter, who when asked if she truly loves her, only replies "You're silly!".
* {{Motormouth}}: Monica Breedlove, Christine's landlady and a prominent figure in the community. A fan of Freudian psychology, she is constantly psycho-analyzing others, diagnosing Leroy as a paranoid schizophrenic, etc
** In what is meant to be irony, despite her intelligence and insight, she spends so much time talking that she never actually observes what's going on around her, and thus can never apply her knowledge to a real situation. Rachel has her wrapped around her little finger and she doesn't even realize it.
* ManOnFire: [[spoiler: Leroy's death.]]
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Leroy pretends to be a humble simpleton in front of Monica and other adults, while revealing his true mean nature to children. He believes himself to be BrilliantButLazy, but based on his wife's comments and his own actions in the story, this is debatable.
* OffingTheOffspring: [[spoiler: Rachel's mother tries to do this in the movie. She also finds out that her own biological mother, a famous serial killer, murdered her entire family, including her other children and almost killed Christine herself.]]
* PsychopathicManChild: Leroy comes off like this during some of his interactions with Rachel.
* PragmaticAdaptation: The book went into a lot more depth than the play or movie could do, especially concerning the Incomparable Bessie Danker.
** Leroy's dialogue was more vulgar and both he and Monica made a lot of references to sex that would have been unacceptable to use in a film at that time.
** Rachel's school is run by the three Fern sisters: Burgess, Claudia, and Octavia. This is still the case in the adaptations, but only Claudia physically appears in the movie [[AdaptationDistillation to make things simpler]] and most of the plot points involving her sisters are [[CompositeCharacter transferred to her]].
* RelatedInTheAdaptation: Zig-zagged. In the book Emory was Monica's brother and she had divorced Mr. Breedlove but kept his last name. In this version Emory is Mr. Breedlove.
* SchrodingersCast: Chistine's father Richard Bravo is alive and well in the play and movie, but had died before Rhoda was born in the book.
* SerialKiller: By the end of the story, Rachel has a body count of three: [[spoiler: a neighbor who promised her a snowglobe after her death, Mark Daigler, and [[HeKnowsTooMuch Leroy]].]] With the exception of the last one, they were all for short-sighted and selfish reasons.
* SettingUpgrade: This movie now sets the story in the 1980s.
* TheShrink: Monica -- she probably perceives herself as a Type 3 (Awesome Shrink) , but is pure Type 2 (Well-Meaning But Ineffective) all the way. As what goes along with Type 2s, she does not mean to hurt Christine with her psychobabble and only wants the best for her.
* SmugSnake / SmallNameBigEgo: Leroy, who as mentioned before overestimates his intelligence.
* TheSociopath: Rachel has neither conscience nor empathy and has no issues with killing to get what she wants.
* SoundOnlyDeath: [[spoiler: Christine's [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]] is portrayed by a gunshot off-screen.
* StepfordSmiler: Rachel, and as she finally catches on, her mother.
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: Rachel!
* VillainProtagonist: Take a wild guess on who it is.
* WorthyOpponent: A few lines of dialogue suggest this between, of all people, Leroy and Rachel once they both discover that [[spoiler: the other is also a sociopath.]]
----
!!It contains examples of:
* AdaptationalNameChange: Rhoda is now Rachel, Claude is now Mark, Hortense is now Rita.
* AdultsAreUseless: Almost all of the adults buy Rachel's act; the children in her school know there's something wrong there and usually avoid her.
* AdultFear: Discovering that your daughter is a cold, remorseless psychopath. [[note]] Though nowadays, the use of the term "psychopath" to describe a child would be considered inappropriate in most clinical circles. But then again many real clinical circles haven't treated nine year olds with multiple homicides on their record either.[[/note]]
* AffablyEvil: Rachel's always polite and sweet-acting, and only harms people when they have something she wants.
* AntagonisticOffspring: Rachel.
* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Leroy]] could be said to have had it coming. Even so...
* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler: Rachel gets away with everything in this version as well.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Rachel, full stop.
* BlackAndGreyMorality: Rachel's a manipulative psychopath, Leroy, who is wise to her evil, is just a bully who acts dumb to get away with what he does, but then we also have [[KnowNothingKnowItAll Monica]] who willfully ignores Rhoda's [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior behavior]], and the most heroic character, Rhoda's mother Christine, is morally conflicted.
* BreakTheCutie: Rachel's poor mother!
* ChangelingFantasy: Since childhood, Christine has had this thought in the back of her mind that she was adopted, though unlike most examples of this trope, the idea fills her with horror. Her parents (father in the movie) profusely deny this, and her friends assure her that this is a common childhood fantasy. Unfortunately for her, the truth is far worse than she could imagine.
* ChekhovsGun: Rachel's tap shoes
** The special vitamins and sleeping pills Monica gives to Christine
** Also, Christine mentions her husband keeping an actual gun in the house. [[spoiler: She later uses it to shoot herself.]]
* ChildrenAreInnocent: Mercilessly averted.
* CreepyChild[=/=]EnfantTerrible: Rachel could have been the TropeNamer for these.
* CrustyCaretaker: Leroy.
* DeathByAdaptation: Kenneth Penmark is deceased before the story begins in this version.
* DevilInPlainSight: Rachel, ''definitely!''
* DissonantSerenity: Rachel. She never shows much excitement, no matter what she's been up to.
* DespairEventHorizon: For Christine this is [[spoiler: Rachel's murder of Leroy. She is forced to give up any lingering denial she may have had about Rachel's evil nature or her, Christine's, inability to control her.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Christine.]]
* EnfantTerrible: No FreudianExcuse needed. Rachel was ''born'' evil. Hence the name of the story.
* EvilVersusEvil: Rachel and Leroy's confrontations.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: In spite of readily admitting he is a mean and uncaring man who likes to get under a little girl's skin just for kicks, Leroy is genuinely disturbed when he realizes that kind of person Rachel really is. He's a sociopath too, but even he recoils at murder.
* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: Rachel, a sweet looking eight year old girl, with the dangerous mind of a psychopathic killer.
* {{Foil}}: Leroy, the gardener, is the only adult who can see through Rachel's perfect child act, and enjoys teasing her to get under her skin.
* ForTheEvulz: Leroy's motivation for tormenting Rachel.
* HappilyMarried: Christine and Kenneth were happily married in this version.
* InTheBlood: Christine discovers that [[spoiler: her biological mother was a serial killer and believes that she passed her murderous nature to Rachel.]]
* JerkassHasAPoint: Leroy is correct about a number of the characters: Monica ''is'' an arrogant know-it-all, Christine's kindness ''is'' a bit condescending, and he is is quite right about Rachel's selfish, coldblooded personality.
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Rachel gets away with everything she's done.]]
* KnowNothingKnowItAll: Monica is described as an "amateur psychologist" but clearly doesn't have any ''actual'' expertise in the field. Her advice only serves to distress and upset Christine more and more, but she's totally blind to the fact that Rachel is a serial killer. Nicely contrasts her employee Leroy who's a case of ObfuscatingStupidity.
* LackOfEmpathy: When Christine asks Rachel if she understands the pain Mrs. Daigle must be going through after [[spoiler: discovering his medal that she stole from Claude's body]], she responds, "I guess." Later, she says, "If Mrs. Daigle wants a son so bad, why doesn't she get one from the orphanage?"
* LightIsNotGood: Rachel, with her blonde hair and spotless white dresses, is a classic example.
* LoveMartyr: A familial example: Christine sacrifices her sanity, integrity, and [[spoiler: her life]] out of the love she has for her daughter, who when asked if she truly loves her, only replies "You're silly!".
* {{Motormouth}}: Monica Breedlove, Christine's landlady and a prominent figure in the community. A fan of Freudian psychology, she is constantly psycho-analyzing others, diagnosing Leroy as a paranoid schizophrenic, etc
** In what is meant to be irony, despite her intelligence and insight, she spends so much time talking that she never actually observes what's going on around her, and thus can never apply her knowledge to a real situation. Rachel has her wrapped around her little finger and she doesn't even realize it.
* ManOnFire: [[spoiler: Leroy's death.]]
* ObfuscatingStupidity: Leroy pretends to be a humble simpleton in front of Monica and other adults, while revealing his true mean nature to children. He believes himself to be BrilliantButLazy, but based on his wife's comments and his own actions in the story, this is debatable.
* OffingTheOffspring: [[spoiler: Rachel's mother tries to do this in the movie. She also finds out that her own biological mother, a famous serial killer, murdered her entire family, including her other children and almost killed Christine herself.]]
* PsychopathicManChild: Leroy comes off like this during some of his interactions with Rachel.
* PragmaticAdaptation: The book went into a lot more depth than the play or movie could do, especially concerning the Incomparable Bessie Danker.
** Leroy's dialogue was more vulgar and both he and Monica made a lot of references to sex that would have been unacceptable to use in a film at that time.
** Rachel's school is run by the three Fern sisters: Burgess, Claudia, and Octavia. This is still the case in the adaptations, but only Claudia physically appears in the movie [[AdaptationDistillation to make things simpler]] and most of the plot points involving her sisters are [[CompositeCharacter transferred to her]].
* RelatedInTheAdaptation: Zig-zagged. In the book Emory was Monica's brother and she had divorced Mr. Breedlove but kept his last name. In this version Emory is Mr. Breedlove.
* SchrodingersCast: Chistine's father Richard Bravo is alive and well in the play and movie, but had died before Rhoda was born in the book.
* SerialKiller: By the end of the story, Rachel has a body count of three: [[spoiler: a neighbor who promised her a snowglobe after her death, Mark Daigler, and [[HeKnowsTooMuch Leroy]].]] With the exception of the last one, they were all for short-sighted and selfish reasons.
* SettingUpgrade: This movie now sets the story in the 1980s.
* TheShrink: Monica -- she probably perceives herself as a Type 3 (Awesome Shrink) , but is pure Type 2 (Well-Meaning But Ineffective) all the way. As what goes along with Type 2s, she does not mean to hurt Christine with her psychobabble and only wants the best for her.
* SmugSnake / SmallNameBigEgo: Leroy, who as mentioned before overestimates his intelligence.
* TheSociopath: Rachel has neither conscience nor empathy and has no issues with killing to get what she wants.
* SoundOnlyDeath: [[spoiler: Christine's [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]] is portrayed by a gunshot off-screen.
* StepfordSmiler: Rachel, and as she finally catches on, her mother.
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: Rachel!
* VillainProtagonist: Take a wild guess on who it is.
* WorthyOpponent: A few lines of dialogue suggest this between, of all people, Leroy and Rachel once they both discover that [[spoiler: the other is also a sociopath.]]
