Enfants Terribles: 31 Hateful TV/Movie Children

You think the creepy kid at the heart of ''Orphan'' is frightening? We've got a ghastly collection of maleficent on-screen minors that makes her look angelic -- from Draco Malfoy and Damien to Sharpay and Cartman

By Marc Bernardin Updated June 19, 2009 at 09:00 PM EDT

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Rhoda Penmark (Patty McCormack) The Bad Seed (1956)

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CHILD'S PLAY Rhoda efficiently dispatches anyone who keeps her from getting her own way. Nervous Mom (Nancy Kelly) senses that something in her own life is horribly wrong.

CHILLING MOMENT Having drowned a boy (offscreen) because he beat her in a penmanship contest, she says, ''Why should I feel sorry? It was Claude Daigle got drowned, not me.''

WHY SHE SCARES US The movie seems campy now, but in the comfy, conformist '50s, the notion of a remorselessly homicidal child was a shocker. McCormack, who had played the role in the hit Broadway play, brought Rhoda to the screen with unsettling glee, earning herself an Oscar nomination.

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Enfants Terribles: 31 Hateful TV/Movie Children

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Rhoda Penmark (Patty McCormack) The Bad Seed (1956)

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