This film is one of my favorites. I've loved it ever since I saw it as a kid many years ago. Patty McCormack is EVIL in this-she could have easily played the part in a demonic way but she did not. She simply performs her horrible deeds in a pragmatic, matter-of-fact way. Nancy Kelly is good but overacts at times. Eileen Heckart just breaks your heart-she's lost her only son and knows somehing is being kept from her.