A Masterpiece!

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

No this isn't a clone or spin off from The Bad Seed. While Rhoda from the Bad Seed was born evil, Jody became evil because she was traumatized for something that her mother did to her father when she was only 6 years old. With her biological mother taking her biological father away from her she developed some kind of hatred towards mother figures and an obsession with the father figure. But when she is adopted for the second time (by the Mitchells) her urge to kill expands to anyone trying to keep her away from her daddy (Don). The way how she does it is pretty clever biding her time and making sure she isn't caught. She also knows pretty well how to lie and that no one is suspecting her. The only ones not really falling for her innocence are classmate Claire Landers and her cousin Karen Conners. Karen is the one going on investigation and finding out the truth about Jodie. I really liked the movie even though the ending was quite abrupt.

As is probably obvious from my past reviews, I have a weak spot for both Slasher and Bad Seed genre flicks. What I really liked about "Daddy's Girl" was that it violated a lot of my expectations and especially the formula that many BS movies (kind of an appropriate abbreviation) have followed in recent years, most notably the wildly overrated and amazingly dumb "Orphan." Let's be real for a second. Yes, I know this is a Pierre David production, which almost spells HACKFLICK at the starting gate. This isn't an A-grade production. The acting is OK...it's competent, as is the direction. You're not going to get an Oscar worthy film that blows your doors off or even something as stylized as Fatal Attraction. It does, however, manage to keep your attention, and I believe that's largely due to Steve Pesce's script, which is more well-researched and plotted than this class of picture usually deserves.Unlike the reviewer who raved about the script being abysmal, I thought there was a very logical progression to the problem child's (Gabrielle Boni) psychosis. Her back-story synced up well with her behaviors and motivations and she isn't presented for the first third of the film as a raving, terminally evil, maniacal psycho. Sure, she's got maladaptive behaviors, but the triggers for these behaviors turning lethal are plausible --- at least to an developing, unstable mind.In addition, there are many twists that occur which you don't see coming and many false leads. And the kills are, while not 100% bulletproof, pretty damn clever and well within the means of a capable (and motivated) child.To top it off, It doesn't end in the usual way, either. It's a strange ending, in that it doesn't hit any of the usual horror movie clichés.And that's overall why I'd recommend it. Many have commented that Rosi's performance is one-note, horrible, and hammy --- I'd say it's pretty close to dead on considering how unstable her character is supposed to be. It's not an "actorly" or polished performance and that actually feels right here. Yes, she spouts villain one liners but....maybe she watches a lot of Bad Seed movies.

Daddy's Girl fits the typical horror date-movie mold, although I think there is something especially frightening about a child being the main villain, probably because everyone lets their guard down around a child who is still strong enough to push grandma down the stairs.The movie fits the B-movie mold, but the acting is far better than average. The satanic little girl is played scarily but very precisely by Boni, who is totally gripping in a script that turns a kid into a criminal genius and psychopath rolled into one. Its just really an unusual experience to watch a child carry a whole movie, especially as a villain.The people around her who become her victims or try to uncover the evil little girl's history are also excellently played., as is clueless daddy, by William Katt, the Great American Hero. The explanation of the whole story at the end is credible and a cautionary tale about a child adrift without parents who turns into a pit bull instead of a shrinking violet. Its fairly unrealistic that a child could be this savvy and diabolical, but that's what movies are for.Daddys Girl is very engaging, as well as tightly directed and shot, so all I can dock it for is its genre, though its far more entertaining and effective than the vast majority of b-movies. I also haven't seen anything quite like it, except for the Omen, in which the kid had the excuse of being the seed of Satan. Daddy's Girl has no excuse. She is just real smart, real twisted, and thoroughly dangerous.

May be a good movie for little girls to watch and fantasize about how bad they could be. For adults it is a boring, predictable, flatly written movie.