Mrs. Sterling is psychotically obsessed with her 12-year-old daughter, Jessica Ann, so much so that when she finds out Jessica didn't get the "Student of the Year" award again, she solves the problem by murdering the teacher who didn't recommend her for it. Mrs. Sterling dismisses the killing as inconsequential, but the homicide detective assigned to the case suspects her immediately, and an insurance investigator who also suspects her tries to get close to Jessica Ann to find out what really happened. During the course of the film, Mrs. Sterling is determined to protect her daughter at all costs. When Miss Jones, the janitor, attempts to blackmail Mrs. Sterling, she is electrocuted in the school basement. One night, after attending a party together, Mark Jeffries is overheard by Jessica Ann on the phone to his bosses who realizes that he is using her. When Mark tries to explain the situation in her bedroom, Mrs. Sterling shoots him in the forehead, pretending later to the police that she thought Mark was molesting Jessica Ann. Despite the suspicions of Beth, Mrs Sterling's sister who is worried about her mental health, the police are unable to directly prove that she intended to murder Mark and Jessica Ann is allowed to remain with her mother. The film concludes with Mrs Sterling and her daughter fleeing their home and staying in a nearby motel. Realizing that her own daughter will eventually turn on her, she attempts to strangle her in her sleep but Jessica Ann escapes through the bathroom window and runs to a nearby junkyard where she is nearly savaged by a stray dog. Mrs Sterling saves her daughter from the dog, only to attempt to kill her again but Lt. March shows up and the killer is taken into custody.
The film was the first to be directed by Max Allan Collins who had, prior to this, been primarily known as a writer of crime and mystery stories as well as a comic book writer. All of the film was shot primarily on location in Muscatine, Iowa, which aided the casting of the killer's daughter. Then 11-year-old Rachel Lemieux had no prior professional acting experience; she was discovered at an open audition in an Iowa mall and beat out more than 200 girls for the role. A number of other finalists for the role ended up as extras in classroom scenes which were filmed on location at Muscatine Middle School. Despite the relatively low budget, the cast had a large number of well-known actors including Patty McCormack as the lead, Mickey Spillane as her attorney, Jason Miller as the investigating lieutenant and Majel Barrett as Jessica's school teacher at the start of the picture. Director Collins' son Nate appears in this film and its sequel in a small role as the Gleeful Kid. Former 'scream queen' Brinke Stevens was cast as the sister of Patty McCormack's character; she was an acquaintance of writer/director Max Allan Collins, whom he had met while the two were making personal appearances at comic book conventions. When asked about her involvement with the film, Collins commented, "Brinke was happy to have a chance to do something with her clothes on, I think." Mickey Spillane was a personal friend of writer/director Max Allan Collins and appeared in the movie as a favor. When Spillane arrived to film his part, he was ill and running a dangerously high fever. Concerned for his health, crew members tried to talk him out of filming, but he insisted on going on with the show. Despite his illness, Spillane completed all his filming and returned in better health for the sequel.
Reception
Critics hailed McCormack's performance and deemed the film as an "unofficial sequel" to her 1956 film The Bad Seed.
Sequel
The film spawned a sequel in 1997, with McCormack reprising her role as Mrs. Sterling in .
