Relative Fear

Relative Fear (also known as The Child and Le silence d'Adam) is a 1994 Canadian independent psychological horror film that references the 1956 film The Bad Seed. An autistic child is seemingly born to kill and does so.

Relative Fear
VHS cover
Directed by	George Mihalka
Written by	Kurt Wimmer
Produced by	Tom Berry Stefan Wodoslawsky Franco Battista (co-producer) William Webb (executive producer)
Starring	Matthew Dupuis Darlanne Fluegel James Brolin Martin Neufeld Bruce Dinsmore
Cinematography	Rodney Gibbons
Edited by	Ion Webster
Music by	Marty Simon
Distributed by	Norstar Entertainment West Wind Entertainment Allegro Films Republic Pictures Home Video
Release date	1994 (1994)
Running time	90-94 minutes
Country	Canada
Language	English

Cast

• Matthew Dupuis as Adam Pratman (Adam Madison)
• Darlanne Fluegel as Linda Pratman
• James Brolin as Det. Atwater
• Martin Neufeld as Peter Pratman
• Bruce Dinsmore as Clive (Gary Madison)
• M. Emmet Walsh as Earl Ladelle
• Michael Caloz as Manny Dorff
• Denise Crosby as Connie Madison
• Linda Sorenson as Margaret Ladelle
• Jason Blicker as Dennison
• Vlasta Vrána as Mr. Schulman
• Liz MacRae as Ms. Roark
• Gisèle Rousseau as Dr. Hoyer
• Jenny Campbell as Paige
• Frank Schorpion as Dr. Shane
• Alan West as Henry Pratman
• Victoria Barkoff as Ms. Smith
• Tyrone Benskin as Cop
• Roger E. Reid as Police Officer

Reception

In the book Representing Autism: Culture, Narrative, Fascination, Stuart Murray describes the film as "the worst kind of example of the prosthetic narrative, where the idea of disability simply becomes part of a genetic method". He states that there is "little recognizably autistic in anything Adam does"^[1]