Michael Adams (mdawaffe)

Just One Category will cause WordPress to display on a category archive page 
only those posts which are direct members of that category, i.e. this plugin 
will exclude from that category page all posts which belong to any of that 
category’s subcategories but do not belong to the category itself.

Just One Category

On a category's archive page, displays only the posts directly in that category, not in any sub-categories.

Tranons

A simplistic plugin that allows for the furthur customization of your category list. This will allow you to create a custom category list which will show the categories you want, and will hide the categories you do not want. For example, say you have a particular category you don’t want to be displayed named “Announcements”. You can use this plugin to display all of your other categories, except the category “Announcements”. You are not limited to just excluding one category; you can exclude multiple categories. Essentially, this plugin provides more functionality to your category list.

Category Excluder Widget

This widget allows you to easily create a specific category list. You can exclude any categories you please.

Just One Category vs Category Excluder Widget