Rosemary's Baby
Hit me, baby, one more time
Right off the bat, I have to say, “Fuck
Roman Polanski”. He is a statutory rapist who ran away to avoid
sentencing. Glad to get that out of the way just in case there was
any confusion. I probably wouldn't watched today's movie if it wasn't
for a slip in my memory that he directed it. On the one hand, I have
wanted to see Rosemary's Baby for a long time as it is considered a
horror classic. On the other hand, Roman Polanski is a scumbag who
committed a crime and has never been punished. It does bring up an
interesting and difficult point, though. Can you separate the art
from the artist? People love T.S. Elliot but he was anti-semitic.
William S. Burroughs was convicted of manslaughter. Some people are
able to disassociate the real-life trouble that these artists get
into from their art. I have rarely been able to do that, but for you,
I'll give it a try.
Rosemary's Baby is a 1968 psychological
horror movie based on the novel of the same name by Ira Levin. The
movie stars Mia Farrow (The Great Gatsby, Alice) as Rosemary
Woodhouse and John Cassavetes (The Dirty Dozen, Capone) as her
husband Guy Woodhouse. Rosemary and Guy, a struggling actor, move
into an old apartment building called the Bramford. Their old friend
Hutch (Maurice Evans, Planet Of The Apes, Bewitched) warns them that
the Bramford has a famous and strange history with witches and
satanists, but they move in anyway. Rosemary befriends a young woman
named Terry who lives in the building with her neighbors, Roman and
Minnie Castevet. She is shocked when Terry, who was supposedly a
happy woman on the road to recovery from drug addiction, killed
herself. Rosemary befriends the eccentric Castevets. Minnie even
gives Rosemary a good luck necklace containing something called
tannis root. Guy is cast in a role after the man who originally got
it suddenly went blind. Rosemary and Guy decide to try to have a baby
and on that night, Minnie gives the couple homemade chocolate mousse
to go with their dinner. Rosemary insists it has an undertaste and
disposes of most of it. She becomes dizzy and passes out on the bed.
She dreams that she is surrounded by naked people from the apartment
and is raped by a demon. She wakes up with scratches on her back as
Guy apologizes for being to rough with her. Soon, Rosemary is
pregnant and the Castevet's tell her to go see their friend, Dr.
Abraham Sapirstein (Ralph Bellamy, The Awful Truth, His Girl Friday).
He prescribes that Rosemary forgoes any vitamins in favor of a
natural drink made by Minnie. Rosemary begins to lose weight and has
terrible pains. On the day Hutch plans to see her, he falls into a
deep coma. He soon dies and leaves Rosemary with a book on witches,
leaving a cryptic message, “the name is an anagram”. She is able
to deduce that Roman Castevet is actually Steven Marcato, the son of
a famous witch and devil worshiper. She suspects that her neighbors
are part of a satanic cult and becomes paranoid about all those
around her, including Guy. Is Rosemary's baby really the product of a
satanic cult and what will happen to her?
Satan has the dreamiest eyes
Rosemary's Baby is an intense,
engrossing psychological horror film that wraps around the audience
and doesn't let go. You're never quite sure if there really is a cult
or if Rosemary is paranoid. This tension becomes unbearable as the
audience wants to scream for her to run for her life. Thrills and
suspense rage throughout most of the film and is quite exhausting by
the end. The beginning of the film starts off slow and quite normal.
Minnie Castevet is so wacky, the film might be mistaken for a
situational comedy at certain points. For the first half hour,
nothing really happens. The horror doesn't begin until the conception
where the movie practically flips and switch and sends the audience
into a tailspin of fear. We never fully see the demon, just hands and
eyes, which I found disappointing. We didn't have to see everything
in detail, but I think a little more could have sent the mind
reeling.
The biggest reason why the movie
succeeds is because of Mia Farrow. She is fantastic in the movie with
her emotions laid bare and projected onto the audience. Her line
“This is not a dream! This is actually happening” sticks in your
brain and makes you feel supremely uncomfortable. She makes the
character and the film itself far more believable than one would
suspect from a satanic baby film. The supporting cast is equally as
good and truly create a sense of horror and dread as the movie
progresses. The ending is very good and ends on an uncomfortable
down-note. The beginning and ending “la-la-la” music is great,
but sparingly used, which is a shame because it could have been as
iconic as the music from Halloween and Friday The 13th.
While I still hate Roman Polanski, I have to say that his direction
helped create a dark atmosphere that hangs like a fog over the entire
movie. If I have any complaints about the movie, it's that it is way
too long. The 2-plus hour run time could have been cut down in
certain scenes for a neater overall package.
Who wants pie?
I was able to separate the artist from
the art in order to watch Rosemary's Baby and I'm glad I did.
Rosemary's Baby is a scary, uncomfortable horror movie that sticks
with you long after the credits have rolled. While overly long, the
story is believable while still being supernatural. There is a lot of
suspense and thrills with plenty of scares. Mia Farrow is great and
gets a lot of help from a solid supporting cast. As I said before, I
still hate Roman Polanski and wish to never watch another one of his
movies again, but Rosemary's Baby is highly enjoyable.
8.5/10
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