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Classic, total classic. A little slow at times, but it's a slow burn that pays off at the end.
Posted By: thedescent08 at 10:28pm, October 29, 2008
One of the greatest horror films ever made.
Posted By: tcmassacre at 10:26pm, October 29, 2008
I was very young the first time I watched this. I only recall the place I was, a couple of emotions attached to it and the main subject in which the movie dwelt.
For all of this, the movie left its mark at that time.
I've watched again recently.
Several times.
Polanski is a genius. No doubt about it. But what he is able to accomplish with Rosemary's Baby goes slightly beyond that.
This movie is horror. But it's not today's horror.
It's horror in its purest form.
True evil, darkness, madness, paranoia, delusion... it can all be felt here. And all wrapped in an apparent context of normality. Brilliant.
"At first I thought I started reading a soap opera. But then I found myself reading it at four in the morning with my eyes burning."
This was what Roman Polanski said about the time he began reading the novel.
I completely understand him. And that is what you get if you truly let yourself be involved in the movie.
One of Polanski's greatest achievements as a director is his ability to suggest. No visual effects. No big budget scenes. Pure mental and spiritual suggestion. This is superbly done in Rosemary's Baby.
But what he suggests, and the way he suggests it is so unspeakable that we find ourselves wondering if we should believe it.
But we do.
And, at a certain level, we want to.
At least I did.
And the seemingly normal atmosphere in which he involves the story is as simple as it's perfect.
The actors (specially the six characters more focused throughout the movie) are pretty close to emotional incarnations. They are so drawn into the story that, at some point, you feel inclined to be drawn with them. You can actually feel their feelings and experience the relationships between them.
Another note goes to the year of its release. 1968. With Rosemary's Baby, Polanski dared to go where no other director had gone before.
At least not like this.
You can appreciate this movie at many levels.
But the best way for one to experience it is to regard it for what it really has to offer.
And that you can only discover by looking deep inside yourselves.
This film deserves a place in every horror fans library. I didn't know they showed nudity back in 1968, and Mia Farrow is HOT. Te story is good, and very well directed. I loved it!
"One might argue Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby is not a horror film, since it lacks almost everything you'll find in almost all of them: shock moments, vampires, werewolf, serial killers, even blood. The most graphic scene is a nightmare sequence that displays a rape scene so stylized it isn't actually disturbing. But one might also argue that Rosemary's Baby is a horror film in its purest form, since it doesn't depend on all those gimmicks to create its atmosphere. I prefer the latter point of view.
So what is happening in this film? Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse move to a new apartment. Their neighbors are Roman and Minnie Castevet, an elderly couple. Although they are very friendly, there is something strange about them - the sounds that come from their apartment, the fact they remove all the pictures from their walls when the Woodhouses visit and other things like that. While Rosemary tries to keep a certain distance from them, Guy is very fond of the relationship to his new neighbors, and especially Minnie becomes more and more obtrusive, especially when Rosemary finds out she's pregnant - she recommends her another (better, as she says) gynecologist's and mixes a (healthy, as she says) herbal drink for her every day.
The pregnancy, however, develops rather unpleasant: Rosemary keeps feeling pain in her stomach and she becomes thinner (Pregnant women are supposed to gain, not lose weight, a visiting friend observes), and when the pain doesn't stop after several months, she begins to believe that her neighbors, her gynecologist's and even her husband conspired against her and want to harm the baby she's carrying.
All this is told by Roman Polanski in the perfect tone; the mood for the entire film is already set during the opening credits when we hear that weird lullaby, sung by Mia Farrow. And a lot of strange things happen throughout the entire film: Guy and Rosemary are told by Hutch, a friend of theirs, about the horrific past of the house they're now living in, a young girl that lives with the Castevets commits suicide (really a suicide?), Guy, an actor, gets the role he wanted so badly after the contestant who was originally supposed to play it turns blind, and Hutch, who might have found something out that would help Rosemary, suddenly is in a coma and dies three months later; all these (and a few other) events are precisely dosed by Polanski to draw us more and more into the film, while he makes sure on the other hand that the film doesn't become absurd. And he manages to give the film an ending that works, makes sense and is observant, slightly (but only slightly) funny and very disturbing, all at once.
Rosemary's Baby also contains two of the most memorable performances ever: Mia Farrow is haunting as Rosemary Woodhouse. She looks like she is physically suffering from her pregnancy and close to complete despair. And Ruth Gordon is amazing as the curious Minnie Castevet, always friendly, but also giving you the feeling that, hidden behind her generosity, she actually follows her own, obscure motives. If you have a helpful elderly female neighbor, you'll see her with other eyes once you've encountered Minnie Castevet. So, if you think a real horror film needs shock moments, vampires, werewolf, serial killers or at least blood - watch Rosemary's Baby and you'll change your mind." -- RWiggum, imdb.com
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