A true classic

Rating: 10/10 (17 November 1999)

This is my favorite horror movie--actually one of my favorite movies, period. It features fantastic direction and performances (special kudos to John Cassavettes, who never gets proper recognition for just how good he was here), a wonderfully 60's-sounding music score that goes from frothy to sinister in mere seconds, and of course there's the intricately brilliant story, faithfully adapted from Ira Levin's 1967 novel. It is one of those movies that effortlessly absorbed and channeled back the tenor of the times in which it was made -- for example, the storyline clearly expands upon the youth movement's late 60's rallying cry of "Never trust anyone over 30," and in one pivotal scene there is a glimpse of the "Is God Dead?" tempest that was a genuine thing, albeit briefly, in the violent, dark reality that was the USA in 1968. Enormously influential, Rosemary's Baby is an acknowledged classic, and a paranoid delight from start to finish. It gets a 10 out of 10, no question.