A scary slice of paranormal paranoia

Rating: 10/10 (12 April 2001)

Young marrieds in New York City--he a Broadway hopeful, she a contented housewife--get the apartment of their dreams, but the wife is uncomfortable with her new neighbors right from the start. Mia Farrow is incredibly genuine as Rosemary Woodhouse; present in just about every scene, Farrow is handled exactly right by director Roman Polanski, who shows an unerring eye for detail. Polanski, who also adapted the screenplay, apparently loved the book by Ira Levin because there are details on the screen taken straight from Levin's pages (the book now reads like a novelization of the film). Some of my favorite scenes: Rosemary, looking at the belongings left behind by the last tenant of her future apartment, seeing a note that reads, "I can no longer associate myself...", asking the manager, "Why would she cover up her vacuum cleaner and her towels?"; Rosemary dreaming about a mistake she made in Catholic school, confusing it with an argument going on next door and hearing her neighbor's braying voice, "Now we have to start all over!"; John Cassavetes (in a brave performance as Guy) rushing home from the theater, nervous and serious, to pull a fast one on a dear friend; Rosemary staring at her neighbor's pierced ear, the music swelling up in the background; Rosemary in her doctor's office, telling the receptionist she's wearing a new perfume ("Detchema") and finding out her smelly usual (a devilish fungus called "Tannis Root") is a favorite of... It's a stunning, stupendous effort with plush production, a fantastic supporting cast, creepy music from Christopher Komeda (with a title theme la-la-la'ed by Farrow herself) and an incredible amount of cunning wit and the blackest kind of humor.