Virtually flawless piece of storytelling with Farrow's best work.

Rating: Null/10 (16 August 2005)

Already a best-selling book when this film was made, the title has now become a pop-culture touchstone and this is regarded as one of the top psychological thrillers of all time. It all starts off nicely enough as married couple Cassavetes and Farrow move into an old, but richly appointed apartment building in New York. Farrow works overtime to transform it from a dark and old-fashioned place into a bright, sunny place to live...the perfect place to have a baby. When Cassavetes is handed a plum stage role, they decide to concentrate on conceiving a child, with the curious encouragement of their oddball, elderly neighbors Blackmer and Gordon. Still recovering from the apparent suicide of their border, the older couple takes a shine to the younger couple and soon have insinuated themselves into their lives. On the night that Farrow is most fertile and the pair had planned to attempt conception, she passes out and experiences a horrific extended dream in which she is raped by a demonic man as onlookers stare determinedly. Or did it actually happen? She finds herself with child, but her pregnancy is a monumentally difficult one, even with all the added attention and nourishment provided by Gordon and her pricey doctor Bellamy. Soon, Farrow realizes that there is far more at work in her life than just prenatal discomfort, but she has a hard time convincing anyone of it. Director Polanski is an absolute master of mood, tension and general unease. He expertly builds the paranoia in this film to an extraordinary level. Farrow (who, in the early sequences of this film is quite possibly at her highest level of attractiveness and appeal) gives an astonishing performance. Though she wasn't initially the actress Polanski wanted (which was Tuesday Weld), it's hard to picture anyone else in the part (none more so than Patty Duke, who appeared in a dire TV sequel in 1976!) She gives the part everything it needs and more: amiability, freshness, sexuality, warmth and most of all vulnerability. She is transformed from a lovely, happy woman into a wraith-like, ghostly stick-figure. (However, in one minor misstep, the makeup people whitened her face, but left her ears tan!) Cassavetes is strong as well, but perhaps overplays his hand a little. He does a decent enough job, but in some ways he isn't right for the part at all. His aspiring actor character is pushing forty and he is sixteen years Farrow's senior. A younger actor (like first choice Robert Redford) may have aided the mystery of the film a little more. Gordon, of course, steals every scene she's in with her brash, fussy ways and her distinctive voice. She was truly a force unto herself and seems to exist in her own atmosphere. Many familiar veteran actors turn up in supporting roles. In some cases, their previously benign personas are given a sick, darkly comic twist. Grodin is shown in one of his very earliest roles as one of Farrow's doctors. Farrow's female friends at her cocktail party are enacted by a trio of interesting actresses. One was Dr. Bellows' wife on "I Dream of Jeannie", one was confidant and secretary to "The Green Hornet" and the other was a "Hee Haw" honey and Mrs. Kenny Rogers! Made prior to the MTV era in which everything must be spelled out, explained and shown in gory detail, this is a deliberately paced chiller that is far more focused on mood and audience manipulation. By the time Farrow is stuck in a phone booth (with famed producer William Castle making a cameo appearance) and frantically seeking assistance, the audience is desperate for her to find some way out of her predicament. It's top notch in all departments and has been cribbed from countless times since. Farrow, who was undergoing unbelievable pressure and personal trauma at the time due to her crumbling marriage to Frank Sinatra was inexplicably left out of the Oscar race that year.