Overrated and Disappointing Horror. Definitely not a "Classic."

Rating: 2/10 (5 February 2007)

I appreciate horror films that horrify by means of atmosphere and mood instead of blood and gore. Rosemary's Baby has the atmosphere...just not the horror. The atmosphere in this movie is undeniably well-crafted. The acting is great. The characters are well-developed. Rosemary is portrayed as a vulnerable woman in a patriarchal society. Everything seems to be in place for a tremendous horror movie. However, all this film does is set the scene. It delivers nothing in the way of horror, thrills, chills, or anything of the sort. And no, this is not because of the lack of blood and gore.
This movie proceeds at a tortuously slow pace and the suspense is non-existent. I realize that Polanski intentionally creates a "normal" environment in this film in order to introduce horror in subtle and psychological ways. But no horror is ever introduced. I kept watching the time tick on my DVD player wondering when something--anything--would happen to catch my attention. After sitting through two hours of this film, I had to reference the DVD case to verify that the film was indeed just 136 minutes long. I couldn't believe that it was almost over and I had not yet seen anything worthwhile. I never did.
The ending was the same as the rest of the film--boring, uneventful, and not even slightly horrifying. Some horror/thriller films escalate the suspense only to disappoint with a weak ending. In Rosemary's Baby, the suspense was never built. My disappointment only comes as a result of high expectations before watching this movie. Overall, a huge disappointment.