Effectively unsettling

Rating: 9/10 (3 December 2010)

I've always thought that horror films work best when we aren't fed all the details. Spielberg did it in 'Jaws' - we never really saw the shark until the end, but we still held our breath as we heard John Williams' chilling score when someone was in the water. We don't have to see something in order to be frightened of it. Don't get me wrong - I love a good slasher film, but they don't affect me as much as psychological horror films. In most slasher films, we get used to the killer's technique; we know when they are about to claim another victim. A film like 'Rosemary's Baby' shows us that murders aren't necessary to provoke fear from an audience. Rather, we learn that mystery is the source of fear: the things that we can't see, or don't know about.
Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse (Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes) are a young couple who move into a New York apartment building, with plans to start a family. Their neighbours are Minnie and Roman Castevet, an elderly couple who are strangely fascinated by Rosemary and Guy. They are nosy and a bit stubborn, however they seem like very kind and generous people on the whole. They are not without their eccentricities; for example, Minnie gives Rosemary a 'charm necklace', which contains a mysterious herb known as 'tannis root'.
After Rosemary falls pregnant, the film takes a rather ominous turn. Rosemary unusually loses some weight, experiences sharp pains in her abdomen and develops a taste for raw meat. It becomes clear that Guy and Rosemary are having some marriage problems, and we are led to believe that this is because Guy is struggling with his career as an actor. The Castevets become increasingly concerned with the progress of Rosemary's pregnancy. There is an extremely disturbing rape scene which occurs within a dream, whereby it looks like Polanski experimented with surrealism, as if he filmed a scene out of a Dali painting, and added his own sinister touches to it .
Polanski does an outstanding job at creating an uneasy atmosphere for the audience. Rosemary's complexion becomes rather pale, as does the film's colour palette. Rosemary no longer wears the bright, pretty dresses she wore before her pregnancy; instead she begins to wear a lot more light blues, whites, greys and browns. One of the most effective devices in a horror film is the 'Me versus the rest' storyline. That is, when one character believes in something, but practically every other character in the film thinks that they are delusional, even though these characters are well-aware of the truth, and are all conspiring against the lone person. A common convention of this plot device is the 'false friend' - the person who you think is there to help the lone person, but is actually 'all in on the act'. Another convention of the device is the 'glimmer of hope' character - the one person who listens to the lone person, who finds some truth in what they are saying, and is of some assistance to the person. Usually, this person will meet some sort of fate throughout the film. 'Rosemary's Baby' is a 'Me versus the rest' film, however not from the beginning, but after Rosemary falls pregnant. Mia Farrow's performance is outstanding. We see a lot of films about the trials and tribulations of motherhood, but not as many about the up-and-down process of pregnancy. Rosemary becomes Polanski's plaything once she falls pregnant. Even as a male, I felt as if I WAS Rosemary, as if I was going through the same harrowing experience as she was. We witness her decline from a beautiful housewife to a paranoid and lonely house...(we begin to get the impression that she isn't married, even though she is).
I didn't give this film 10/10, as I thought the ending could have been so much better. The payoff will either shock you, or be exactly as you expected, depending on how you follow the film. I just thought that such a chilling atmosphere was built up, only to be let down by an ending which had me confused over whether I should fear for Rosemary, or whether I should have one big laugh. The film ultimately preaches that a mother's love for her child is unconditional. I admire Polanski for expressing that message in such a daring way. In essence, 'Rosemary's Baby' works because every character is used to their fullest potential, and they don't look like they know they're in a movie. The film plays on our innate fear of the unknown, and doesn't rely on blood and guts or special effects, but rather on a young woman who is fearing for her own wellbeing, as well as that of her unborn child.