One of the All-Time GREATEST; or: "How To Make A Real Horror Film In One Easy Lesson"

Rating: Null/10 (10 October 2000)

MORD39 RATING: **** out of ****
Forget today's music video style of filmmaking, and all the unnecessary junk that goes into it. This indisputable classic from the ingenious Roman Polanski is a vital lesson to be learned, and the direction Hollywood needs to go in if they are to save a dying genre.
This is one of the best Horror films ever made. PERIOD. It's flawlessly scripted and directed by Polanski, with dead-on performances by the entire cast, not just Ruth Gordon (who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for this).
There is no need for gore and blood here; the terrifying story is told with reliance on the conspiracy that develops in the magnificent Dakota apartment building in New York City. The seemingly "normal, average people" living across the hall from the innocent Rosemary are actually cult leaders, and very undetectable given their advanced ages and grandparent-like qualities.
John Cassavetes is perfectly smug as Rosemary's husband - a struggling actor desperate for success who throws all loyalty and decency out the window by allowing himself to become tainted by his neighbor's sinister influence.
There is an aura of evil that permeates throughout ROSEMARY'S BABY. We identify with Mia Farrow's unsuspecting character as she gradually becomes the only sane person amidst a den of hungry satanic lions.
I'd like to praise Ralph Bellamy here as well. A mainstay of the great old Universal Horror Classics, he is outstanding here as the pricey and reputable doctor with a decidedly morbid idea of leisuretime activity.
A perfect film, from opening credits to closing credits. If you're one of the growing many who only want exploding heads with rock or rap music in your horror movies, you're better off watching c**p like FROM DUSK TILL DAWN. If, on the other hand, you have the capacity to enjoy a well-thought-out exercise in suspense and terror that doesn't cater to the "Dumbing Down Of America," you will absolutely adore ROSEMARY'S BABY.