Great fun: a film that takes the best part of any horror movie and makes it the whole show

Rating: Null/10 (12 December 2006)

I saw this at a revival theater a few years ago, and it was one of the best times I've had at the movies. I won't post any spoilers, but I recommend that you read nothing about this movie before you see it. Part of my pleasure was in expecting a certain event to occur earlier in the film: I thought "Rosemary's Baby" was going to be about a rampaging demon baby. This misconception helped keep me gripped in suspense until the end.
Now that I've watched it again on DVD, I can appreciate it as well as enjoy it. Here's why it was so fun: my favorite part of any horror film is first twenty minutes or so leading up to the first appearance of the monster. It doesn't matter how enjoyable the monster is; the best part is always the wait. This principle works in such diverse films as "Them!" (waiting for the killer ants), "King Kong" ( for the giant ape), "Psycho" ( for the shower scene) and so on. "Rosemary's Baby" is all wait, and it's marvelously effective. (But does a monster finally appear at the end? See the movie.)
Roman Polanski directs his own script based on Ira Levin's novel (which I read later and enjoyed); he is extremely clever at tantalizing us and dropping clues. Rosemary (Mia Farrow) and her actor-husband Guy (John Cassavetes) have moved into a new apartment in an old 19th century building which has a bad reputation for murders and strange deaths that occur on its premises. They befriend the old couple (Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer) next door who are nosy and eccentric but later seem more sinister. When Rosemary gets pregnant, she begins to suspect her neighbors are witches.
The casting is important. Rosemary must be weak-willed but not so passive that she becomes irritating or unsympathetic: Mia Farrow is perfect. Cassavetes plays an unsympathetic jerk yet allows us to see his moral struggle, mainly hidden from his wife (and only suggested to the audience). Sidney Blackmer seems gracious and charming, yet conveys something dark underneath. Ruth Gordon steals the show, a wacky oddball who becomes terrifying.
Roman Polanski delivers a slowly-paced film that screws our attention to the sticking place for two hours and fifteen minutes. You can't ask for more fun than that.