A more grounded horror film

Rating: 8/10 (15 December 2009)

Rosemary's Baby was recommended to me by a friend who is fan of horror cinema. I am personally not a horror fan, but this does have Roman Polanski directing it, and I do like films like The Exorcist and The Omen. I prefer those films, but Rosemary's Baby is still pretty good, taking a more down to Earth approach, despite its more supernatural themes.
Rosemary and Guy Woodhouse (Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes) are a young couple living in New York. Guy is an actor, who had some work in plays and in TV ads. They find a nice large apartment in a more historic building and move in quickly. They befriend an elderly couple, Roman and Minnie Castevet (Sidney Blackmer and Ruth Gordon). But Rosemary's old friend tells them of weirds things that happened in the building. Rosemary and Guy try for a baby. She becomes pregnant, and ends up seeing one of best doctor's in New York. But it is a difficult pregnancy, suffering a lot of pain, becoming very weak and pale and Rosemary even ends up doing strangle things like eating raw meat. Rosemary ends ups suspecting a conspiracy, hearing weird chanting and seeing people getting hurt. She does whatever she can to protect her unborn baby.
Rosemary's Baby is a watershed film in the world of horror cinema. It proved that horror films could be very well done, and led to The Exorcist and The Omen being made: film following similar themes. It also shows that proper filmmakers can do horror films. Polanski takes a more subtle approach to the film, making it more as a thriller then a horror. Most of the supernatural elements can be logically explained. This is a film that makes you think and linger in your head rather then getting scared throughout it. The ending has an excellent twist ending to the film, giving Rosemary's Baby a haunting quality. Like any good horror film, there is a major fear that people could relate to. The theme out this is about what could go wrong with a pregnancy and doing everything you can to protect your child. I sure any parent could relate to that. There is also the theme of paranoid, with the feeling that the world is out to get you. There is also the use religious ideas, like Catholicism, the Occult and Witchcraft, and of a marriage which isn't that stable. Another major feature of any good horror film is compelling characters which you actually care about. You do care for Rosemary who is a nice woman who is forced into a dark world. You want her to succeed in protecting her child. You know something is wrong with the other characters in the film, and slowly see their game. They are villains you can truly dislike.
There are good scenes, and excellent camera by Polanski. I like scenes in films where the camera follows the character. There are some haunting scenes where you think about the horror of it later. Polanski did not go for cheap scares.
A pretty good film. 4 out of 5.