The Biggest Satanic Cult Film Ever Made?

Rating: 8/10 (25 November 2007)

Guy and Rosemary move into a new apartment (the Bramford) and hope to have a baby. But Guy is having trouble finding work as an actor. Once his luck improves, Rosemary is pregnant and her pregnancy becomes more and more unbearable and her neighbors even more and more strange and intruding. What is going on in this apartment?
I want to say Mia Farrow was pretty hot in this movie. I don't know why. I mean, she's really not all that hot, and for a good part of the movie she has very short hair which is generally very unattractive on women. Even Guy tells Rosemary that her haircut is the biggest mistake she ever made (and I'm inclined to agree). Yet, you got me Mia... well played.
I'm also concerned about the film's anti-Semitism. I've never heard anyone accuse the film of anti-Semitism before, but it seemed possible to me. The satanic doctor had a Jewish-sounding name and the satanic neighbor lady had a very stereotypical Jewish manner about her. Now, it's never stated anyone is Jewish, but it seems to me like that is what Polanski was hinting at. Which is very odd, having Jews be running a Satanic cult to harm Catholic women. I mean, having a cult is one thing, but a Jewish devil-worshiping cult seems like a bad idea.
Anyway, this film is of course very good. It's now roughly forty years old and still a classic by both horror and general cinema standards. And I'm not going to say the people who have judged it so are wrong. It really broke ground in some ways. A rape scene involving Satan? You don't see that a lot in movies, at least not in movies that many mainstream people watch. Which is perhaps too bad. I like a good bit of devil rape every now and then.
But yeah, the plot is good, the acting good (Rosemary comes off as really naive and far too submissive, but it was the 1960s so I guess that happens). The suspense was very nice, and although the audience is usually two steps ahead of Rosemary in figuring things out, it's nice to see her come across the twists and turns -- is she going mad or is there really something dark lurking under every cradle?
Watch this film, if for no other reason than to see D'Urville Martin ("Dolemite") or hear the voice of Tony Curtis. Or wonder why Mia Farrow can maintain a hotness with short hair. There's no real nudity, no real gore (in fact, none). But this is classic story-telling at its finest. I watched it again in honor of writer Ira Levin's passing, but you don't need a special occasion to enjoy this one.