One of the great horror movies!

Rating: 9/10 (7 October 2003)

Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) and her husband Guy (John Cassavetes), a struggling actor, move into what would seem to be the perfect apartment in New York City. Things seem to be going well for Rosemary; she meets some new friends in Roman and Minnie Castavet (Sidney Blackmer and Ruth Gordon) though she does find Minnie a tad annoying at times, her husband's career starts to take off even though as a result of a fellow actor's ill-fortune and on top of it all, Rosemary becomes pregnant much to her delight. However, Rosemary eventually starts to suspect that all is not what it seems and rapidly starts to believe that there is a fiendish plot against her, and her unborn baby.
This movie, adapted from a novel by Ira Levin, was Roman Polanski's first American film and arguably one of his best. There is a certain intelligence to Rosemary's Baby' that is rarely found in a horror movie. Polanski is able to gradually call the audience's attention to the horror in the movie, instead of throwing it in our faces. Whereas other classic religious horrors such as The Exorcist' (1973) climaxed, if you will, part way through and then sought to underline the horror with multiple shocking sequences, this movie is different, in Rosemary's Baby' there is no real climax. Instead we have a gradual realisation of the truth developed wonderfully through some great direction and a remarkably strong screenplay (written by Polanski). While there can be no doubt in the audiences mind that something is indeed amiss, the feelings of fear are generated simply by the unknown. There are so many things that can lead you to a conclusion, but until the final twenty minutes there is no indication as to why these things are happening. Astonishingly the movie lasts in excess of two hours and yet does not feel as if it is dragging once. The opening fifteen minutes may cause the viewer to question where the movie is heading but after that Rosemary's Baby' becomes one of the most enchanting and engrossing horror movies ever made. Polanski created some rather disturbing nightmare sequences early on in the movie which mark the beginning of Rosemary's nightmare but are far from the end.
Mia Farrow was nominated for a Golden Globe award for her performance, and quite rightly so. Farrow's portrayal of the helpless mother desperately seeking to protect her unborn child is powerfully emotional. Ruth Gordon also put in a splendid (and Oscar-winning!) performance as the creepy character of Minnie. Gordon's performance gave an enormous realism to her character and portrayed her as being strange, but not in a necessarily evil way. Minnie's busy-body persona comes across as just that, a busy-body persona. The way Gordon plays her character shows an incredible tangency with similar people in the real world. Sidney Blackmer was also impressive as Minnie's husband. He portrayed the character as a kindly elderly man, so much so that during the final scenes his comments about the situation almost come across as making sense. The dying moments of the film are certainly dramatic as Polanski is able to play on maternal nature to finalise the horror aspect. The closing scene has an exceptionally eerie tranquillity to it and the viewer is left with a very strong thought in their mind. Undoubtedly, Rosemary's Baby' has one of the greatest endings in horror history and purposely fails to answer every question, which leaves the viewer to make their own mind up. The film's tangency with the real world, even though the movie's premise itself is somewhat absurd, allows for a rather chilling finale as the viewer is forced to ask - `what next?'  and only the viewer can answer the question. In some ways the cryptic ending of Rosemary's Baby' is one of its finest accomplishments.
Rosemary's Baby' is one of the finest horror movies in the history of cinema and I highly recommend it to everyone. The movie is paced very well, impressively acted, strikingly scripted and very entertaining. This is not a particular bloody movie but maintains a sinister atmosphere throughout and the nightmare sequences are some of the most powerful I have seen. My rating for Rosemary's Baby'  9/10.