Product: Rosemary's Baby (El Bebe de Rosemary) [ NON-USA FORMAT, NTSC, Reg.4 Import - Latin America ] (1968)
Rating: 4.0
3.75 STARS: "I'm tired of hearing about how great Dr. Sapirstein is!!" -Rosemary
"Rosemary's Baby" has long been considered a great horror movie, and I have often wondered why it has been considered as such. Now that I've seen it several times now, I do understand where some people are coming from with this movie, but I respectfully disagree with their opinion. That being said, "Rosemary's Baby" is, at times, atmospheric, creepy, eerie and is definitely a movie that gets under your skin with its nightamrish quality."Rosemary's Baby" is also a movie that you may never forget after your watch it because it is unique in a sense, but it is not the pure and unadulterated horror movie that some people make it out to be...that would be unfair to the movie and to the horror genre. The horror in "Rosemary's Baby" is extremely reliant on Rosemary's paranoia and the ending of the movie itself, which works to bring all of Rosemary's horror home to the audience in a shocking conclusion. However, Rosemary's paranoia about what is going to become of her and her baby is what really drives the movie, and it is this suspense which is created by Rosemary's paranoia that makes "Rosemary's Baby" a good movie. Hence, "Rosemary's Baby" is in large part a mystery movie with a lot of suspense and tension.There are no scares or fright scenes that make you jump in this "Rosemary's Baby", but that's not such a bad thing. The horror in "Rosemary's Baby" exists in the audience identifying with Rosemary's likable and innocent character, and the audience sympathizes with her and goes through this nightmare with her with each scene of the movie, from the nightmarish rape scene all the way until Rosemary's horrifying realization at movie's end.Another great thing about "Rosemary's Baby" that I like and I find effective at creating some horror is the story itself including the real-life look at the horror of satanism. Some movies ("Race with the Devil" and "Spellbinder" to name a couple) have attempted to follow up on the horrifying idea used in "Rosemary's Baby" that anyone can be a satanist, even a sweet old couple who are your next door neighbors for that matter...this idea is indeed scary for the viewer.The acting in "Rosemary's Baby" is absolutely terrific, especially Ruth Gordon and Mia Farrow; and the directing is likewise good as Roman Polanski is able to paint a horrifying nightmare for the viewer through the eyes of Rosemary Woodhouse.That being said, the action in "Rosemary's Baby" leaves a lot to be desired and the movie tends to drag on and on at times with what seems to be almost painfully repetitive scenes and this is a very significant criticism, but this is part of Polanski leading the viewer down a path of suspense and building up to the movie's horrifying conclusion. One is left to wonder if the movie would work any other way. However, if the viewer does not stay with the movie very closely, the viewer will come away with a cheated feeling after seeing this movie and not like it.By way of humble criticism, I would have liked to have seen the movie develop the satanism theme more than it did and show the viewer what goes on behind the closed doors with these psychotic people including more of a look at their ceremonies and the horror of their practices. I think this would have made the movie scarier and better as a horror movie. Also, it should be noted that there is zero violence in "Rosemary's Baby" so the viewer is unable to experience the horror of the satanic sacrifices and satanic rituals, although there is one scene involving the girl that "falls" from the window of the satanist's New York high-rise apartment. Still, that is not really enough to even wet the apetite of today's horror movie lover. Indeed, it is Rosemary's situation that the audience sympathizes with and, in turn, experiences her fear and her horror during the movie, but is that enough to make a great horror movie? The short answer is clearly no.While difficult to rate and review especially in this day and age, "Rosemary's Baby" is, in all actuality, an eerie and nightmarish type of mystery movie with some elements of horror and a good bit of suspense, a movie that does get under the viewer's skin, but is perhaps a little too long and not much in the way of action. Undoubtedly, there are some clear elements of cinematic horror in this movie associated with the story itself, the situational horror (especially that of Rosemary's paranoia and terrifying realization at the end of the movie), but that is just about it.In conclusion, "Rosemary's Baby" really is more of a mystery/suspense-horror hybrid rather than a pure horror movie, and this is not necessarily a bad thing (if that's what you're looking for) because "Rosemary's Baby" works fairly well like this, notwithstanding the movie's shortcomings as far as its merits as a horror movie are concerned. However, the viewer should know what he/she is getting into with this movie because if you're not in the mood for a movie like this, you may come away disappointed. Realizing "Rosemary's Baby" for what it is and what it is not, I found "Rosemary's Baby" to be quite good and entertaining, but not a great "horror movie" by any stretch of the imagination.