Product: Rosemary's Baby (El Bebe de Rosemary) [ NON-USA FORMAT, NTSC, Reg.4 Import - Latin America ] (1968)
Rating: 5.0
A classic modern horror film
This film is now 40 years old but it still shines bright as an intelligent and carefully constructed film of suspense and the supernatural. The city of New York is as much a player in the drama as are the nest of witches that begin to integrate themselves into the lives of Rosemary and her husband. The film is a masterful and strategic narrative that draws poor Rosemary deeper into the influence of a bunch of modern day witches trying to bring about the birth of the son of Satan.The acting is superb, particularly Mia Farrow as Rosemary and the wonderful Ruth Gordon as Minnie Castavets, the nosey meddling controlling neighbor. Mia Farrow does an excellent job of portraying a woman very much in love with her struggling actor husband, who gradually sees the relationship with the man she most trusts deteriorate as she suspects that the witches have a diabolical plan to get her baby after it is born. John Casavetes is in many ways the true villain in the story for he destroys their loving relationship for his own career enhancement. Rosemary tries extremely hard to trust her husband but repeatedly his excuses, actions, and stories don't add up and she gradually sees him as part of the plot against her. Three older seasoned actors: Ralph Bellamy, Sidney Blackmer, and Maurice Evans are extremely talented men and bring a chilling sense of reality to the unfolding horror.Odd images of Catholicism and Satanism haunt Rosemary's dreams. Chilling scenes unfold as Rosemary's pregnancy develops. The main characters play their roles so well that it gives the film an extra sense of reality, similar to Jody Foster and Anthony Hopkings in Silence of the Lambs. Using the best actors intesifies the mounting and creeping terror.Even after 40 years, this film certainly can be regarded as one of the best horror films ever made. The dreams and hallucinations are very well done. Mia Farrow captures our heart and concern with her flawless performance and propels us into a story that scares us because of the integration of the horror into everyday existence.