Rosemary's Baby

Gloriously unsettling. Just in the beginning of the film, Rosemary has to prompt her husband to make love, and they undress themselves separately on practically opposite sides of the room. This long, awkward scene calls so many questions: is Guy unfaithful? Uninterested in Rose or women in general? Is their marriage on the rocks already? Or...is Guy saving Rosemary's womb for someone else? This movie grew on me like a tumor. It's Mia Farrow as Rose that won me over.The bashful, quiet mouse grows into a ferocious and scared lioness as her world turns to hell. Even as she becomes gaunt, pale sweat dripping from her boyish pixie cut, she begins to recognize that she is surrounded by snakes in the walls. And especially aware her nosy neighbor Minnie has a downright unhealthy interest in her baby.(However, kudos to John Cassavetes for committing to struggling actor/terrible husband Guy. He impeccably plays a putz so invested in his own world that he misfires in every interaction in this one. He says with a big smile after Rosemary wakes up one morning with scratch marks, "It was kinda fun in a necrophile sort of way!"Forget Satan. What Rosemary ever saw in Guy is the real mystery of the film).

"Rosemary's Baby" is a film classic that everyone should see. It was filmed at the 'Dakota Apartments" where the Beatle John Lennon lived for many years. The director, Roman Polanski's wife, Sharon Tate played a small part in the movie. She was at the party of friends. A year later the pregnant Sharon Tate was killed by Charles Manson. The phone call Rosemary made to the blind actor was the voice of Tony Curtis. During the filming, Frank Sinatra had their divorce papers delivered to Mia Farrow on set. (A real classy guy...Ass). Mia Farrow's hair was short from the beginning. She wore a wig for the first half of the film. Lots of interesting stuff about this film.

Easily one of the best horror movies ever made, and Mia Farrow’s best performance ever. I’ve seen reviews from those who like to throw out the term “boring”, you’ve been watching too much torture porn. If you are only interested in blood and guts, bad acting, unoriginality & lazy scripts-this movie is NOT for you! Don’t try to criticize something you’ll never truly be able to grasp! The supporting actors are stellar, especially the delicious ham being served up by the incomparable Ruth Gordon, her “Minnie” was nonchalant and terrifying all in one. This was made back in the day when films were actually a well choreographed ballet of moving pictures. Rosemary’s epiphany over a simple game of Scrabble is heart wrenching as well as heart pumping. For the life of me I cannot comprehend the problem reviewers had with the ending, I thought it was very clever and made you think of “what if” long after watching this film! And remember my dears, it’s just Lipton’s tea! My grade, a very enthusiastic A+++!

First, I want to address the bad reviews. Ignore them as unintelligent and seemingly more a symptom of people who must have violence, jumps and, maybe, some type of boogeyman or monster. This is a movie that has so many awards, it is ranked #9 with AFI, at the time I write this it is at 99% on Rotten Tomatoes with a 8.8/10 audience score, it has 96% on Metacritic, indicating "universally acclaim," and in 2014 was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. "Boring" or "Bad," my foot.While dated, it still holds up perfectly and was written and directed with such great precision by Polanski, that he even makes a telephone call tense. This is not about monsters, but about being put out of control of one's own life with nowhere to turn. It is tension, human emotion, and helplessness on display. All done for an evil end. Farrow, as well as most of the cast, do this perfectly by making it feel extremely plausible. They seem like people you know, right down to the annoying neighbors we all wish to avoid, and that is what makes it scary, and it's setting in NYC makes it work even more. (All these people and yet all alone).

Sadly, it was not exiled to Europe with it's director. I was required to watch this movie for a film class masquerading as a lit class. If what you are "into" is creepy music, voyeurism, sadism, Satanism, rape, and forced pregnancy, this should be right up your alley. Were I able to ceremoniously throw this movie in the trash, I would very happily do so. I might even light a candle and paint my garbage can with chicken blood, just to get into the spirit of things.In truth, I'm only writing a review so that I can give it one star so that buying it doesn't play hell with my algorithm. Could I give it zero, I would.

Classic horror film that has held up well for the most part over time. Mia Farrow is amazing in the lead role, and you actually feel like a part of her journey as the movie progresses. I think a modern audience might struggle with the ending to an extent since we are used to seeing things played out in a very literal sense, but the movie is wise to leave things to the imagination. At the end of the movie there is no doubt you will find yourself asking the question, what is scarier? Satan, or REALLY invasive neighbors?

This review is for the Paramount BLU RAY released 2016. The transfer is excellent. Striking, crystal clear colour and picture. Good sound and optional English subtitles. No extras - and there's the rub!! If you already have the DVD (as I have), you have a perfectly acceptable picture, good subtitles AND Extras - including "a making of". Apart from the (slightly? better picture quality it may be worth thinking about buying, or upgrade and keep the DVD/ (Mia is excellent - my wife said "pity he (Cassavetes) looks so creepy" - we both enjoyed what is basically a damn good film). P.S About the "haircut" - I note that in Part 2 of Ira Levin's novel it is referred to as "The Vidal Sassoon haircut", and 2 or 3 times afterwards, but no mention of the actual style, so I am sure I read that it was only Sinatra who was furious that it was so "boyish" as it might make him appear gay!!!

This review is for the UK blu-ray of Rosemary's Baby, region free release.Others have no doubt covered a review of this film, I have little to add other than it's one of my personal favourites of Polanski, a deeply unsettling yarn that has all of the players putting in a solid performance, and will linger long in the mind after watching it.Regarding the blu-ray itself, another reviewer has commented that it appears to be the same transfer as the US-Region A Criterion edition. I have not seen the Criterion version to make a comparison myself, but I will say that the UK version is bright & clean, an improvement on the previous DVD release. There's the occasional stagger with swift camera movements, and the audio is a little on the quiet side. But generally it'a marked improvement on the DVD, with the blu-ray clarity of detail making the re-watch a real pleasure.So why is it not a 5 star review? I'm afraid that there's zero extras with this release, not even a trailer, which is a really poor effort from Paramount.So this will do in the short term; hopefully Criterion will be allowed to release their version in the UK at some point.

The horror in "Rosemary's Baby" is the horror of betrayal and powerlessness. There are few shock moments (excluding a misjudged devil's costume with hairy arms - Wlliam Castle, the schlock producer's influence, no doubt who even makes a sub-Hitchcockian appearance in a minute cameo) in the 137 minute running time. However this is immaterial as the strength of the film rests in the classy direction (surely one of Polanski's finest achievements) excellent performances and the sophisticated and incremental paranoia it generates along with the copious black comedy lurking just below the film's surface which perfectly captures the chilling banality of evil.No character should or can be trusted in the world which Rosemary inhabits once she is installed in her New York apartment. Her husband, the neighbours, her doctor, the elevator boy are all potentially sinister figures and even Rosemary herself could quite easily be unhinged too - and this feeling of relativism and uncertainty permeates the action for most of the film.What an actor will do to gain a role in a new TV series is the deliciously ironic central plot premise in this, heavily 60's production, which does for "old folks" what Spielberg did for sharks and despite it's length, the film just speeds by to it's extraordinary and movingly horrific conclusion.This Paramount Blu Ray has quite good definition and sports a totally satisfactory audio transfer too even if it doesn't wow.I have not seen the Region A locked, highly celebrated, Criterion version but this edition seems fine by me. The definition is generally very good, the colour saturation acceptable, the contrast and black levels good too for a film of it's period and the grain is present but not intrusive. It is considerably cheaper than the Criterion version as well, and although it doesn't have the extras available of that edition, which were also present on the earlier SD DVD, it is still highly recommended.

When a young couple, played by Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes, move into a new apartment, they are befriended by their upstairs neighbours, an elderly couple, played by Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer. As time goes by their behaviour becomes more and more weirder.Directed by Roman Polanski, the film is mostly set in the Dakota building in New York, which is an old Gothic building, and suits the purpose well. I already had this film on dvd, and wondered if the upgrade would be worth it. Upon researching the blu ray, I found a screen capture of the title. On the dvd the 'Y' in baby was at the edge of the screen and partly missing, on the screen capture it was there, with loads of room to spare. (Although on the box to the dvd it says the image is 1.85:1 anamorphic). I compared the picture area between the two, and there was more picture area visible on the blu ray. When the blu ray arrived I put it in, and immediately, not only was there more picture area, but the colour of the titles were more vibrant. In comparison the titles on the dvd look faded. The colours are substantially more vivid on this blu ray release, and the image is also sharper than the dvd.The transfer is in the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. As mentioned above the colours are vivid, and the image is sharp. Sound is in 2.0.Final word: If you are a fan of this film, then the upgrade to blu ray is definitely worth it.

Apart from a few elements , small in number . This movie is one of the best horror movies of the era . The story is interesting , and it is also a warning of greed over principle . The acting is simply first class . The dream sequence is brilliant . And like all great works it is timeless. It is an excellent movie .