Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Director: Roman Polanski

Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans, Ralph Bellamy, Elisha Cook Jr, Charles Grodin

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Pray for Rosemary's Baby

Plot: A young couple move into a new apartment surrounded by peculiar neighbors and occurrences. When the wife becomes pregnant, paranoia over the safety of her unborn child begins controlling her life.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Yup.


Say what you will about Polanski and his douchebag behavior way back when but boy, oh boy, can this guy make movies. RB is a slow burn but the payoff is well worth the wait. The performances are outstanding with the special prize going to Farrow. Her task was a difficult one and she nails the "unravelling wife" to the back wall. Fantastic. The supporting players are equally as good and are perfectly cast.


Great story, great and haunting score by Krzysztof Komeda (who died the following year at age 37), everything from the apartment to the camerawork is superb. I've watched it two more times just this year for friends who hadn't seen it and it gets better with age. RB is one of those movies that I'll throw on when I want a horror movie that's not Hammer or Universal or slasher or modern. I like the way it feels in the way that I like the way the original THE OMEN (1976) feels. It's an in-between, mature movie that shows you what a great director can contribute to the horror genre. It's a different sensibility, a European sensibility that resonates with me.

"Hail, Satan!"

I finally have my hands on the unnecessary sequel, LOOK WHAT'S HAPPENED TO ROSEMARY'S BABY (1976), which I hear is dreadful in comparison (how could it not be, right?) but it's got one hell of a cast including the scrummy Tina "Ginger" Louise. I am so there. Hail, Satan!