Rosemary’s Baby (1968) directed by noted trashbaby Roman Polanski

Synopsis:

A young couple Guy and Rosemary Woodhouse move in to a Manhattan apartment they find themselves surrounded by some truly bizarre neighbors, and some really strange, unexplained happenings. When Rosemary discovers she is pregnant after a night she can’t really remember in which her husband claims to have done something truly detestable (but which in reality turns out to have been something that was even more detestable than what he claims happened – Content Warning for heavily implied Satanic rape), her paranoia over the safety of her unborn child begins to grow.

My Thoughts:

Well, first things first – can we all just agree that Roman Polanski is a shit human being? Yeah, he sucks big on a personal level. I wish his films were also shit. Sadly he’s made some great ones. I’m just going to say this, and then focus on this movie: I don’t like child (or just general) sex abusers (if you don’t know, Polanski was arrested in the US and tried for the drugging and rape of a 13 year old girl in 1977, and when he got wind that he was facing prison time, he fled to his native France where he has remained ever since. He has continued to make films, and basically faced zero personal or professional consequences until 2018, when the Academy finally voted to expel him from their ranks. And that’s pretty much it – which is crap.)

He suuucks.

It made me not want to write up any of his movies, but instead I decided to focus only on those made before we knew he was a garbage person. Really, just this and Chinatown. Outside of those two films, he’s dead to me. Feel free to hate him, and to boycott him and his work – or just find ways to watch them so that he gets nothing out of it – borrow from a friend/the library/whatever (but surely don’t pirate them – we all know that’s definitely not a victimless crime even in circumstances such as this).

So, back to the movie.

Rosemary’s Baby is based on Ira Levin’s novel of the same name.

Mia Farrow as Rosemary Woodhouse is one of the most wonderful casting choices in the history of film. She absolutely shines here. Her panicky terror feels so unbelievably real. Honestly, her performance is transcendent. I can’t speak highly enough of it. You know what? She makes the whole damn movie worthwhile.

Nosy neighbor Minnie (played by Ruth Gordon of Harold and Maude fame) is both annoying and slightly terrifying. And John Cassavetes as Guy Woodhouse is the ultimate awful guy. I honestly think he’s the worst of them. I promise, if you watch this, you will want to rip his face off slowly and feed it to him – he’s that terrible.

“Awful things happen in every apartment house.”

Look, watch this movie for the Satanic Witches, the over-the-top yet completely perfect acting, Mia Farrow, or because you recognize the genius of William Castle and therefore must watch everything with his name attached. Not for Polanski, because as established he’s fucking trash.

My Edition:

Hulu

Rating:

I’m going to be honest here – I think this movie is incredible, but I felt kind of gross giving it full marks – hence the removal of a star because I don’t honestly believe you can ever completely separate art from artist; they always leave something of themselves behind in their work. That being said, this is a masterfully crafted and very atmospheric work of dramatic horror.

Rosemary's Baby
Directed by: Roman Polanski
Released October 17, 1968 (France)
William Castle Productions
Drama, Horror
Rated R
137 minutes