Roman Polanski – Director, Screenplay
Ira Levin - Novel
Mia Farrow
I have known my fair share of demon children. I have a little sister and more young cousins that I can frankly keep track of. However, when I say “demon children”, I mean more along the lines of, “Oh Jenny, you chose the minute I picked you up to puke on my new silk jacket. What a delight. What’s that? You wanted to draw and used all my new lipsticks and eyeliners to paint a seascape on my wall? Well, isn’t that creative. ” When Roman Polanski says “demon children”, he means “force-you-to-eat-raw-liver-and-hallucinate-sex-with-the-devil-from-inside-the-womb” evil.
Such is the case of his blissfully, yet dangerously naive protagonist (Farrow) in the quintessential horror film, Rosemary’s Baby. The film opens to a beautiful young couple as they embark on their new life together; searching for the perfect house to start a family in. When the ideal apartment suddenly becomes available, Guy and Rosemary Woodhouse find even more good fortune when they meet the gregarious and helpful older couple next door, Roman and Minnie Castevet (Ruth Gordon won an Oscar for her role.) Despite the mysterious death of a woman staying with them, the Castevets’ charm and warmth win them over. Meeting them seems practically fortuitous when Rosemary becomes pregnant; they go out of their way to set her up with a brilliant and coveted surgeon completely gratis, prepare daily herbal drinks to aid her pregnancy, and even offer her a beautiful and exotic pendent for good luck. However, things quickly go awry when Rosemary’s friend who questions the Castevets’ motives suddenly falls gravely ill and Guy quickly, and adamantly, dismisses any and all of Rosemary’s growing suspicions. As the clues pile up, it becomes no longer a question of someone wanting to hurt the baby, but something wanting it for its own.
Watching this 1968 movie in 2011 is something of a mixed experience. Does is have the special effects, blood and gore of today’s horror movies that we are so accustomed to seeing? No. Is it starring a bunch of sexy teenagers and/ or a 30 million dollar monster destroying a town, city, etc? No. Is it utterly and completely disturbing and more suspenseful than you are at all comfortable with? Absolutely. What I love about earlier horrors movies is that they don’t have to rely on CGI special effects or gross-out makeup to scare the living daylights out of you. Perfectly placed creepy music, terrifying close-up shots of the protagonist as she realizes the horror of her situation, and long drawn out scenes, your heart pounding in your chest as you follow our ill fated heroine through twisting hallways, can have an even better effect.
Some of the best scenes and effects in Rosemary’s Baby may actually seem quite familiar to the close follower of horror films: childlike music over the opening credits to set the tone, dream sequences foreshadowing doom to come, and the embodiment of evil residing in the most innocuous of characters, in this case, a helpless old couple. If you are looking for a film that is going to feature lots of close-ups of a woman’s face half torn off or a horrific looking monster wandering around, this might not be for you. If however, you find yourself drawn to the more subtle, hidden terror (the early Amityville Horror, Orphan, The Omen) this is definitely one to add to your repertoire.
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