Reviews & Ratings for
Rosemary's Baby More at IMDbPro »

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Classic Roman, 23 May 2003

Author: David Ferguson (fergusontx@gmail.com) from Dallas, Texas

Greetings again from the darkness. Took advantage of the re-release of this Polanski classic with a family trip to the Magnolia Theatre. Tremendous script with Polanski at his finest with creepy camera angles and lighting. Really paid attention to the performances this time and came away with even greater admiration for the one and only Ruth Gordan and her on screen husband Sidney Blackmer. Even Mia Farrow's performance was better than I remembered. Cassavetes was a bit stiff, but Maurice Evans was terrific. Fun to see a young Charles Grodin. Yeah, there is a ton of interesting background info with the connections between Polanski/Farrow, Farrow/Sinatra, Polanski/Sharon Tate (who appears briefly in this one) and the subsequent horrific tale of the Charles Manson clan. In spite of that, this is a wonderful film.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Creepy, Atmospheric, Great Acting, 27 April 2003
Author: Beckers-1 from Califnornia

If this movie had been made in the 1990s or even at the turn of the 21st century I don't believe it would have been as interesting or creative as it is. There is something about swinging 1960s that makes this movie a treasure -- the modern 1960s goes gothic in a way.

Of course, no matter what you may think of director Roman Polansky personally, one cannot deny that he has made a mark here, showing style and wit as well as horror. It stand the test of time. Rosemary's Baby still manages to scare, not with blood (although there is a little at the beginning) or cheap shock tactics but with psychological weaving like one would not believe.

Ruth Gordon, as neighbor Minnie, is both bizarrely funny and totally creepy, as is her husband, Roman, of whom you might want to call "Grandpa" one moment then "Master of Evil" a moment after that. Also fun seeing Pasty Kelly who is so out of place as a Satan worshipper that you know, all at once, that she is perfectly cast.

I love this movie because it did what it set out to do, scare me (and leave a lasting impression), and give it 4 out of 5 stars.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Horror film without all the special effects, 18 February 2003
Author: Jon (ssgtjon@hotmail.com) from San Antonio, Texas

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Most of the horror-crazed youth culture for the last 20 years would probably not get that much out of this movie, but I still find this one very intriguing and atmospheric. As in most of Roman Polanski's films, he makes nice use of rice colors and hand-held camera work to give it an authentic feel. Mia Farrow's role is atypical compared to what she played later on as a young vulnerable woman in her early twenties married to a man some 10-15 years older that is struggling in the entertainment industry (he couldn't be struggling that bad being able to afford an ornate old apartment in upper Manhattan). Ruth Gordon's character is a more serious, but still comical version of her Harold and Maude character as an overfriendly neighbor of Rosemary's. The "nightmare" sequence is absolutely the best part, and yes it's strange with her envisioning Jackie Kennedy as a nurturing woman, the Pope forgiving her, and imagining being on a yacht, but then again, most dreams make little sense. Only complaint, the final scene is like a badly rehearsed stage play when it comes to Rosemary. **********SPOILERS************

Remember the dream sequence where you hear "easy, you got her too high" That turned out to be her being carried through the linen closet. And where she sees a church sizzling and burning and a statue of a man stare down at her turned out to be mere oil paintings at the end. But the impregnating scene, well.....All very interesting.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
A Work Of Art In The Horror Film Industry!, 17 July 2002
Author: movies2u from United States

Rosemary's Baby is a brilliant Horror/Drama film. It is in the tops on my horror list. Mia Farrow, John Cassavettes, and Ruth Gordon who won a Golden Globe Award for the film, were all great. Roman Polanski has made a work of art, based on Ira Levin's classic novel. This movie is very good. I know most movies that are old don't interest people these days, but this one is a keeper for sure. I was afraid it would be too old fashioned for my taste, even thought I have seen films older than this, but it really wasn't! I give Rosemary's Baby a 10 out of 10!!! Oh, by the way, here is my list of top ten horror films:

#1 Psycho (1960) #2 Rosemary's Baby (1968) #3 The Exorcist (1973) #4 Halloween (1978) #5 Scream (1996) #6 Friday the 13th (1980) #7 House On Haunted Hill (1999) #8 Carrie (1976) #9 The Rage: Carrie 2(1999) #10 The Dentist

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
A quiet, erudite chiller, but not conventionally frightening, 8 June 2002

Author: magic_marker from london

If there are omens in this world, they were not heeded by the makers of Rosemary's Baby. The director would soon see his own pregnant wife disemboweled by the Manson family, the actor hired to play Satan would be revealed as a serial rapist, the leading lady would see her husband engage in an affair with someone who was effectively their daughter, and the building around which the film was shot would 12 years later bear witness to the tragic death of John Lennon.

This was without a doubt a cursed film, and its sado-sexual undercurrents are ultimately made more powerful by knowledge of the evils, perversions, and obsessions woven into the myth of its making.

However, do not expect to be overtly frightened by this film. Unlike more recent "traditional" horror films like "The Sixth Sense" and "The Others," this film will not make you jump. It is instead a slightly comic, often disturbing psychological portrait of one innocent woman's breakdown as she comes into contact with the carnal and callous power of Satanism. Mia Farrow plays this breakdown perfectly. Her performance (easily the best she has ever given) is potently tremulous, and effectively walks the fine line between hysteria and conviction. The Satanists, into whose complete power she is delivered by her husband, possess a wonderfully concealed menace, particulaly the obstetrician, a smiling, cold-eyed fascist.

The once infamous scenes, such as Rosemary eating raw liver, lack the shock value they once had, and are filmed in such a documentary style that whatever horror they could have conveyed is lost on modern audiences. Whatever power the film has is entirely invested in Rosemary's descent into madness, and that is still as powerful as ever

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
What have you done to his eyes???, 31 May 2002
Author: Nathan Charles Tolle (rainysky13@aol.com) from Portland, Oregon

I feel so ashamed that it took me over 20 years to see this movie. I am sure it will be stuck in my mind for a very long time. From the opening score, i could tell i was in store for one hell of a film. I just finished it ten minutes ago, so i'm pretty lost for words. It's amazing how such powerful films can leave you so breathless and speechless. I would try to write a review now, but i'm too in awe to say anything meaningful.

Fans of this movie should also see Harold and Maude, which stars the late, great Ruth Gordon in another charming performance. She won an Oscar for Rosemary's Baby for Best Supporting Actress, and deservedly so.

The music group Fantomas (created by Faith No More's Mike Patton) does a spectacular cover of the Rosemary's Baby score; it's eerie, haunting, and intense. Be sure to check that out! Also, for your own sanity, please try to avoid In-awe-of-the-masters' review of this movie. It is so ignorant, full of mistakes, and will probably make you really mad. This person better be a very young child who doesn't know any better.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
The best horror film, 1 May 2002

Author: (ufo0001@unt.edu) from Denton, Texas

Pros: Comedy, Directing, Score, Script.

Cons: None.

Rosemary's baby is probably the best horror film ever made and it doesn't use any of nowaday's horror bag of tricks to scare you. The chills generated from this movie is genuine not manufactured as you will genuinely want to know what will become of rosemary. Rosemarry is played beautifully by Mia Farrow and the part of Guy is played to a tee by John Cassavetes as he puts on a facade on rosemary claiming not to know what she is really carrying. Ruth Gordon won an oscar deservedly as her potrayal of Minnie, the nosy neighbor who cares just a little bit too much for rosemary. In the end, Rosemary's decision is understandable because she has gone through a lot with her baby and she can bring herself to kill him even though he is the antichrist.

Premise: Rosemary wonders if her baby is the Antichrist.

Rosemary's baby was nominated for two Academy awards and won one.

Grade: 10/10 (Perfect)

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Should be in the top 10 horror films, 28 April 2002

Author: scipantheist from Ohio

I don't want to spend this review gushing about how good this film is and blah blah blah. It is a masterpiece of cinema, bar none. This movie is probably second only to the Exorcist because it is one of only a few films in the true gothic tradition. Anyone that has read HP Lovecraft knows what I am talking about. Everything is designed just slightly askew, like the way the characters eat too fast or that bizarre accent of the lady next door. Nothing is as it seems, and that is the true beauty of it.

My complaint is that films like this do not receive the respect they deserve. In today's MTV culture anything that isn't exploding every five minutes is a sleeper. What happened to the time when people had the patience to watch a film that had depth to it? I realize that being in the top 30 of the IMDB ranking should be quite good, but why isn't it number 2? I enjoy comedy as much as the next person, but a film like Young Frankenstein does not deserve to be occupying spots in a serious genre. This film is like a painting by Picasso, and the rest are just comic books.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
"He was in 'Luther' and 'Nobody Loves an Albatross...", 13 April 2002

Author: Sample (sampleman411@earthlink.net) from Los Angeles

Poor young Rosemary! She doesn't have an opinion she can really call her own; lives through the impending success of her stage-actor husband, Guy Woodhouse, fills her empty days alone in their new, creepy "Standard Eight" apartment, picking shelf paper, designing the nursery (is there any other color on the primary wheel than yellow, egads!); and, ultimately, is seemingly betrayed by the whole of Manhattan. Ok, I've already given you more than an appetizer, if you're the last person on Earth that hasn't seen it or read Ira Levin's book on which this Polanski chiller is based. It is the first "Serious Horror" film, and set the precedent for subsequent films and novels on Urban Paranoia, borderline Cultisms, and whatever else shamelessly borrows from this, Levin's Opus Magnum. Don't expect to see much blood or post natal puppets; This film's not about that, so grow up. "Rosemary's Baby" is about our reactions to horror, and not the horrors themselves. Jot this down and, should you ever enter the Bramford Apartment Building, make sure you make those corridor turns wide... you might finally get a clear glimpse of the eponymous gargoyle.

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Chilling tale of a woman pushed to the edge, and there's a message too., 8 September 2001

Author: jonathandoe_se7en

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Obligatory SPOILER WARNING

What would you do if you woke up not long after believing you're child had died at birth, only to find a group of mean old witches sitting around a baby cradle chanting "All hail Adrian, son of the devil"? Well, that's a predicament that Rosemary Woodhouse has to face at the end of this movie.

Rosemary's Baby is a true classic of the horror/chiller genre, I think it's a film that's going to appeal more to women or men with children, because it taps into the fears and anxieties of childbirth. The ending of the film is a metaphor, because Adrian is the son of the Devil, it becomes a play on deformity, and Rosemary has to come to the conclusion weather or not she can still love him unconditionally.

This is timeless stuff here, and people who say it isn't scary obviously should go and rent a cheap slasher movie or something along the lines of Friday the 13th, this is chilling psychological horror at it's most subtle. Polanski's direction goes in for that sixties feel, lots of colour and no-nonsense angles, it does make the film seem a little dated, but it also gives a very creepy atmosphere to the apartment (a la Repulsion).

The performances are also good, the main standouts being Farrow as the innocent Rosemary, and Cassavetes is good as the scheming Guy, but all acting plaudits would go to the excellent Ruth Gordon (remember her from Harold & Maude) as the Woodhouse's nosey neighbour. This is serious and intelligent horror from one of cinemas sadly forgotten directors that I would recommend to anyone.

9/10

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