I rented Rosemary's Baby after having heard for many years what a perfect horror film it was. I thoroughly enjoy psychological thrillers and horror films like the Exorcist, Alien, Prince of Darkness, and the entire Hitchcock oeuvre, so I thought Rosemary's Baby was right up my alley.
Sadly I was mistaken. Most of the movie I ended up yelling at Mia Farrow's character to DO something (Rosemary really is a spineless, mindless idiot), when I wasn't groaning over the rather hammy performances of the other actors. Perhaps I'm too young to understand the "helpless woman" type of character, but instead of being in fear for Rosemary, I was simply annoyed by her.
The "rape scene" was the "highlight" of the movie, in that it had some genuinely creepy sequences (again, her husband's appearance and dialogue seemed out of place, but that was a minor part of the sequence). The rest of the movie, while trying to seem normal and everyday, just seemed obvious and annoyingly overacted. Even if you didn't figure out that the neighbors were up to something in the first few minutes, I would think you'd still be annoyed by them.
The supposed twist ending isn't really a twist at all, at least to me. It did provide some surprising laughs, as I don't think I've ever laughed that hard at a "Hail Satan!" Again, its supposed to be creepy that supposedly normal people are saying this, but it just comes off as campy.
All together, I really can't understand why this is still considered one of the great horror movies of all time. In 1968 Rosemary's helplessness might have led to psychological scares. In 2009 it just leads to frustration.
Sadly I was mistaken. Most of the movie I ended up yelling at Mia Farrow's character to DO something (Rosemary really is a spineless, mindless idiot), when I wasn't groaning over the rather hammy performances of the other actors. Perhaps I'm too young to understand the "helpless woman" type of character, but instead of being in fear for Rosemary, I was simply annoyed by her.
The "rape scene" was the "highlight" of the movie, in that it had some genuinely creepy sequences (again, her husband's appearance and dialogue seemed out of place, but that was a minor part of the sequence). The rest of the movie, while trying to seem normal and everyday, just seemed obvious and annoyingly overacted. Even if you didn't figure out that the neighbors were up to something in the first few minutes, I would think you'd still be annoyed by them.
The supposed twist ending isn't really a twist at all, at least to me. It did provide some surprising laughs, as I don't think I've ever laughed that hard at a "Hail Satan!" Again, its supposed to be creepy that supposedly normal people are saying this, but it just comes off as campy.
All together, I really can't understand why this is still considered one of the great horror movies of all time. In 1968 Rosemary's helplessness might have led to psychological scares. In 2009 it just leads to frustration.
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