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Rosemary's Baby


Rosemary's Baby (1968) r

I was eventually going to rewatch this but I suppose seeing Hereditary pumped it up a little on my queue. Another classic I didn't appreciate as a child.


Hail Satan!

Very beautiful Mia Farrow is Rosemary, a young wife of a struggling actor. They move to a new apartment and get acquainted with some weird neighbors. Like many young couples they're planning to have children and eventually Rosemary gets pregnant. All the neighbors are extremely interested in the coming baby and soon Rosemary starts to believe that there's something rotten going on besides the witchcraft infested history of the building she lives in.

Rosemary's Baby wasn't exactly what I expected (I think it's been almost 30 years since I saw it the first time so my memories were extremely vague). Contrary to its reputation I wouldn't even call it a horror film. In my opinion it's not scary at all and I doubt it even tries to be. It's a combination of drama and comedy with supernatural elements in its story. I don't hold that against it but there's a small chance that my expectations affected my experience.

Most of the characters feel like they're having few screws loose in their heads. Rosemary and her friends are seemingly normal but everyone else is off one way or another. The coven is like an assembly of mental hospital escapees. There's absurd feeling of otherness that's built with humor and erratic behavior but there's no suspense or fear. The ending is great in its weirdness and definitely leaves viewer with a positive aftertaste.

The film does drag quite a bit and feels too long. There are some well made scenes (like the impregnation of Rosemary and the ending) but there's too much filler in between. Acting is good (especially Mia Farrow). Rosemary's pain during early pregnancy and the sudden disappearance of the pain felt completely pointless theme that could easily have been removed.

Somewhat disappointing film especially considering its status as a horror classic.