Review of Rosemary's Baby (1968) by Timmy S — 19 Oct 2012

Maybe I was just expecting more from all the fuss and hype made about the movie. I can see why it was such a huge deal in the 60s...it IS a pretty scary concept. But it's not a horror movie- there's nobody trying to kill her, there's no supernatural being trying to terrorize her. Save for one contradicting shot in the movie, it's a movie about paranoia. It's told from strictly Mia Farrow/Rosemary's point of view- so what we see seems like these people are crazy, so we're there along for the ride.

the only acting that matters comes from Mia Farrow who goes on one hell of a ride in this movie. I wasn't sure if it was her acting or the way she was written, but she was so softspoken and all naive in first half of the movie-I'm just going to say that it was like that so show her character arc in the second half..in any case, whether it was in the book or not, it made her so uninteresting. why should we care about her? The strongest point of the movie, however, is the atmosphere Polanski puts on here-and he knows how to create and sustain tension in certain scenes. You never know EXACTLY when something weird is going on, or if it actually is real. And that twisted sex scene- well I guess who wouldn't be terrified of that back in the 60s!!! I guess even now, it would be weird, but nobody would be as idiotic as Rosemary to just lay there with her eyes wide eyed and confused.(She thought it was just a bad dream) Just saying, I didn't particularly understand that whole scene. Despite a few great tense scenes, nothing really stuck with me- it felt more like a drama about the angst and unsure feelings a woman has just before having a baby. Not a horror movie about a neighboring coven of witches facilitating the successful birth of the antichrist, her own child(that seemed more like a subplot lol). It's not a movie I would watch again- it just doesn't have that lasting impact or substance for further viewings.