Rosemary's Baby

[Killer Bees]

Some mild spoilerage.

Before I start my review I'd like to say that I understand this movie is considered by many to be a horror masterpiece.  But I have to vent my spleen all the same.

This was the most God-awful boring movie it's ever been my misfortune to witness.  Where do I start?

Story
Lame and boring.  Uninteresting and not scary at all.  The basic premise was interesting but it was executed with insomniacs in mind.  For 2 hours 11 minutes I sat in front of my telly, like a complete schlub, telling myself that soon the horror would start and the boredom would end.  Alas, that' never happened.  As for Mia Farrow willingly staying on as the mother of a demon even though the kid has yellow eyes and cloven feet and hands - how is that believeable?

Acting/Actors
Mia Farrow couldn't act her way out of a wet paper bag.  I didn't feel sorry for her, I kept wishing Satan or one of his minions would devour her just to shut up the all the whining.  She vacillated between being wooden and clunky and whining and annoying.  The love scene between her and John Cassavetes was colder than a prossie and her John.

John Cassavetes.
Played his part like he was auditioning to join the Rat Pack, but with zero cool or credibility.  Badly acted and unbelieveable as both a loving husband and nasty guy who sold his soul to the devil.  He would have done better to become a shoe salesman.  I haven't seen him in anything else that I know of and I don't really want to.

Ruth Gordon, et al
Overacted, ham fisted, unintelligible and just plain annoying.  That goes for the guy who played her husband.  And as for those lame arse Satan followers - geez guys, go back to the retirement home.  The only marginally interesting character was Satan and even then you could tell it was just a guy with a bad reptilian suit on.

Overall, it was an awful movie.  No atmosphere, no scariness, no drama, no suspense, no nothing.  Just one boring scene after another dragged out interminably and designed, I suspect, to make you commit hari kari before the end.  So maybe Satan does exist and he's trying to destroy the world using one lame movie at a time, a la MST3K.

Who do I speak to to get that 2 hours 11 minutes of my life back?

[Susan]

try watching it about 20 minutes. i swear to god, it grows on you. It's not supposed to be "scary", by todays standards i would expect most young people would find it boring. It has a quiet way about it, it was appropriate for its time focusing on witches because back in those days cults were starting to become a growing trend.  I never considered it scary or chilling, but more of a slow building thriller. predictable ending of course but i actually ended up liking the film more with each viewing. When i first saw it i thought it was dull , maybe it is and i'm oblivious..lol. but i love the sound effects which are whispers, and quietness.

Her dream sequence when she's drugged for exampe, has a realistic feel to it. The way dreams go, but with a quietness about it where you hear voices muffled and distant. sometimes films overdo it with the orchestra

[VenominOhio]

i didn`t like it or get it the 1st time i watched it either,but after having it on VHS i popped it in a few times over the past year and started to enjoy it more and more,not saying it`s full of ecitement,gore,nudity,like most of my movies, but it gets the job done.

man i hated Minnie,though,and Laura Louise didn`t add any good feelings either,talk about nosy people.

[RCMerchant]

It's odd-I just re-watched this last week! ( I got it on tape.)

On first viewing,many moons ago,I found it dull.

But later....

It gives off an aura of ominus evil creeping into the everyday,the mundane.
Rosemary begins to sense that something is horribly wrong...with her neighbors,her doctor,her husband...and ,most frightning...her baby.

Something vile and perverted....oooooooooooiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeoooooo....

Spooky!

[lester1/2jr]

did you like the exorcist?

[Killer Bees]

I've never seen the Exorcist but I've always meant to give it a go.

I might rent it in the next few days.  Is it any better than Rosemary's Baby?

[The Burgomaster]

This is a classic.  One of the 5 best horror movies ever made.  Scary in a way most of today's movies could never be.

[Torgo]

I didn't like this movie when I was younger but as I got older and started watching/appreciating more advanced forms of cinema my appreciation for Rosemary's Baby grew quite a lot.  Probably my 2nd favorite Polanski film behind Repulsion.

[Allhallowsday]

***SPOILERS***

I have to agree with the consensus about ROSEMARY'S BABY, in fact, I think it's a masterpiece. 

Anybody looking for jolts, gore, morbid violence or the typical mindless mayhem in the horror films of the last 30 years, should avoid this film.  This is just a horror story albeit largely psychological.  Though tame perhaps by today's standards, the subject matter was shockingly notorious in 1968.  Not the slaughterhouse IT'S ALIVE, nor the original classic gross-out EXORCIST, ROSEMARY'S BABY is about a newly-wed whose husband conspires with Charnel house witches to have her raped and made pregnant by Satan.  Writing that down gives it the weight it warrants.  Killer Bees, you understood instinctively that RUTH GORDON's character is intended to be annoying (she's a witch) and most of the characters are old, that was no coincidence... You understood JOHN CASSAVETTES' performance better than you realize; his character is a phony...    I'm not exactly a fan of MIA FARROW, but think she has several great films to her credit with this one probably the best...

There's a reason ROMAN POLANSKI is so highly regarded. 

[RCMerchant]

I've never seen the Exorcist but I've always meant to give it a go.

I might rent it in the next few days.  Is it any better than Rosemary's Baby?

It's a whole different animal. It is a CLASSIC. Hands down! Rent it. Hell -(no pun intended)- BUY IT. You won't regret it!!! One of the best movies of all time. ALL TIME. Did I just repeat myself? REPEAT MYSELF. Echo! ECHO!

[Susan]

I remember a 9 year oldish girl after my own heart when at Walmart she was begging her dad to buy "The exorcist"

Then i remembered some of those scenes that were quite graphic that her father may have forgotten about

oh my

[Allhallowsday]

I've never seen the Exorcist but I've always meant to give it a go.

I might rent it in the next few days.  Is it any better than Rosemary's Baby?

It's a whole different animal. It is a CLASSIC. Hands down! Rent it. Hell -(no pun intended)- BUY IT. You won't regret it!!! One of the best movies of all time. ALL TIME. Did I just repeat myself? REPEAT MYSELF. Echo! ECHO!

Killer Bees, you will love THE EXORCIST if you hate ROSEMARY'S BABY.  Disturbing, nasty, creepy, gory, EXORCIST uncut is, even today, not tame...!!! 

[Killer Bees]

Thanks everyone for your feedback.

I will rent the Exorcist and give it a go.  From the tiny bits I've seen, it looks awesome even by today's gross out standards.

I was quite disappointed that I didn't like Rosemary's Baby and it isn't because I've been desensitised to violence and gore today.  I honestly thought it would be creepy in the way that The Ring and those kinds of movies are.  I actually enjoy a good psychological thriller, this one just didn't do it for me.

I guess maybe because I thought Mia Farrow was too wimpy and being a mother myself, there's no way in hell I would ever let someone tell me what's best for me and my baby.  That's probably my downfall - projecting too much of myself and my own choices onto a movie character  *lol*

I understand that John Cassavetes was a phony and Ruth Gordon was annoying, but I was expecting them to to be a little more subtle in their actions.  That would have been a lot creepier because you wouldn't have seen it coming.  They would have had the veneer of people who seemed genuine in their concern for Mia Farrow's character, only to stick it to her in the end. As it was, they were blatantly obvious and Farrow didn't even start questioning them until it was too late.  And then when she did grow a bit of a backbone, she didn't stick with it.  Stupid berk.

Anyway, I'll probably re-rent it at a later stage and see if I change my mind.  Maybe I was just having a bad hair day or something. 

[Allhallowsday]

Thanks everyone for your feedback.  I will rent the Exorcist and give it a go.  From the tiny bits I've seen, it looks awesome even by today's gross out standards. 

  karma 
Our pleasure, if I may be so bold as to speak for all contributors.  You're welcome!  Thank you for giving us a venue to talk about this film. 

I was quite disappointed that I didn't like Rosemary's Baby and it isn't because I've been desensitised to violence and gore today.  I honestly thought it would be creepy in the way that The Ring and those kinds of movies are.  I actually enjoy a good psychological thriller, this one just didn't do it for me.  I guess maybe because I thought Mia Farrow was too wimpy and being a mother myself, there's no way in hell I would ever let someone tell me what's best for me and my baby.  That's probably my downfall - projecting too much of myself and my own choices onto a movie character  *lol*

You are right on, that's what movies are all about, projecting yourself onto a character.  Rosemary Woodhouse is perhaps too naive for today's woman, but perhaps not all women...?  Food for thought only. 

I understand that John Cassavetes was a phony and Ruth Gordon was annoying, but I was expecting them to to be a little more subtle in their actions.  That would have been a lot creepier because you wouldn't have seen it coming.  They would have had the veneer of people who seemed genuine in their concern for Mia Farrow's character, only to stick it to her in the end. As it was, they were blatantly obvious and Farrow didn't even start questioning them until it was too late.  And then when she did grow a bit of a backbone, she didn't stick with it.  Stupid berk.

Well, I think in its day it was more subtle; you went into the film with certain expectations in the wake of today's deep horror like THE RING so you certainly expected something coming... one of the things that's interesting about this film (and other POLANSKI films) is that the film audience sees what's coming, but the main focus of our attention may not.  A large part of the horror of ROSEMARY'S BABY is the destruction of the innocence of the lead character. 

Anyway, I'll probably re-rent it at a later stage and see if I change my mind.  Maybe I was just having a bad hair day or something. 

Great film, but certainly not for everybody (though it was a smash if I'm not mistaken).  You didn't like the music?  I hear that title and closing tune in my head sometimes... particularly on cold grey mornings or stifling hot afternoons.  MIA FARROW is a baby, is the baby, hideously losing her innocence and... her... baby...
  
http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B000068TN9001009

[Killer Bees]

Mild Spoilerage Alert!

Allhallowsday,

I don't really remember the music.  I only saw it the one time and then returned it straight away.  Such was my disappointment.  I think I was actually groaning in pain at the awfulness of this movie for about 2 hours afterwards  *lol*

Life in 1965 was certainly much different from life today. I couldn't really relate to anything in this movie at all.   But some part of me likes to think that at an opportune moment, Rosemary took her demon spawn and killed the hell out of it just to spite the coven and the husband.  Then she sets fire to the oldies' apartment and gets the heck out of dodge only to become a rogue witch hunter herself, whilst spreading rumours about her husband being a rabid paedophile.

Oh, well, I suppose I can live in hope that the story will continue.