[REEL_REVIEWER]

ROSEMARY'S BABY
Satanic thriller still stands up after all these years!

4 stars [(1968)USA] - (2 hr. 14 min.)

Director/screenwriter: Roman Polanski

Characters/Cast
Rosemary Woodhouse - Mia Farrow
Guy Woodhouse - John Cassavettes
Minnie Castevet - Ruth Gordon
Roman Castevet - Sidney Blackmer
Ralph Bellamy - Dr. Abraham Sapirstein
Edward 'Hutch' Hutchins - Maurice Evans
Dr. C.C. Hill - Charles Grodin
Elisha Cook - Mr. Nicklas
With: Angela Dorian, Patsy Kelly, Emmaline Henry, Hanna Landy, Philip Leeds, D'Urville Martin, & Hope Summers

Review:

Just because this film is a few decades old doesn't make it any less creepy, especially after you realize who's baby 'Rosemary' (Mia Farrow), is carrying.

This film shows the depth a horror film can reach when all of the characters are fully developed before 'all hell breaks loose.' An element lost in the current glut of 'bodycount' slasher pics.

Add this one to the collection.

- for a synopsis go to: http://www.filmsite.org/rosem.html

[Anyway - due to time constraints this is a fore-shortened review - hopefully you will see the movie and add some insights of your own]

[rotten_tomatoe]

not really... i didn't find this movie scary, psychologically or visually, and am not particularly fond of polanski... i still think the best scene was in the end with the coven of old farts shouting 'hail satan!'. classic mastercard moment...priceless. i still think the number one antichrist movie, and a the best satan-influenced movie (e.g. not incompassing demonic possession, just satan/antichrist subject), is, hands down- THE OMEN!!! it's all for you, DAMIEN!!!

[rotten_tomatoe]

'creepy'-agreed. mia farrow was just screaming for a loaf of bread.

i used to be so obsessed with the omen series...i had the biggest crush on jonathan scott-taylor... he was so cute as damien. almost made you want to be a satanist. or live back in the 70's.

[22cute]

Originally posted by REEL_REVIEWER


ROSEMARY'S BABY [1960/USA] - (2 hr. 14 min.) - 4 stars - Satanic thriller still stands up after all these years!

Director/screenwriter: Roman Polanski

Cast: Mia Farrow, John Cassavettes, Ruth Gordon, Ralph Bellamy

Review:

Just because this film is a few decades old doesn't make it any less creepy, especially after you realize who's baby 'Rosemary' (Mia Farrow), is carrying.

This film shows the depth a horror film can reach when all of the characters are fully developed before 'all hell breaks loose.' An element lost in the current glut of 'bodycount' slasher pics.

Add this one to the collection.

Should have realized I'd find a "Reel" fine review of Rosemary's Baby, which I just watched again tonight.

Creepy is definitely the word for Rosemary tipping to "the name [being] an anagram," seeing herself ingesting a raw chicken heart, being ushered out of the office of the doctor (baby version of Charles Grodin!) she has run to, to "save" her.

You're right, Reel...they don't make 'em like this anymore. Sad for the youth of today that they are being spoon-fed horror instead of being given the opportunity to envision it in their minds' eyes.

[EveralEvenstar]

I would kill for another good movie like this and I have heard remake rumors , but I am worried it will taint it...lets pray it doesnt find its way into some idiotic special effects crazy director.

[REEL_REVIEWER]

Trivia about Rosemary's Baby:

• The Dakota Building (where John Lennon died-see below) on Manhattan's Upper West Side was renamed The Bramford for the film.
• It was on the set of this film that Farrow, Mia received divorce papers from then-husband Frank Sinatra
• Alfred Hitchcock was originally offered the chance to direct this movie.
• There is a popular rumor that Church of Satan founder Anton LaVey gave technical advice and portrayed Satan in the impregnation scene. [This is false - LaVey had no involvement with the film]
• Oscar-nominated editor Sam O'Steen would later direct the sequel, Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby (1976) (TV).
• Directed by Roman Polanski in 1967, whose pregnant wife, the actress Sharon Taye, was in 1969 murdered by Charles Manson and his followers, who titled their death spree "Helter Skelter" after the 1968 song by The Beatles, whose leader, Lennon, John, who would one day live (and in 1980 be murdered) in the Manhattan apartment building called The Dakota---where Rosemary's Baby had been filmed.
• Sharon Tate appears unbilled at the party Rosemary gives for her "young" friends.
• Mia Farrow does the vocals on the title-sequence lullaby.
• This was Polanski's very first adaptation, and it is very faithful to the novel. Pieces of dialogue, color schemes and clothes are taken verbatim.
• William Castle acquired the movie rights to the novel. Robert Evans of Paramount agreed to green-light the project if Castle did not direct. This was due to Castle's fame and reputation as a director of low budget horror films. Castle was allowed to make a prominent cameo appearance by a witch's curse so that Rosemary's husband can get an acting job.
• Rosemary (Farrow) says to Terry Ginoffrio (Angela Dorian): "I thought you were Victoria Vetri, the actress," to which Terry responds: "Everyone says that, but I don't see the resemblance." Victoria Vetri is Angela Dorian's real name.
• According to Farrow, the scenes where Rosemary walks in front of traffic were spontaneous and genuine. Polanski is reported to have told her that "nobody will hit a pregnant woman."
• This film, along with Repulsion (1965) and Locataire, Le (1976), forms a loose trilogy by Roman Polanski about the horrors of apartment/city dwelling.
• Rosemary's baby was born in June 1966 (6/66).
• The was Roman Polanski's first American film. His first American film was going to be "Downhill Racer" (1969), but Robert Evans of Paramount decided that "Rosemary's Baby" would be more suited to Polanski.
• Director Roman Polanski originally wanted Tuesday Weld to play Rosemary and Robert Redford to play Guy. Redford was busy shooting Downhill Racer (1969) and Robert Evans preferred Mia Farrow to Weld.
• Mia Farrow actually ate raw liver for a scene in the movie.
• Roman Polanski was so faithful to the novel that he asked Ira Levin the date of the issue of the New Yorker in which Guy Woodhouse sees a shirt he wants. Levin confessed that he had made up the detail.
• The last movie of special effects creator Farciot Edouart

[EveralEvenstar]

Wow...some of these are spooky. I didn't know about Polanski's wife...

[theProfessional]

old thread but great movie like this was "the others" check it out

[Darko, Donnie]

On 'Commemorative' DVD now!!!

DVD specs:
Region 1
Keep Case
Anamorphic Letterboxed 1.66

Audio
Dolby Digital Mono English
Mono French

Additional Release Material
Interviews
1. Roman Polanski Director
2. Richard Sylbert Production Designer
3. Robert Evans Former Head of Production at Paramount Studios

Featurette "The Making of Rosemary's Baby"

Interactive Features
Scene Access
Interactive Menus

[Canid]

This was pretty bad. I have no idea why you all liked this movie so much. It wasn't scary in the least, the actors were not at their best.. on the contrary, all though there were genuine scenes written into the script, the actors weren't believable.

The end was hilarious with everyone shouting, "Hail Satan", but I'm sad I'll never get that time back to spend on a better movie.

[Real Boba]

Bay preps 'Rosemary' redo

Rosemary's Baby is in for a rebirth (or BAY-bortion?)

Paramount is in negotiations with horror shingle Platinum Dunes to bring back the classic for a new generation of moviegoers. Partners Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller will produce the remake.

Baby was a best-selling novel by playwright-author Ira Levin (The Boys From Brazil, The Stepford Wives). The book was adapted in 1968 into a much-loved Paramount movie directed by Roman Polanski that starred Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes and Ruth Gordon, who won an Oscar for
her role.

The story follows a young couple who move into a gothic New York apartment, where they are befriended by their elderly neighbors. After the woman becomes mysteriously pregnant, she discovers that the neighbors actually are part of a coven of witches and that her husband has allowed her to be impregnated by the devil in exchange for a successful career.

No scribe is yet on board to write, and Platinum Dunes plans to be meticulous with the remake, knowing it has been entrusted with a jewel from the Paramount library. [12 March 2008 (The Hollywood Reporter)]

PROS:

"i hope they remake this movie and make it better than it ever was. Awesome!" -walkingdead09

"I will see it. I liked the original, but like The Omen, I prefer the remake. The original Omen was boring. The remake was great. Now, Rosemary's Baby was good, but slow paced and I wouldn't watch it again. I hope they cast someone like Nicole Kidman as the lead. She was hot and perfect for The Invasion (remake). Or maybe someone younger like Rachel McAdams. An update is necessary. When they start remaking films like Jaws, Cujo,
and Alien is when I will freak out. Those are untouchable [Ed:...because those are the films you grew up with, right? Older cinephiles feel the same way about RB]. " -Moviemaniack1993

"I don't have a problem with well-done remakes. Some stories SHOULD be modernized, and brought before a new generation. The problem with 21st century horror remakes, is that the audience is treated as if they are

morons, with the attention span of a four year-old. "MORE BLOOD! MORE NOISE! MORE MTV DIALOGUE!", seems to be the order of the day. The scariest part is, that maybe the genre's fans can't appreciate horror. Or at least the well-written, suspense-filled stories that worked so well years ago.

There have some great horror remakes. THE THING and THE FLY, both made in the eighties, were new classics in my opinion. I didn't even mind the TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE remake, as it was fairly true to Tobe Hooper's vision. The same with THE OMEN. It wasn't as terrible as it could

have been, saved by decent performances and keeping most of the original storyline intact. If they must remake ROSEMARY'S BABY, keep it classy. It would be nice to have a true horror film that catered to the viewer's intelligence." -Defshep

"Some remakes/revamps/etc. are good...As for Rosemary's Baby, it took me two viewings to understand it, and two more to appreciate it. If you've only heard of the movie, and expect an all-out horrorfest, you're going to be disappointed. If you can understand the depth that Polanski put on the psychological terror of being a mother carrying an unholy seed, then the movie is creepy as hell. Which is why I fear a remake because audiences today don't have the patience to watch a slow-paced, "under the skin" kind of scary movie. All of these horror remakes are so CGI and/or flash editing-dependent, the true nature of the classic horror films. But I guess we shall see." -Tlin82180

PRO (from somebody who should know better)

"yeah, because remakes suck. WIZARD OF OZ (1939) [Ed: silent to musical, that's a remake stretch], BEN HUR (1959) [Ed: silent SHORT to 3-1/2 hr epic, pulleez], THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1959) [Ed: DeMille's silent extended], THE THING (1982), THE FLY (1986), HOUSE OF WAX (1953), CAPE FEAR (1990), THE DEPARTED (2006), THE BOURNE IDENTITY (2002), OCEANS ELEVEN (2001), COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (2002), HAMLET (1996),
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978), THE ITALIAN JOB (2003), THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1956), MAN ON FIRE (2004), RANSOM (1996), SCARFACE (1982), MAGNIFICIENT SEVEN (1960), 300 (2006), THE UNTOUCHABLES (1987) and THE KING AND I (1956) suck a$$. i wish they never made them. when will they learn? ... smell the sarcasm ... [Ed: I also smell desperation. You pulled some needles from the proverbial haystack of $HIT that is Remake-itis] ... hollywood is a business and businesses make money, not art. the name recognition alone is worth remaking ROSEMARY'S BABY. oh yeah. that audience they make those movies for, the ones 15 to 25 were born in between 1983 and 1993. 95% have never seen ROSEMARY'S BABY from 1968 and 80% of them have never heard of it. i got friends i love dearly and you can count the movies they own before 1990 on one hand.

they're just not movie people." -citizenjames (www.jamesford.wordpress.com)

REBUTTALS to Citizen James:

"Citizen James - the 50's "remakes" you mentioned were good because the advent of Sound, Technicolor or both. They were all remakes of silent films, B&W. THe issue here is messing with a classic - the film is a modern piece of art (even if it is 40 years old now) and there is no need to recreate. If anything, it makes sense to re-release on film and introduce to younger generations that way, as opposed to butchering a classic (w/ Bay doing it, I can only imagine the explosions and tweeny boppers....)" -zgberg

"Since most of your friends aren't "movie people", perhaps you should educate them on some of the classics, so they'll understand why true movie fans get so upset every time a soon-to-be assured craptacular remake is done. Remakes are bad (with VERY FEW exceptions--The Fugitive being among them) because they just can't match the original in any way, shape or form. Or do you actually think the remake of Psycho was worth it? It's virtually inarguable that 95% of the remakes that have been coming out over the last 10-20 years have sucked complete a$$." -thereign

"Scarface, Man on Fire, Ransom, The Italian Job and 300 all DID suck. Michael Bay is King Midas, if everything King Midas touched turned to $HIT. You are wrong about everything you think. Die in a fire. -PsychoMP

CONS:

"IF THEY DO THIS IM GONNA EXPLODE" -POPCORNLUMPY

"Why why why why why? The original version is fine, better than fine! It's great". -phoenixphire24

"F**K!!! I don't really care if they remake mildly good slasher films, but why would those motherF's mess with a classic Polanski film?!" -theginsengtree

"Okay, this is going to be bad, very bad, expect it to PG-13 as well." -jmo2ski

"FOR THE LOVE OF JEBUS!!! HOLLYWOOD STOP THIS INSANITY OF RUINING CLASSIC OSCAR-NOMINATED MOVIES....$HIT!" -cuteview

"It should be illegal to remake any movie that has been nominated for an Oscar." -rustdog

"I'll only see the movie if they superimpose George Bush's face on the Devil when he's sexing up the Mia Farrow character." -tomwaitsjr


"Seriously??? Please. No." -omelette

"this is one remake i don't really get. i don't think it should be updated or redone or whatever. its one of those classics that i don't think can be translated into modern times and still be as effective." -Gimy

"Why re-make a movie unless you can make a better movie than the original? This seems to be simple laziness. Find an original story and make a new movie instead of ruining a fine movie from the past. Finally, special effects cannot substitute for character development and plot." -rerses

"wow ....Thats all I got. I'm reminded of a recent remake. Some of you may remember the craptastic voyage that was the remake of "The Wicker Man". Yeah, I know, wow. But heres the thing, I've seen the original Rosemary's Baby. It is awesome. It's what they call a classic. I'm actually interested in seeing this remake...stay with me on this ... because I dont remember a single scene in [Rosemary's Baby] where something blows up, or a motorcyle jumps over a helicopter, etc etc. Michael Bay is ridiculous. His movies are awful, and I'm convinced he's determined to ruin the movie industry. But in the end there is nothing Michael Bay and CGI can do to make Rosemary's Baby better." -comyskazie

"I got nothing against remakes, but in the case of Rosemary's Baby, it just feels completely wrong and out of place. I mean, it's so unnecessary...I can't even express my dissapointment at this news. If they want to re-introduce the movie to a new generation, then just put it again in theaters. There is no way in hell that a remake will improve on the original, nor even be equal as good." -fullmetalnek

"I wholeheartedly agree that there is nothing inherently wrong with remakes. There are indeed many remakes that are either on par with or even better than the original. That being said, there are some movies that just do not need to be remade, Rosemary's Baby being one of them. In all honesty, it's a question of respect. Remaking a movie with no hope of improving on it (as in you just can't improve one of the best horror movies ever made) is disrespectful to the original film. If a remake is made with a legitimate chance of improving what is already there AND done with reverence for the original (see: King Kong) then there is a decent chance that it might just be a decent movie. But a remake for the sake of capitalizing on name recognition and with no chance or intention of improvement is disrespectful to the film, the filmmaker, and the fans. And that my friends is why every time a remake of a beloved film is announced, people all over the internet start smearing angry feces all over message boards. -EclecticFilmDu

"not again... they need to stop doing this .. they are just screwing up classics by doing this...." -opalglassman

"Fed up with Michael Bay and the remake trend!
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/no_rosemarys_baby_remake." -abronsius

[MovieMaster12]

Rosemary's Baby is a superb horror film. I have seen few movies in my life that steadily build tension minute to minute like this one does. It doesn't open with a big shocking murder or something like recent horror films. The suspence and unwavering sense of paranoia and insanity grow gradually never giving you answers only clues until everything comes together in the films unforgettable conclusion. It's truly engaging and disturbing stuff. The whole movie you think is Rosemary crazy or is this really happening to her. Mia Farrow is so cute it's almost torment to see her such condition and suffering the way she does. At one point you think, can this woman trust anybody? Polanski is a powerful director and his film is supremely ungratuitious and truley nightmarish cinema.

[THEreelreviewer.com]

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(1968) Despite their fab new Upper West Side apartment in the venerable Dakota (doubling for the infamously storied “Bramford”), complete with eerily avuncular neighbors Sidney Blackmer and Ruth Gordon (the latter in an Oscar-winning performance by turns hilarious and chilling), nice kid Mia Farrow’s career-obsessed actor husband John Cassavetes is still looking for that big break.

But then a Broadway lead looms when the star mysteriously goes blind, and Farrow gets in the family way after an evening of wild love-making — but wait...was that hubby, or some sort of horned beast?

Suddenly every harried mom-to-be’s nightmare seems true, with Farrow getting no help even from her obstetricians, 30s fifth-wheel legend Ralph Bellamy (here beardedly creepy) and weasly Charles Grodin.

Horror-gimmick-meister William Castle (The Tingler, Homicidal, Macabre) took his one shot at bigtime producing when he bought Ira Levin’s bestseller, then only got to kibbitz when Paramount studio chief Robert (The Kid Stays in the Picture) Evans handed the directorial reins to Polish wunderkind Roman Polanski, who brought his penchant for no-exit situations and crumbling sanity amid banal settings (Knife in the Water, Cul-de-Sac, Repulsion) to mainstream, big-budget horror.

Revitalizing and legitimizing a once-B-grade genre, Rosemary paved the way for future blockbusters like The Exorcist, Jaws and Alien. “Pregnant women should see it at their own risk.” – Motion Picture Herald. Approx. 136 min.

A PARAMOUNT PICTURES RELEASE.

Click here to read Karen Durbin's column on ROSEMARY'S BABY from The New York Times

[January 19, 2003]