Rosemary's Baby (1968)
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| Directed by: |
Roman Polanski
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| Starring: |
Mia Farrow/ Rosemary |
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John
Cassavetes/ Guy |
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Ruth Gordon/ Minnie |
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Sydney
Blackmer/Roman |
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| RATING
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PLOT-CRUNCH:
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Rosemary (Farrow) and Guy (Cassavetes) just moved in a new apartment in
New York. A weird death occurs, Guy becomes buddy buddy with the elderly
couple next door, Rosemary begins to have weird dreams and Guy’s acting
career skyrockets under fishy circumstances. But strangeness anti’s up
once Rosemary becomes pregnant, suddenly every body is interested in her
baby, what she eats, when she sleeps, what she reads…Rosemary suspects
foul play, gets her hair done by "Vidal Sassoon" and tries to
figure out what the hell is going on.
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THE
LOWDOWN: |
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This movie is the mother of movies like "Devil’s Advocate,
Astronauts Wife, Angel Heart" and it has aged very well. It pulls you
in from the first frame and takes you on for a slow, eerie and
uncomfortable ride. I really dove into this movie, felt for Rosemary the
whole way and had a few cases of the goosebumps. One thing is for sure
this film does for elderly people what "Psycho" did for showers…I
am now scared of elderly people…STAY AWAY…Lets give the baby some
candy.
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| ACTING: |
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It took me about 10 minutes to get use to the
acting style (the movie was filmed in the 60’s) but once all was said
and done I must say the acting was on the ball. Mia Farrow is full of
vulnerability, her eyes are so expressive and you really want her to make
it through. John Cassavetes oozes of arrogant charm (reminded me of James
Caan) and everytime he’s on screen you want to look at him. Blackmer and
Gordon gave me the heavy creeps and that was the point, kudos to them
too.
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| GORE: |
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This is not a gory movie but we do get to see a
girl’s head split open and of course the scene where Rosemary is being
raped my the devil (fun).
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| T
& A: |
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We got em but not in an exploitive way. Farrow
shows us practically everything (How can Woody Allen let that go?!) and
John Cassevetes (Guy) takes off his shirt a few times (kind of a
disappointment).
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| DIRECTING: |
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Beautifully shot, the directing is slow and
steady just like the story and the streets of New York never looked
creepier. There’s a whole aura of dread that fills this film, I don't
know if it’s the lighting or maybe because it’s older but from the
first shot to the last shot, something is going on. Good work Mr. Polanski.
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| SOUNDTRACK: |
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The soundtrack is perfect. A mix of chants and
synthesizer. The score is hardly used so when it comes on, it grabs you
even tighter.
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| BOTTOM LINE: |
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I can’t think of one fault to attribute to
this film. All the bases are covered. This movie will get under your skin
and once it’s over you’ll probably come to the same realization I did…You
just witnessed one of the best horror flicks ever.
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| BULL'S EYE: |
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The Astronaut's Wife with Johnny Depp and
Charlize Theron is basically a remake of this film but dealing with aliens
instead of devil worshippers. Theron even has the same "Vidal
Sassoon" haircut that Farrow sported. Will someone give Polanski a
pardon and let him come back to the states! He’s one of our strongest
directors (he fled after being charged with fooling around with a minor).
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