Roman Polanski's Rosemary`s Baby, from 1968, is, much more than Psycho, a film which does not exactly win over the adolescent gore-hounds. With the exception of a dubious suicide, no blood is shed on-screen (or even off-screen, for that matter). Special effects are sparse, if not non-existent. And the movie is presented as realism, not fantasy. Despite being called in the promotional text the best horror film ever made, Rosemary`s Baby is not too horrific, and this is coming from someone who avoids horror like the plague. But that does not mean that this film is bad, not at all. In fact, Rosemary`s Baby is a realistically and near-perfectly presented film; a suspenseful, amusing foray into what experiencing a Satanic cult could really be like. I, for one, would not even label this a horror film; a black comedy is closer to the mark, and I think Polanski meant it that way.
The set-up is probably quite well known to most. A young couple (Mia Farrow and John Cassevettes) move to a new apartment in a fancy building in New York. Their apartment was formerly rented by an old lady who died days previous. As well, the couple`s friend amusingly tells stories of all sorts of depraved and occult activity at that very same building during the early part of the century. So of course it comes as no surprise that strange doings will occur now! But little do they realize that it may come in the form of a delightful old couple (including Oscar-winning Ruth Gordon), who slowly but surely wrap the young couple into their lives.
