Rosemary’s Baby (1968) is that special kind of horror film that can
get under your skin while spilling very little blood. It has no masked killer
that jumps out of a corner, no monster chasing characters down dark corridors,
and no armies of zombies lumbering the streets. Yet it is profoundly
unsettling, not only because it deals with a satanic cult, but because the
story’s protagonist and her unborn child are unwilling participants in that
cult’s scheme.
Watching the film
on Halloween two years ago it occurred to me this story is probably twice as
scary for women. Having children is already a nerve-wracking prospect, but
being tricked into having the devil’s spawn against your will: that is
nightmarish on a whole other level. However director Roman Polanski takes his
time in revealing the full extent of this nightmare, at times even suggesting
all of the protagonist’s fears might just be paranoia. It takes a while for the
full extent of the horror to be revealed, but it is worth the wait.
In one of her earliest
roles, Mia Farrow plays Rosemary Woodhouse who moves into an old New York City
apartment building called the Bramford with her husband Guy (John Cassavetes). The
Big Apple has plenty of modern skyscrapers, but there are also many buildings
that are hundreds of years old and in some cases the prime locations the shoot
a horror movie. In the case of the Bramford, there is apparently a history of
cannibalism and murder, but that doesn’t deter the Woodhouses from moving in. Apparently
in NYC the prices for real estate are so high that a little murder on your
property is not a deal breaker.
The neighbours
definitely seem friendly enough. Minnie (Ruth Gordon) and Roman (Sidney
Blackmer) Castevet are all smiles and good manners, and even give Rosemary a
good luck charm and the occasional special tea. Their first meeting is rather
ominous as it happened on the night a young woman committed suicide by jumping
out of a window of the Castavets’ seventh floor apartment. This is one of many
accumulating incidents that begin to indicate something disturbing is occurring
in Rosemary’s life.
Roman, an actor,
gets a big role after a fellow performer suddenly becomes blind. Rosemary and
Roman decide to conceive, but on the night of the act she has disturbing
visions of demons, her husband, and her neighbours. When she wakes her husband
tells her he had sex with her when she was unconscious to make sure they
wouldn’t miss their window. During her pregnancy, based on the Castevets’
recommendation, Rosemary is treated by Dr. Abraham Sapirstein (Ralph Bellamy)
whose unorthodox medicine seems to be having disturbing effects on Rosemary’s
complexion. When a family friend grows suspicious, the friend falls into a
coma.
One of the
scarier aspects about Rosemary’s predicament is that her own suspicions could
be easily dismissed. All of these unfortunate events could be just awful
coincidences, and if she tells anyone she suspects her neighbours might be part
of a satanic coven out to get her baby, she is automatically seen as crazy. What
are you supposed to do when everyone around you is plotting against you? Satanic
machinations aside, it is rather infuriating to see a group of individuals
manipulate a woman’s pregnancy for their own personal gains.
The film’s last
iconic scene has Rosemary reluctantly accept her role in her baby’s life
despite the fact there is something seriously wrong with his eyes. Yet did it
never occur to the members of this coven to ask Rosemary for her permission
before messing with her biology? Did she not have the right to know what her
own doctor was doing to her? Maybe if Rosemary had been given a good sales
pitch she might have even been a willing participant, but nobody gave her a
choice, not even her own husband.
There is no such
thing as zombies, vampires, and (hopefully) demonic possessions, but unfortunately
there is such a thing as groups of people deciding what women can and cannot do
with their bodies. An effective horror movie scares you at least a few times. A
truly great one, like Rosemary’s Baby,
remains socially relevant for decades.
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