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Thursday, October 22, 2015

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

A struggling actor (John Cassavetes) and his wife (Mia Farrow) move into a plush New York apartment building that's slightly beyond their means. But the apartment has a strange history of witchcraft and cannibalism and when one of their neighbors (Victoria Vetri) kills herself by jumping out a window, it's only the beginning of an unspeakable horror. One of the masterpieces of the American horror film, this was the American film debut of Roman Polanski, who not only directed but adapted Ira Levin's best selling novel for the screen. It remains one of the best novel to film adaptations ever made though the rumor is that Polanski didn't know he was allowed to make any changes from the book. It's not a "scary" horror film in the sense of an ALIEN or EXORCIST. The true horror is more subtle as it slowly dawns upon the heroine that her pregnancy is not a normal one and she realizes she is alone and no one will believe the conspiracy against her. It's a film that works on several levels and holds up beautifully upon repeated viewings. Farrow's perfect performance is the glue that holds the film together. If we didn't believer her, the film would fall apart. With Ruth Gordon in her Oscar winning performance, Ralph Bellamy, Maurice Evans, Charles Grodin, Sidney Blackmer, Patsy Kelly and Emmaline Henry.

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