Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavettes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer
Director: Roman Polanski
Synopsis: Wonderfully subtle, low key chiller with killer ending.
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

Amazing that this subtle exercise in horror should come from the stables of the inimitable William Castle. It was probably an accident rather than some shrewdly calculated decision that enabled this classic slice of psychological horror to be associated with Castle's name.

None the less, lets give the man credit for it even if it wasn't quite up to his own swashbuckling style of horror in which the mere notion of subtlety was entirely purged. Polanski's strength is that he is able to produce horror in the most mundane and everyday sort of situations.

Everything about what surrounds Rosemary is so horrifyingly normal - horrifying because, we the audience know that all is clearly far from being normal and below the façade is the most awful lurking horror. The sweet elderly couple from across the hall can't possibly be involved in murder, can they? What about the family doctor who literally brought you into this world - could he be in on a conspiracy against you too?

This is the world of rampant paranoia that Polanski exploits quite perfectly. The young couple move into an old Brownstone building in New York City hoping to build a better life in the city of opportunity. Rosemary (played with pathetic perfection by Mia Farrow) is befriended by a mousy elderly woman - a typically loud and brash New Yorker quite brilliantly portrayed by Ruth Gordon.

Rosemary starts suspecting some strange activities within her apartment complex. Strange muffled sounds of chanting from hidden corridors and corners of her home. Something is up, yet she can't place it and slowly the suspicion begins to play on her mind. Is it all some horrible conspiracy against her and her unborn child or is she actually losing control of her senses.

The ghastly conclusion brings us to a shattering climax, one of the most memorable in all horror films. It's a pretty gutting sort of conclusion, very effective indeed. Polanski employs similar techniques that he used in Repulsion. The unsettling and incessant practicing of piano somewhere in the distance being one example of a Polanski ploy to induce a sense of unease. He does a fine job creating a whirlpool of paranoia, which has Rosemary reeling within. Spiralling out of control and nearly hysterical with fear.

In the end, all is well and mother and child are reunited and at peace with the world. A more chilling reunion one could hardly recall. Certainly Rosemary's Baby remains a classic of its kind.