Rosemary's Baby

 Released Year: 1968

Directed by Roman Polanski

Casted by:

Mia Farrow as Rosemary Woodhouse

John Cassavetes as Guy Woodhouse

Ruth Gordon as Minnie Castevet

Sidney Blackmer as Roman Castevet / Steven Marcato

Maurice Evans as Hutch

 Story:

Rosemary Woodhouse, a bright but somewhat naive young housewife, and Guy, her husband and a struggling actor, are shown and move into the Bramford, an antiquated New York City apartment building, by the manager, Mr. Nicklas. They discover a dresser concealing a simple closet containing nothing except a vacuum and a few other items, something they deduce must have been a result of the senility of Mrs. Gardenia, the former tenant. Their neighbors, Minnie and Roman Castevet, are an elderly and slightly eccentric couple who tend to be meddlesome but appear to be harmless.

Rosemary meets a young woman, Terry Gionoffrio, who has been taken in and helped by the Castevets after living on the street. As Rosemary admires a pendant necklace the Castevets gave to Terry, she notices its strange smell. Returning home one night, Guy and Rosemary find that Terry has thrown herself to her death from the window of the Castevets' seventh-floor apartment.

Minnie invites the Woodhouses to dinner and they reluctantly accept. Guy forms a bond with the Castevets. Minnie gives Terry's pendant to Rosemary, telling her it is a good luck charm and the odd smell is from a plant called "tannis root". Later, Guy lands a role in a play when the actor who was originally cast suddenly and inexplicably goes blind. Guy suggests that he and Rosemary have the child they had planned.

On the night they plan to conceive, Minnie brings them individual cups of chocolate mousse. Rosemary finds hers has a chalky undertaste and surreptitiously throws it away after a few mouthfuls. Rosemary passes out and experiences what she perceives to be a strange dream in which she is raped by a demonic presence in front of Guy, the Castevets, and other Bramford tenants. When she wakes, she finds scratches on her body. Guy tells her that he had sex with her while she was unconscious because he did not want to pass up the moment for her to conceive.

Rosemary learns that she is pregnant and is due on June 28, 1966. She plans to receive obstetric care from Dr. Hill, who is recommended to her by her friend Elise. However, the Castevets insist she see their good friend, Dr. Abraham Sapirstein, who says that Minnie will make Rosemary a daily drink which is healthier than the usual vitamin pills.

For the first three months of her pregnancy, Rosemary suffers severe abdominal pains, loses weight, becomes unusually pale, and craves raw meat and chicken liver. Dr. Sapirstein insists the pain will subside soon, and assures her she has nothing to worry about. When her old friend Hutch sees Rosemary's gaunt appearance and hears that she is being fed the mysterious tannis root, he is disturbed enough to do some research. Before he can tell Rosemary his findings, he mysteriously falls into a coma. When Rosemary can't bear her abdominal pains another minute, they suddenly disappear.

Three months later, Hutch dies. He leaves Rosemary a book about witchcraft and it is delivered to her at his funeral along with the cryptic message: "The name is an anagram". Rosemary deduces that Roman Castevet is really Steven Marcato, the son of a former resident of the Bramford who was accused of being a Satanist. Rosemary suspects her neighbors and Dr. Sapirstein are part of a cult with sinister designs for her baby, and that Guy is cooperating with them in exchange for help in advancing his career.

Rosemary becomes increasingly disturbed and shares her fears and suspicions with Dr. Hill, who, assuming she is delusional, calls Dr. Sapirstein and Guy. They tell her that if she co-operates, neither she nor the baby will be harmed. The two men bring Rosemary home, where she briefly escapes them. Despite Rosemary locking them out, they enter the bedroom. Rosemary goes into labor and is sedated by Dr. Sapirstein. When she wakes, she is told the baby died.

In the hall closet, Rosemary discovers a secret door leading into the Castevet apartment and hears a baby's cries revealing that her child is alive. She then finds a congregation made up of the building's tenants, as well as Dr. Sapirstein, gathered around her newborn son. After seeing the disturbing appearance of her baby's eyes, Rosemary is told that Guy is not the baby's father and that the baby, named Adrian, is actually the spawn of Satan. This horrifies Rosemary, who spits in Guy's face. Roman urges Rosemary to become a mother to her son and assures her that she does not have to join the cult if she doesn't want to. She adjusts her son's blankets and gently rocks his cradle with a small smile on her face.

 L² Scored: 10/10

L² Comment:

Multiple awards nomination and winners, this film is so horrible that i can still feel my fear everytime watching it. Imagine the one you love betray you and sell you to the devil by using all these witch craft, who else can u trust? I feel pity for Rosemary's character, and in the end will she be crazy when the baby grow bigger? Of coz Mia Farrow is very vidal sasson during that period and it has always beem tyra banks' fav hairstyle~