Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #152444 in DVD
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: German, English
• Subtitled in: English, Arabic, Bulgarian, Danish, German, Finnish, Dutch, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Swedish, Czech, Turkish, Hungarian
• Running time: 136 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
Psychological terrorism and supernatural horror have rarely been dramatized as effectively as in this classic 1968 thriller, masterfully adapted and directed by Roman Polanski from the chilling novel by Ira Levin. Rosemary (Mia Farrow) is a young, trusting housewife in New York whose actor husband (John Cassavetes), unbeknownst to her, has literally made a deal with the devil. In the thrall of a witches' coven headquartered in their apartment building, the young husband arranges to have his wife impregnated by Satan in exchange for success in a Broadway play. To Rosemary, the pregnancy seems like a normal and happy one--that is, until she grows increasingly suspicious of her neighbors' evil influence. Polanski establishes this seemingly benevolent situation and then introduces each fiendish little detail with such unsettling subtlety that the film escalates to a palpable level of dread and paranoia. By the time Rosemary discovers that her infant son "has his father's eyes" ... well, let's just say the urge to scream along with her is unbearably intense! One of the few modern horror films that can claim to be genuinely terrifying, Rosemary's Baby is an unforgettable movie experience, guaranteed to send chills up your spine. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

A "devilishly" good movie
Ira Levin's classic tale of gothic horror in 1960's Manhattan is wonderfully brought to life by Roman Polanski in the film version. The movie has much more depth and strength of characterization than the book, and the biggest surprise, when the movie first opened, was Mia Farrow's absolutely great performance as Rosemary.

The movie stays very close to the book throughout, and the actors are terrific. John Cassavetes is excellent as Rosemary's low-life actor husband who sacrifices her to his ambition without a second thought; Ruth Gordon won a well-deserved Oscar for best supporting actress as the delightfully wacky witch next door; Sidney Blackmer gives a chilling performance as her sinister husband whose name is an anagram that sends Rosemary hurtling down a spiral chute of terror and panic, and Ralph Bellamy is total perfection as the evil Dr. Sapirstein.

The two best scenes in the movie are the scene in which Rosemary, who wants a baby more than anything else in the world, finds herself being impregnated by God-knows-what, and the scene toward the movie's end when she realizes just what she was impregnated with. The movie was shot mostly in and around the Dakota, the grand old Upper West Side co-op that lends itself remarkably well to the creepy projection of a haunted house, the cinematography and film editing are excellent, and Polanski's direction proves that a great horror movie doesn't have to be a slasher film to effectively scare the bejesus out of you. There's no blood, no gore, no violence; just a great psychological horror ride, and it works.

"Pray for Rosemary's Baby"
This is the greatest horror film, and one of the greatest films ever, period.

Everything in it works. From that terrific tag line to the creepy poster art, to that off kilter lullaby Mia Farrow croons, to every single performance, line of dialogue and scene. The cast is perfection. The terror is palpable. The extras set the movie in its time, but the movie has surpased its time and become, like all true classics, for the ages. The Bramley will never be razed for a parking lot. Ira Levin's superb novel was blessed by Roman Polanski's film. Both are landmarks touched with more than a little genius.

The movie is wickedly funny, deliciously entrancing, groundbreakingly "real" because it's horror is set in present day New York; also, the elderly couple next door, who are the coven leaders, are played to the hilt by nosey Ruth Gordon and the intriguing Sidney Blackmer; therefore, it's easy to come under their spell. Blackmer especially gives an almost noble performance that is rich and wise. The entire cast is at the top of their game.

Maurice Evan's Hutch is the hope and comfort of the film, the logical reality against what is inexorably happening, while Ralph Bellamy's Dr. Saperstein (he was on "Open End," you know)is that soft spoken easygoing evil that you just know hides a little below the surface of most of his ilk. It's also fun seeing Hope Summers (Clara Edwards of "The Andy Griffith Show") as a Satanist. Not out of character here, really. Did Aunt Bea ever find out?

It's ironic that the movie probably could not be made today. The current crop of puritans would rail against it; odd, since the bare bones of the plot hew to what they say they believe. But while those lame Left Behind movies and the others artlessly propound beating foolish stuff into its audiences heads, "Rosemary's Baby" plays knowingly with fiction, with what ifs, with the paranoia come true, all in a twisty gripping eerie exciting film, produced by the great William Castle, who has just the right cameo that comes with the chill first, then the laughter.

Mia Farrow's heart wrenching Rosemary Woodhouse leads us into her terror and pain, then into her first goosebumpy nightmare come true reaction to her son, propelling into that final reaction, maybe even scarier, as the camera wisely pans to the window and the outside of the Bramley. There are some fine character actors as well, always dependable Elisha Cook, Jr. Philip Leeds and Patsy Kelly.

John Cassavetes, as Guy Woodhouse, also creeps us out as he sells himself and Rosemary, and I guess, their baby, and the world, to Satan, to further his acting career. Being in bit parts in "Luther" and "Nobody Loves an Albatross" can only take an actor just so far. Priorities, after all. So settle down with some "plain old Lipton Tea," a bowl of "chocolate mouse" and a Vodkda Blush, and watch a classic again or for the first time. Watch out for mouse bites, though.

Quite Possibly The Greatest Horror Movie Ever Made
The film is not in your face. In fact, Roman Polanski's visionary work is more subdued than many films at this time. But it is that tameness, and peace that makes the mood of this movie so uncomfortable. Everything is fine, only the opposite. The film starts slow enough, a young couple moving in together, trying to have a baby. While they come at the mercy of strange happenings. Whether it be Rosemary's friend 'jumping' to her death. Or it be her somewhat too nice neighbors. You begin to see the world through the eyes of Rosemary, and you grow terrified along with her. While the sheer horror really comes at the end, when we realize how easy evil can seduce us, the movie stays chilling until the last frame. While movies like Nightmare on Elm Street and The Thing try to capture a horrible beast in his most frightening stage, this movie teaches us that the scariest things in life may be the people we trust the most. This truly is Polanski's best work, and it has survived the test of time.