Classic Horror: Rosemary's Baby

Tonight, my first classic: Rosemary's Baby.  This movie was released in 1968 so naturally, I had to adjust my thinking because movies were made differently back then.  I started it fairly late at night so I was slightly displeased when I found out that it was over two hours long.  People had more time back then to watch movies.

Let me start by saying this movie is weird.  It's about a young New York couple who want to have a baby.  They move into a new apartment and meet some strange and nosy neighbours.  Rosemary becomes pregnant after she has a hallucinogenic "dream" involving nudity (was nudity allowed back then?) and satanic rituals.  She's pretty much raped by the devil and gives birth to his baby, recieving "help" all along from her neighbours.  You know, in a nutshell.

I think the best part of this movie is Rosemary's haircut!  A girl with short hair myself, I always appreciate beautiful women with short hair.  How awesome is it that she pulled that off in 1968?  Thank-you for paving the way for me Mia Farrow.

Oh am I ever glad I'm not a woman in the 60s.  Male doctors that don't tell me my own diagnosis, only tell my husband?  No thanks.  Can you believe that?  Just like a vet telling a pet owner the diagnosis of their dog; the woman couldn't possibly understand, nor is she responsible for her own life.  It just really irks me how helpless Rosemary is throughout the film.  Rosemary's character is VERY childlike and though she's sweet, it's very hard to imagine her as a mother.  When she suggests to her doctor that she's afraid of having an ectopic pregnancy, she is thoroughly scolded for having read a book.  (The doctor was in kahoots with the devil worshippers so this may be why he didn't want her poking around in any books but still, I'm sure women were treated similarly at the time.)  Mia Farrow's reaction to the sight of her baby at the end of the film is so priceless and disturbing.  Even though it's sort of comical, her screaming is what got me.

This film was a huge hit in its time and the director, Roman Polanski recieved two Academy Award nominations.  It paved the way for movies like The Exorcist and The Omen.  I wouldn't really consider the film "scary" for 2010 standards but the concept is certainly disturbing and there's something neat about the fact that it was so original.  Almost all the ideas for horror movies nowadays have been done before.  There's nothing new and yet in 1968, a frightened, innocent mother giving birth to the devil's baby was new.