Rosemary’s Baby 4K Review (Paramount)

Rosemary’s Baby is a 1968 psychological horror film written and directed by Roman Polanski (Chinatown, The Tenant, The Pianist, Repulsion, Carnage, The Fearless Vampire Killers, Frantic, and The Ninth Gate). It’s based on the 1967 novel of the same name written by Ira Levin. It was produced by filmmaker William Castle (Bug, Circle of Fear, Shanks, Project X, Straight-Jacket, and The Old Dark House). The budget was $3.2 million and it grossed $33.4 million worldwide at the box office!!!! In 1965, stage actor Guy Woodhouse (played by: John Cassavetes from The Incubus, The Fury, Tempest, The Dirty Dozen, and Heroes) and his wife Rosemary (played by: Mia Farrow from Broadway Danny Rose, The Purple Rose of Cairo, The Omen, Alice, New York Stories, and The Haunting of Julia) tour the Bramford, a large Renaissance Revival apartment building in New York City. They notice the previous tenant, an elderly woman who recently died, displayed odd behaviors. For example, she moved heavy furniture in front of a linen closet she had still been using. Despite warnings from their landlord Hutch (played by: Maurice Evans from The Planet of the Apes franchise and Terror in the Wax Museum) about the Bramford’s dark past, Rosemary and Guy move in. In the basement laundry room, Rosemary meets a young woman, Terry Gionoffrio (played by: Victoria Vetri from Invasion of the Bee Girls and Group Marriage), a recovering drug addict whom Minnie (played by: Ruth Gordon from Harold and Maude, Maxie, My Bodyguard, and Delta PI) and Roman Castevet (played by: Sidney Blackmer from Johnny Dark, High Society, and Accused of Murder), the Woodhouses’ elderly neighbors, have taken in. Rosemary and Guy first meet the Castavets when they return home to find Terry dead of an apparent suicide. Rosemary becomes pregnant, with the baby due the last week of June. The elated Castevets insist that Rosemary go to their close friend, Dr. Abraham Sapirstein (played by: Ralph Bellamy from Trading Places, Coming to America, Pretty Woman, and Amazon Women on the Moon). During the pregnancy, strange things start happening. As time goes on, she starts to get very paranoid and she can’t figure what’s wrong but something isn’t right here. What will happen next? Is she losing her mind or has she been right the entire time???? Roman Polanski is a very controversial director. He is considered one of the best when it comes to cinema. Personally, I’ve never understood the hype for Polanski and I’ve honestly only enjoyed a few of his films in his long career. Rosemary’s Baby definitely isn’t one of them. I think it’s one of the most overrated horror films ever made besides Blair Witch Project. I wanted to like it more on each revisit over the years but it never happens. I do appreciate the strange atmosphere and the build up for Rosemary’s Baby. Mia Farrow is top notch here and she is her performance when it comes to her career but it’s not enough to save this film. It has a solid supporting cast that includes John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans, Ralph Bellamy, Patsy Kelly, Victoria Vetri, Elisha Cook Jr., Emmaline Henry, and Charles Grodin. On paper, this horror movie should be amazing but it’s just really boring and it doesn’t have a good flow to it. It has it’s moments in spots but for the most part, it drags on. It’s definitely worth checking out at least one time but I don’t think it’s worth all the praise it has gotten over the years. Let’s discuss the high definition presentation and special features from Paramount Pictures! This 2160p (1.85:1) with Dolby Vision and HDR10 looks amazing in HD. It’s one of the best looking catalog titles that I’ve seen in awhile when it comes to home video. It has a few different audio options which includes English: Dolby TrueHD 2.0 Mono, French: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, German: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, and Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on the UHD. The dialogue is crystal clear, all the madness is elevated, and the music has a killer boost to it. It has English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Dutch subtitles. “Rosemary’s Baby – A Retrospective” is almost 17 minutes. It has interviews with Robert Evans and Richard Sylbert. It has all kinds of background information and stories. It also talks about producer William Castle. “Mia and Roman” is 23 minutes. It’s an archival extra that was produced during the making of the film. It has some great behind the scenes footage here. It has two different “Trailers” for the film. It also includes a slipcover with different artwork, a digital code, and a blu ray copy for this 55th anniversary edition. It’s available everywhere right now!!!!