Rating: 
Summary: RO(-semary)MAN CAS(-savet)TE(s)VET
Review: After CHINATOWN, another movie of polish director Roman Polanski has just hit the DVD market. The 1968 ROSEMARY'S BABY belongs to the most creative period of the director and stays more than 30 years after its theatrical release as one of the best horror movies ever presented.From the initial credits haunted by the eerie musical score of Christopher Komeda to the superb travellings through the New-York building sheltering a nest of witches, from the performances of Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes to the decision to choose half forgotten Hollywood actors to play the second roles, everything is perfect in ROSEMARY'S BABY. The first of the bonus features of this DVD is a recent interview with Polanski and some of the people who have worked on the movie. The second bonus feature, far more interesting, is a featurette shot in 1968 which presents interviews of Mia Farrow and Roman Polanski, the director and the actors at work and a commentary of Mia Farrow (featurette only!) who was at that time experiencing a virulent peace and love syndrome. In short, she was adoring everybody. A great moment. However, I was disappointed by the quality of the images of the DVD. No white or black spots but sad colours appearing even in the night scenes. Too bad. A DVD for your library.
Rating:
Summary: My all time favourite movie.
Review: This is how horror should be. Horror should be horrific. And this movie succeeds in the best way...it creates suspense so intense it's discomforting. Polanski uses a great offbeat style in telling this demented tale of...I won't say...Farrow is terrific, Cassavetes is alright, and Gordon is great as the hilarious and annoying neighbour. This rivals Hitchcock in building suspense. I'm just rambling...I love this movie so much. Just watch it. Note: This will not satisfy gore afficionados or haunted house fans.
Rating:
Summary: a few details
Review: you've all said everything, so i'll just add a few nerdy things about a movie that is that rarest cinematic thing: perfect. mia farrow is in every-that's right, every single-scene, which is remarkable confidence for a world-famous director like polanski to repose in a little-known (TV) actress, but he evidently knew what he was doing... there is a scene in a phone booth, filmed in a single take, five minutes long, which establishes farrow's acting chops beyond a shadow of a doubt, capped by the producer's (william castle) sudden appearance at the door-which is polanski's quirky way of showing off the talent he mustered in this film. fans of john cassavettes say he did these acting gigs in order to make his own vastly superior films, but the fact is, cassavettes never made a film as good as this, however little money they may have made. and he's so good because polanski simply let him exercise his natural charm, which suited his duplicitous character. angela dorian introduces herself to rosemary by her real name (victoria vetri), which is an inside joke first applied to ralph bellamy in 'his girl friday'-and bellamy appears in this movie as dr. sapirstein. oh the horror, the horror!
Rating:
Summary: Popular Polanski.
Review: Polanski is one of my favorite directors, so it's no surprise he's responsible for 3 of my favorite movies of all time. -This one, and "The Tenant" (-where's that DVD, Paramount ?), and my favorite of ALL movies ever made; "The Fearless Vampire Killers" (-where's that DVD, MGM ?.) "Rosemary's Baby" is loaded with memorable scenes, and wonderful actors acting wonderfully in them. The picture quality is very good, and the only minus I can think of is the fact that the letterboxing only adds a tiny bit to the sides, while it unfortunately cuts off quite a bit from the top and bottom in comparison to the old fullscreen version. -This somewhat cramped look is bound to irritate some people, and they might even prefer their old tape. The bonus stuff (two documentaries) on the DVD is okay, but oddly enough there's no trailer. The making-of featurette has many interesting scenes from the shooting of the movie, but the newly produced documentary is not all that well made. -It's rather hectic and way too short (17 min.), but it's better than nothing of course. A true classic like "Rosemary's Baby" deserves something AT LEAST an hour long. Still, it's a must-buy for all Horrorheads, and I highly recommend you get this DVD.
Rating:
Summary: The best buy of the month.
Review: Yesterday I took home two of this month's DVD offerings - American Beauty and the film I review here. I still like the 5-time Oscar winner immensely, but the self-congratulatory cover of the "Awards Edition" is dripping with hype - I plan to store the disc in a plain envelope instead. So Rosemary's Baby comes as this month's winner. Evidently, the best and the most chilling horror films end with The Evil's triumph, they do not feature the gnarling monsters covered in slime - and somehow the effect is much more profound. Roman Polanski was at his peak that time - see how the film unravels, all the incidents can be explained rationally - as the pregnant girl fantasies - right till the last minutes. All the film you can expect the people around Rosemary prove they are what they seem - the nincompoop actor, the doting and endearingly eccentric old couple, the fatherly doctor - the reassuringly commanding figure. And the most thrilling aspect of the movie is the menace that lies beneath the happenings that look 97% normal. That feeling is very acute in the scene Roman Polanski likes the most (see his DVD interview) - the doctor and the husband lead their helpless victim to the waiting car, chauffeured by one of the coven, and the camera shows not only their progress - we see a big chunk of late afternoon New York with people strolling, relaxed, and the traffic rolls by leisurely, no one is aware of the drama that is happening just a few steps away. And there is no going back for Rosemary, the normal life ends, she is frantic but ultimately helpless. Another moment that the director calls his favorite is when Dr.Sapirstein sees the pills Ro has taken out of her handbag, takes them and shoves in his pocket. He is not angry - just disgrunted. Silly girl, a poor little thing trying to fight her glorious destiny. The casting is very good. Mia Farrow was famous only as an actress in the Peyton Place TV-series and the lack of Shakespearean background comes very handy in portraying an All-American newlywed moving into the nice appartment with the model husband to live her predictable and sweet mail-order style life. The coven is very Old World, the names are mostly weird-sounding, the film's undercurrent is the plot of senile and over-sophisticated Europe against youthful and happy America. We are lucky the initial candidates for the husband's part had declined or we would see Rosemary's Baby today as a Robert Redford movie or Jack Nicholson movie - the icons were not THAT famous back in 1968, not nearly, but today seeing one of them play the non-character would have been absurd. The pace is not forced, the director has a rather flattering view of our attention spans so the movie unfolds without the fear of becoming boring. Rosemary's Baby deserves at least two viewings - the first one in total ignorance of the plot's conclusion (though I do not think this can happen now) and the second with the full knowledge of the things to come, looking for hints and details. And the DVD is superb - it's mostly crisp image is a very welcome change from the vagueness of the tired VHS I own for the last decade.
Rating: 
Summary: Movie: Great. Sound: Bad.
Review: As every horror-movie fan knows, this film couldn't be better. Especially note-worthy on DVD is the scene where Mia Farrow gets pregnant. I had only seen this film on TV, and it was completely edited out. The scene is very creepy, and the devil actually makes an appearance. My only criticism with the DVD is the sound. It is Dolby Digital MONO. Not very exciting. We should be able to expect more by now from all DVD manufacturers. Please don't push DVD titles onto the market until they are truly DVD-worthy, technically.
Rating:
Summary: Polanski's Understated, Skillful Tour De Force
Review: The very elements that made "Rosemary's Baby" such an epic of understated suspense, escalating terror and subtle intrigue are the qualities that substantially undermine the DVD (unless you haven't seen the movie previously). I first saw this film many, many years ago and was nearly catatonic with fear at Polanski's masterful tale. It was certainly the director's finest hour as a filmmaker. However, I found my second viewing (via the newly-released DVD) somewhat of a letdown. I already knew the storyline, so the effects of Polanski's singular talents were significantly muted this time around. What DOES make this DVD worth the price of admission, though, are the extra features: 1) Interviews with Polanski, Richard Sylbert and Bob Evans; and 2) a "making of" featurette that delightfully showcases the warm and friendly rapport enjoyed by the director and Mia Farrow (Rosemary). The movie was filmed in the waning days of the famous "Summer of Love" in 1967, and the era's innocence and exuberance are sweetly captured here. Polanski's wondrously complex and contradictory personality is apparent - as is his childlike zeal for his craft. (Robert Towne ("Chinatown") has called him a "maddening delight" - and that's an apt depiction.) All in all, "Baby" was the work that justifiably propelled Polanski into the limelight - and it remains his most fully realized work.
Rating: 
Summary: A classic
Review: Rosemary's baby is a classic. Scary movies dont get much better than this. There isnt any gore or blood that make it scary its just scary watching rosemary's psychological torture being pregnant and not knowing who to trust. Watch this movie you wont regret it!!!
Rating:
Summary: The closest to perfection a film can get.
Review: It is impossible to sum up everything that is wonderful about Rosemary's Baby in a simple review. One could study this film for several lifetimes and still not have covered even half of it. This is one of those films that one can view again and again, without it ever becoming boring. Something new is noticed with each viewing - a piece of symbolism in one of the haunting dream sequences perhaps, or a vocal intonation from one of the characters, the list goes on and on. To finally own this movie on DVD is what many film lovers have been waiting for. It would have been nice had Roman Polanski actually recorded the proposed commentary track, and it would have been wonderful had Paramount been bothered to find the trailer, but I won't complain: a film as superb as this speaks for itself. Order this today, and see what film-making is truly about.
Rating:
Summary: THE Horror Classic
Review: "Rosemary's Baby" is truly the horror masterpiece of the 20th Century. Its stars are : 1. The gorgeous young Mia Farrow radiating innocence and purity. 2. The Dakota--a delightful old buildig just as splendid as it is menacing. 3. Ruth Gordon as a charming but evil old witch. What unfolds is part Hitchcockian suspense thriller (who are my strange new neigbors and what are they trying to do to me?), part Fruedian metaphor (guilt, fear of sex, strange dreams), part parable for the advancing decay of civilization (the demonic baby is the harbinger of a new dark age). Polanski was a genius to get such a scary effect with virtually no violence and no special effects. It has a great old fashined style of acting(very suited to Farrow with her very formal acting background and old Hollywood family--lots of conversations, dinners, etc. This movie could have been made in the 40s if there had been the right people. All you need is great writers, actors, and a great director (and the Dakota, or a similar gothic building). But alas, such quality is usually what's missing in the movie business. Showy effects and high budgets seem to crawl out from every rock in Hollywood. Get a copy of this jewel as soon as possible.
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