Rosemary’s Baby

---

“A young couple trying for a baby moves into an aging, ornate apartment building on Central Park West, where they find themselves surrounded by peculiar neighbors.”

This is one of those movies that I watch over and over again. There were more movies surrounding things like witchcraft and the Devil popping up in the 60’s and while some relied on campy plots or an abundance of nudity, Rosemary’s Baby weaves in everything from conspiracy, events of the times and how women’s roles lended to one of my favorite movies.

Aside from the supernatural aspect, this film is almost a bit of a puzzle for you to solve because it’s seen from the point of view of Rosemary, leaving all other elements a mystery. You know that there has to be something going on with her pregnancy – hence the title – but from the beginning, you’re clued into the fact that the hotel and those who reside in it have more to them than first glances give.

MINOR SPOILERS FROM HERE!

While the suspense and supernatural are supposed to be the horror, there is one small scene that makes my skin crawl every time.

After the “dream” rape sequence, Rosemary wakes naked in her bed with scratches on her body. To keep up the ruse that things are “normal,” her husband apologized and swears he has gone ahead and trimmed his nails. When she asks him he’d had sex while she was passed out, he stated he didn’t want to miss baby night and that it was fun “in a sort of necrophilia way.” GAH! Creep!

Rosemary is met at every turn by people trying to say she’s paranoid, playing on the facts that she’s a woman and pregnant. Maybe the true horror here are misogynists.