While most horror fans would tell you that the ‘70s were the heyday for the genre, with titles likeThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre,The Exorcist, andHalloweenscaring their way onto screens and into our hearts,the ‘60s weren’t too shabby either. It’s the decade that gave us favorites likeAlfred Hitchcock’sPsychoandGeorge A. Romero’sNight of the Living Dead, and - just before his life wasflipped on its headthe following year - 1968 sawRoman Polanskideliver the bundle of joy known asRosemary’s Baby. The movie is steeped in eerie visuals and an unsettling plotline that keeps audiences guessing, whileMia Farrow’s top-tier performance is the glue that holds it all together. Right now, audiences can head over to Paramount+ where the Certified Fresh 97%Rotten Tomatoesfilm is now streaming.
Eerie vibes pour fromRosemary’s Baby, which serves asIra Levin’s 1967 novel of the same name. In it, audiences are introduced to Rosemary Woodhouse (Farrow), who, along with her new husband, Guy (John Cassavetes), has just moved into a unit in the charming Bramford building in Manhattan. An actor by trade, Guy is still struggling to get his career off the ground when the pair discovers that Rosemary is pregnant. While Guy is away at rehearsals and auditions, the couple’s neighbors, Minnie (Ruth Gordon) and Roman Castevet (Sidney Blackmer), take Rosemary under their wings and treat her like their own child. Day by day, Rosemary begins to question her sanity as her sleeping hours are filled with life-like nightmares that chill her to the bone. As her pregnancy approaches,her paranoia grows to a fever pitch, as she wonders if her husband and their elderly neighbors are up to something deeply sinister.
The Legacy of ‘Rosemary’s Baby’
These days, we’re lucky to be inundated with horror movies that explore trauma, likeThe BabadookandHereditary, butRosemary’s Babywas one of the very first to really dig into the idea of a “deranged” woman. At every turn, Rosemary experiences gaslighting from her neighbors and her husband, until she’s psychologically pushed to the edge. Polanski’s quintessential horror flick has undoubtedly inspired a generation of filmmakers and even recently spawned a prequel film. TitledApartment 7A, theJulia Garner-led movie flips back the pages on what happened to the young woman who lived in the unit before the Woodhouse’s - a character who audiences meet inRosemary’s Baby.
Head over to Paramount+ now to stream one of the most talked-about horror movies in the history of the genre.
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.
