Rosemary's Baby - a classic thriller

One of the great things about cinema is that there's such an extensive back-catalogue of films you can never say you've seen it all. There's always something new to discover, always a new 'classic' that you've never previously heard of or considered worth investing time in. So it was with 'Rosemary's Baby', recommended to me by a computer algorithm on the Amazon website a number of times, I finally bothered to read the synopsis and decided that this was a film I had to see.

As a cult 1960s classic about devil worship in New York City, it sounds like the sort of film that should be firmly placed in the cannon of the horror genre. Perhaps it is, but it's a film that had never been on my radar until just recently; I wonder if there is a cult of horror fans out there who like to hoard all these classics to themselves and never tell other people about them for fear of making them mainstream. They shouldn't worry, I don't think this is a film that would ever be able to survive for too long in mainstream consumption - it's far too subtle and psychedelic for that.

The plot revolves around a woman - Rosemary, played by Mia Farrow - her pregnancy and her increasing paranoia that a satanic cult exists in her block of flats and is planning to steal and kill her child. This is a story that works on number of levels. Firstly there is Rosemary's fear of losing her baby - a terrifying concept for pregnant couples to entertain. Secondly there is Rosemary's fear that those around her are out to get her. From her neighbours to her doctor and her husband, is her fear born out of delusion or is it real? Thirdly there is the fear of going mad. How do you prove that something you know to be real - but sounds absurd - is truth rather than fiction? How do you convince people you are not mad. Lastly there is the fear of the unknown. This is first time she has been pregnant, she has no idea what it is meant to feel like. When her neighbour gives her a special 'tonic' drink which gives her permanent stomach cramps, who is she to disagree with the assertion that this is perfectly normal?

It's this primal fear that drives the film along. There is one early scene in which our main character hallucinates (or does she?) being raped by a demonic creature, but aside from that all the tension comes from the awkwardness that Rosemary's neighbours and doctors show towards her. What are they hiding? Why are they hiding it? Are they really witches? Is Rosemary going mad? Will anyone believe her?

The ending is very satisfying and I am not going to give it away here. It certainly made the rest of the film worthwhile. If anyone has any cult movie recommendations that may have passed the mainstream by let me know - I'm going to be seeking more out in the near future.