Rosemarys Baby

 

 

Date Of Release: 12th June 1968

Director: Roman Polanski

Producer: William Castle

Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans, Ralph Bellamy

Running Time: 136 minutes

Distributor: Paramount Pictures


Review
Sometimes I wish I had never watched this film, not because it was a bad movie but because it creeped me out beyond belief! Ever since I watched it, I found myself being very wary of people for ages, always assuming that there was some kind of conspiracy going on. I suppose a film about the worship of Satan and the conception of demonic offspring would do that to a person.

Considering that the film involved Satanism, there were no reported unusual goings on set. The only thing that really happened was that Mia Farrow was served divorce papers by Frank Sinatra on set! This marital mishap however, attributed towards the scene were she was consoled during a party. Another emotion driven scene is the one were on the night Rosemary and her husband plan to conceive, their neighbour brings them over individual cups of chocolate mousse. Believing hers to have a chalky under taste, she throws it away. Not long after she passes out and starts having dreams that she is being raped by a Demonic presence in front of her husband and neighbours. She wakes up to find scratches all over her body, but her husband convinces her that it was just him. Farrow was said to have been traumatised at the prospect of having to do such a scene. Fortunately for her, it became one of the most famous and voted one of the scariest moments in film history. Looks like it was all worth it then!



What I love most about this movie is its borderline realness. By that, I don't just mean the fact that it could possibly happen in real life or that there are factors in the film that also happen to humans every day, what I mean is all the hidden little Easter eggs in the film that you wouldn't know about unless someone had told you or if you read it somewhere. For example, the above mentioned marital issues between Farrow and Sinatra playing a part in her emotional scene or the part were Rosemary calls Donald Baumgart. His voice was actually replaced by that of Tony Curtis. Farrow was not told this, she recognised the voice but couldn't place it, this helped her play the part of someone slightly confused very well. The best one was the scene were she wanders, dazed and confused into traffic. she was reluctant to do it but Polanski reassured her that "No one's going to hit a pregnant woman."

Some people are put off by the special effects, which I think is a bit ridiculous considering that it was made in the 60's! If you can, try and read the book firs as it truly is wonderful. It is one of the most controversial films you will ever see so if you are easily offended or are of a sensitive disposition, then this film is not for you.....and neither is this review for that matter...


　
Rating: 8/10 - Nobody puts (Rosemary's) Baby in the corner....

Hellraiser

 

Date Of Release: September 11th 1987 (UK) and September 18th 1987 (US).

Director: Clive Barker

Producer: Christopher Figg

Starring: Doug Bradley, Andrew Robinson, Ashley Laurence, Claire Higgins, Sean Chapman.

Running Time: 93 minutes

Distributor: New World Pictures



Review

I like to call myself a life long fan of this movie (considering that it was released the year I was born!). Through your life, you will have many films that you remember, but there will always be a few that really stick with you. This is how I feel about this movie. I watched it (too) young and it has always stuck with me. I dare say that I had nightmares about it, I watched it with my father one night (as we always watched horror movies together, despite my age!) and I remember thinking about it for weeks after. I was scared of it at first but them became curious about the story. I believe that was what started my long life love for horror.

This film is the epitome of 80's horror. The effects aren't the most amazing ones you will ever see but for what it lacks in that, it makes up with gore. If there was ever a line in the horror world, Clive Barker was not afraid to over step it! The film has a very dark, industrial feel to it (and I do not mean the music genre), full of dark colours, metal effects and chains....lots of chains. This leads to one of my favourite parts of the film, where one of the characters gets ripped apart by chains. Gruesome, I know, but something I had not seen done before. Like I said before, it sticks with you. An example of this would be from my darling boyfriend. He watched the film while eating a bowl of Cinnamon Grahams. The film freaked him out and now every time he smells cinnamon, he associates it with the movie....got to love a scaredy pants!



 

The film also dealt briefly with the subject of sadomasochism. Obviously, I did not know what that was when I was younger, but as I got older I learned and in doing that, I realised how clever the film actually was. We all know what a brilliant writer Barker is, and true to his talent, he managed to portray his vision of this world perfectly in this movie. I haven't read the book that the movie was based on yet, and no doubt when I do I will be envisioning these characters. Usually that would annoy me but I love Barkers imagination so much that I won't let it bother me.

Considering how popular the movie is and how much of a cult status it has accumulated over the years, it is hard to believe that when it was first released, it received mixed reviews. I bet those reviewers are kicking themselves a bit now. It has one of the most popular horror characters, one of the most famous quotes and one of the most famous authors as a director.....safe to say that it is a famous film...

Rating: 9/10 - Lets watch this, drink some beers then raise some hell!!!