Along with Psycho
and Night of the Living Dead, Rosemary’s Baby was one of the crucial
American horror films of the 1960s. A deeply unsettling and incredibly
entertaining film, Roman Polanski’s parental horror is also significant for its
attitude about supernatural fear films. It envelops the viewer in sincere
terror only to pull back at the last minute to chuckle at all this demonic
nonsense from the corner of its fanged maw. Living
Dead would become the midnight movie phenomenon in the seventies, but Rosemary’s Baby better established the
ironic tone of cult films.
Widely regarded as one of the very best of its genre, Rosemary’s Baby has simply been dying
for proper treatment on DVD. Having already produced luxurious discs of
Polanski’s Knife in the Water, Repulsion, and Cul-de-sac, Criterion was the natural choice to give Rosemary’s Baby a rebirth. When the
company asked Facebook users for suggestions for future releases last year, I
voted for Rosemary’s Baby. So
naturally, I’m thrilled by Criterion’s new reissue of the film.
Criterion consistently delivers the finest remastering and
packaging a film could receive, and Rosemary’s
Baby is no different. It sounds and looks pristine while still retaining
the earth-toned haze that makes it the perfect late-sixties time capsule. A bonus
disc offers a 1997 radio interview with Rosemary’s
Baby novelist Ira Levin, a feature-length documentary about jazz artist and
soundtrack composer Krzysztof Komeda (featuring Polanski), and most appealing
to fans, a 47-minute documentary on the making of the film. New interviews with
Polanski, Mia Farrow, and producer Robert Evans carry the doc, which is also
interspersed with enticing behind-the-scenes footage of Mia Farrow doing some
hippie-ish clowning on set and producer (and thwarted director) William
Castle’s cameo. According to Polanski, the original cut of the film was four
hours, so it’s too bad deleted scenes weren’t available for this release. But
my only real gripe is that the discs do not come out of the case easily. Every
time I pulled one out, I was shocked I didn’t snap it in half! That would have
been a terrible shame considering how fine these disc are.
