Roman Polanski’s American debut arrived with Rosemary’s Baby in 1968 and, to this day, the film remains a blistering masterpiece of mood, art, and mayhem. There’s a reason this tale is considered by many to be the benchmark of filmic horror entertainment.  Celebrated by fans of horror and people who could care less, the last time it appeared on blu-ray was via The Criterion Collection.  That fact alone should tell you all you need to know about the quality of Polanski’s thriller.

And now, thanks to Paramount’s 4K treatment, it is celebrating its debut on the 4K Ultra HD format and its 55th anniversary.

Adapted from a novel by Ira Levin, Rosemary’s Baby tells the tale of a young couple’s pregnancy after moving into an old Manhattan building with a very dark past.  Struggling actor Guy (John Cassavetes) and his stay-at-home wife Rosemary (Mia Farrow) find their peacefully happy lives suddenly interrupted with a dinner invitation from the elderly eccentric couple - Minnie (Ruth Gordon in a wonderfully twisted performance) and Roman Castevet (Sidney Blackmer) – who live next door.

The two couples, in spite of their age differences, are fast friends and share their innermost secrets over a span of a couple of months.  When a drugged Rosemary is impregnated, in a bizarre psychedelic scene that matches anything Kubrick assembled during his reign, suspicions are cast on everyone – including Guy – as Rosemary realizes that her kindly neighbors are up to something entirely evil and a bit mind-bending.

Featuring a fine performance by Ralph Bellamy and the film debut of a very young Charles Grodin, Rosemary’s Baby is heightened in intensity by the wonderfully engaged performances from every single member of the cast. The sweetness of Farrow (who had only previously done Soap Operas) is matched by the general aloofness of Cassavetes.  Still, it is the three-time Oscar nominated Gordon who steals the show and, for lack of a better expression, is simply a fully-rounded hoot.  She’s every bit deserving of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar she took home that year.

Shot by cinematographer William Fraker, Polanski manages to guide each scene with an avant-garde edge that keeps the film feeling fresh and intelligent.  While confined to a large apartment for most of the picture, the standout quality of the scenes, when added together, provide a sinister spaciousness that teases audiences with its own homegrown nightmarish situation.  That’s part of the magic in this maze.

Before the horror of her reality can physically transform Farrow (who debuts her famous boy-cut hair style as her health plummets during the ongoing stages of her demonic pregnancy), the audience is sucked into the baffling situation as her neighbors seem more interested in the baby than she does.  Visual Hypnotics 101.  Take note, Film School junkies.  Polanski is in full command of this darkly comic treatment of a pregnancy gone hellishly wrong.

Details linger, suspicions are thwarted, reaffirmed, and thwarted again in this paranoid free-for-all that ends in a classic exercise of mesmerizing horror.  Rosemary’s Baby, now available on 4K Ultra HD, is a superb classic of the genre.

55th Anniversary / 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital HD

Home Video Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Available on Blu-ray - October 10, 2023
Screen Formats: 1.85:1
Subtitles: English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Dutch
Audio: English: Dolby TrueHD 2.0 Mono; French: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; German: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Discs: 4K Ultra HD; Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set
Region Encoding: 4K region-free; blu-ray locked to Region A

The chilling classic that birthed a new direction in horror comes home for the first time in 4K Ultra HD. Based on the bestseller by Ira Levin (The Stepford Wives) and produced by William Castle (The House On Haunted Hill), it follows the horrific trajectory of newlyweds Rosemary (Mia Farrow) and Guy Woodhouse (John Cassevetes). When Rosemary becomes pregnant, her husband becomes odd, her neighbors (Sidney Blackmer and Academy Award winner Ruth Gordon) border on obsessive, and her normal life turns into a surreal nightmare. Slowly, she begins to realize that a seed of evil has been planted—and she is its host.

VIDEO

Presented by Paramount, the 4K Ultra HD upgrade – mined from a progressive scan of the original 35mm negative and fleshed out with a robust AVC encode – is a true delight of film.  The photography – made when we actually used real film – is a testament to the absolute importance of filmic texture.  With more depth in the scenes than previously noticed by this reviewer, the remastering job does indeed bless this picture with brand new life.  Colors are bold and full of juice.  Fine detail is luxurious and facial tones are smoothly spot-on. 

AUDIO

Jazz musician’s Krzysztof Komeda’s score is presented in a vibrantly balanced uncompressed Dolby soundtrack that is surprisingly full of life.

Supplements:

Commentary:

• None

Special Features:

• Given the history of the film, it’s a little bit of a downer that there are not any more than three supplemental items

• Rosemary’s Baby - A Retrospective

• Mia and Roman

• Theatrical Trailer

• Redband Trailer

	Movie
	Video
	Audio
	Extras
Composite Blu-ray Grade

MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 137 mins
Director: Roman Polanski
Writer: Ira Levin; Roman Polanski
Cast: Mia Farrow; John Cassavetes; Ruth Gordon
Genre: Horror | Thriller
Tagline:
Memorable Movie Quote: "He chose you, honey! From all the women in the world to be the mother of his only living son!"
Theatrical Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Official Site:
Release Date: June 12, 1968
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: October 10, 2023.
Synopsis: A young wife comes to believe that her offspring is not of this world. Waifish Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) and her struggling actor husband Guy (John Cassavetes) move to a New York City apartment building with an ominous reputation and odd neighbors Roman and Minnie Castavet (Sidney Blackmer, Ruth Gordon). When Rosemary becomes pregnant she becomes increasingly isolated, and the diabolical truth is revealed only after Rosemary gives birth.