The deviousness of the strategy is its scale. And when she finally escapes to her own doctor, he’s in on it, too. The obstetrician they make Rosemary see is part of the coven. Everyone in the building appears to be in on it, including the lift attendant. The conspiracy stretches much further, however.

For instance, Minnie whips up a batch of laced chocolate mousse that Guy manipulates Rosemary into eating. The Castevets and Guy collude to keep Rosemary in the dark, using a combination of drugs and lies to stop her grasping the truth. They procure Rosemary through Guy to give Satan an Earthly son – a kind of inverse Jesus birth story, and/or a modern re-telling of several Greek myths. Roman and Minnie Castevet run the Bramford witches coven to serve Satan. Together, the trio use black magic to remove anyone who stands in their way, including Guy’s acting rival, and Rosemary’s friend Hutch.

By the end of the film Rosemary deduces they’ve bought his loyalty through career success. He’s a struggling actor … at least, until the Castevets intervene. Husband Guy (John Cassavetes) is first to fall for their neighbours’ charms. Indeed, as the book Hutch gives her proclaims, they’re All Of Them Witches: it’s a massive clue to what Rosemary doesn’t yet see. Like 1997’s The Game, it takes almost an entire city to pull it off. Rosemary’s gaslighting – her psychological manipulation – is an interesting phenomenon. Rosemary Woodhouse has been chosen to give Satan a son – she just doesn’t know it yet. Ultimately Rosemary’s Baby trumps its fantastical gothic origins with a true corker of excess. Yet it similarly relies on whispered secrets, mental fragility, hidden rooms and imprisoned women.Īs with other gothic tales, this means protagonist Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) is in for a rough ride. The plot is far more explicit with its erotic subtext than, say, Jane Eyre. Of course, the whole thing reeks of isolation and paranoia – this despite its cramped New York city backdrop.

Metropolitan gothic chicĪt the heart of Rosemary’s Baby lies an urban gothic horror story, complete with foreboding house, sickly housewife and the dread of the unknown. This article unpacks Roman Polanski’s 1968 film adaptation of Ira Levin’s novel Rosemary’s Baby – with spoilers. The eccentric old couple next door seem friendly enough – but when Rosemary falls pregnant she starts to suspect their interest in her unborn child. Guy and Rosemary Woodhouse are excited to move into The Bramford, an ornate New York apartment block with a notorious history. This classic adaptation of horror novel Rosemary’s Baby is a modern metropolitan gothic story with a trump card of sensational excess.

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin