The Battle of B: Rosemary’s Baby vs. It’s Alive!
Rosemary's Baby
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Rosemary's Baby = Roman Polanski's first American feature film, released the year of my birth (an event all in itself that would make the year go down in history) that was based on Ira Levin's book of the same title released in 1967.
This psychological horror flick features Mia Farrow as Rosemary, who along with her husband Guy, move into a New York apartment building that seems to be inhibited mostly by the elderly. One elderly couple in particular begins to take a shine to the young couple, and meddle their way into the young couples lives.
Soon after, Rosemary and Guy decide they want to start a family. It's at this time that Rosemary is visited by the elderly couple and given a celebratory chocolate mousse that seemingly drugs Rosemary and causes her to hallucinate that she is being raped by a "beast."
Guy convinces Rosemary that she was having a nightmare (after their night of baby making, of course) so lo and behold, she winds up pregnant and even more surprisingly, Guy's struggling acting career begins to flourish.
You would think life couldn't be any better, but good luck and coincidences are not something Rosemary gambles on and soon paranoia take over her world. She becomes convinced that her meddling neighbors are not what they seem, and that her unborn baby is "not of this world."
To make matters worse, Rosemary discovers that her neighbors are in fact the leaders of a coven of witches and starts to believe they want her baby for a sacrifice!
Eventually Rosemary learns the horrific truth, that her husband Guy allowed the devil to impregnate her in exchange for his successful acting career. It is with horror and heavy heart that she is confronted with the awful reality that her new baby is the long-awaited anti-christ, born June 1966 (6/66.)
Rosemary's Baby received both acclaim and controversy. Acclaim for the actors and the convincing portrayal of their roles, as well as the direction of the macabre psychological thriller, to where some critics claimed that Polanski's abilities surpassed famed Alfred Hitchcock.
Controversy in that the film was one of the first with the theme of Satanism and the occult, resulting in the National Catholic Office for Motion Pictures reviling the film, condemning it for "the perverted use which the film made of fundamental Christian beliefs, especially surrounding the birth of Christ, and its mockery of religious persons and practices." These criticisms were due in part to sequences depicting Rosemary's guilt over her lapsed Catholicism, anti-religious references to the Pope, the portrayal of Rosemary's pregnancy as a sexually-transmitted disease, and the film's view of Satanism as the birth of the Anti-Christ.
Interesting and ironic trivia surrounding this movie is that the plot would be similarly played out one year later when Polanski's pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, would be terrorized and murdered by the strange cult of Charles Manson followers in her Benedict Canyon home.
Equally interesting and ironic is that Manson's followers titled their death spree "Helter Skelter" after the 1968 song by The Beatles; of which John Lennon would one day live (and in 1980 be murdered) in the Manhattan apartment building called The Dakota - where Rosemary's Baby had been filmed.
Rosemary's Baby paved the way for future terrifing movies of the occult such as The Exorcist (1973), The Omen (1976), and several B movies that slipped under the radar. One of which is a cult favorite of mine, entitled It's Alive.
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It's Alive!
Irony seems to follow Rosemary's Baby and the release of It's Alive in 1974 only furthered that following. Larry Cohen, who wrote the screenplay for Roman Polanski's theatrical hit, also wrote and directed It's Alive.
The Davies' couple rushes to the hospital as mom Lenore goes into labor with her second child. This movie wastes no time in getting to the punch as we discover that the bouncing new baby boy is an unsightly monster with an impressive set of fully-developed canines and razor-sharp talons. After brutally killing all the doctors and nurses, the grotesque baby-thing takes off into the air ducts.
And thats just the beginning!!
Mr. Davies, ashamed of his new "child" sets out with the police to hunt down and kill his demonic offspring. It's only after his demon seed has brutally killed several people across the town, that he able to finally corner his "son" in the sewers.
It is then that dear old dad realizes that his dear baby boy means him no harm, and was only striking at those who made him feel threatened. Mr. Davies makes a last-ditch effort to save his baby, but the police will have none of it and shoot the mutant thing to smithereens. The last line of the movie is a cop telling the father, "another one's been born in Seattle" (it appears this "baby" was the result of our planet becoming too polluted, and this was the "living" result of all the pollution in people's systems.)
Holy crapoly was it good! Campiness, cheesiness, and gore all rolled so uniquely into one! And on such a low budget!
But wait! It gets better!
There is a 2nd and 3rd sequel! I haven't seen those two yet so if any of you have please let me know if I need to get them. Sadly I have not seen It's Alive in almost 10 years and I can't wait to go find it this weekend to see if its as wonderful as I remember it to be.
Lordy... it's movies like these that make me happy I have no kids......
Hey Petra. Good review. I remember the first time I saw Rosemary’s baby. Good movie. Thanks.
Relax Maxs last blog post..More pub fare: Pies
Wow.
Thats a tame response for you Max.
I think I feel slighted.
Bite me, Petra.
Relax Maxs last blog post..When in doubt, steal from your friends
The world’s greatest lover sent me to tell you that bite me is not 80s. The Death Car in Animal House had a sign on it that said Bite Me and that movie took place in the early 1960s. I wouldn’t know, of course. But the STUD says a person who runs a movie blog should know that sort of thing already without having to be told.
Ummm, Petra? Please don’t call me names again. I’m only the delivery person. I really like you a lot. Except for your fixation on dead people. So, can we be friends?
Candy Girls last blog post..When in doubt, steal from your friends
I also want to compliment you on your new look on your blog. Maxy didn’t tell me to say this, but I really like it. Some of it is practically readable now. Thanks, Petra.
Candy Girls last blog post..When in doubt, steal from your friends
Can I annoy you once more about the layout?
Okay
I love the latest incarnation of the horrific lil blog of horrors, I was just wondering if the latest post could be highlighted a bit more than the rest? Maybe with a picture from the post and a bit more writing?
Claires last blog post..Killer monster moths and a mum update.
thats one of my gripes too, Claire, and the guy that wrote the code is overseas for 2 more weeks so I can’t have him fix it for me – I have to figure it out myself.
ARGH!
CANDY – tell MAX that I was giving him the benefit of the doubt on his age (who doesn’t know the movie Animal House?) but everyone knows the 80’s practically rewrote everything about the 70’s, including reinventing the “bite me” phrase.
As far as your compliment of my blog, thank you. And I will do my best not to confuse you with that counterpart of yours again.
Sorry if it appeared that I was being annoying
You were not being annoying, Claire. You were merely pointing out things that already have me frustrated and can do nothing about so for now I am taking it out on the monkey.
He thanks you for that BTW
Thanks for the visit to the Uranium Cafe Petra. I will link you there later in my blogroll since your site is maintained regularly and has some nice reviews of the types of movies I love. Rosemary’s Baby is one of my favorite films and I just watched it a couple months ago with my wife and she liked so much we went out and bought the Roman Polanski boxed set.
One bit of trivia I can add to your good essay is that the movie actually was NOT shot inside the Dakotas, but in a studio set in Hollywood (maybe a set in New York but I am sure it was LA) as the Dakotas would not allow filming on the inside. Only exterior shots were used. I was disillusioned when I found this out only recently. From what I understand they allow no filming inside the building for films.
I like Larry Cohen films and thought Its Alive was good campy fun, not in the same league of film as Rosemary of course, but a thoroughly enjoyable ride. When I 1st saw I went to the theater with a friend and I wanted to see Ralph Bakshi’s animated Wizards. My friend was so bored and complaining so much we left the theater and snuck into Its Alive. It was a great movie, though I did not care for the sequels as much. My favorite Larry Cohen film is God Told Me To.
Bills last blog post..TWO NICE ANIMATIONS – FAMISHED ZOMBIES AND EARTH VS THE SPIDERS
I do not know if my posts get through to you? I think I have tried to send a couple more but do see them. Maybe they need monitored or they in cyber space somewhere. If you get these last 2 will let me know okay so I can relax and send more.
Tahnks
Bill at the Uranium Cafe
Bills last blog post..TWO NICE ANIMATIONS – FAMISHED ZOMBIES AND EARTH VS THE SPIDERS
Hello again, dear Petra. I just wanted to make one teensy correction if I might. And that is that I don’t have any counterparts. I only have regular parts.
And while I am here, though, I want to commend you for making an effort to be nice to that bossy Claire person. Of course she is annoying, but you were kind enough not to rub her face in it as others might have. I know, for example, that Max is afraid of her because she is so powerful now. She could just kill his blog or your blog, too, Petra, if she wanted to. So you and Max must suck up to her, and I understand that. But my personal blog is so small, she doesn’t really intimidate me. So, if she ever came telling me what to do like she does to you and Max, I think I would probably just kick her Limey ass. Know what I mean? ‘bye for now.
And then I would probably make a big doodle of her laying there in the street holding her kicked ass.
Please make it clear that this definitely not Max talking, Petra. Max LOVES Claire. K?
Candy Girls last blog post..Cajuns and Castles
Candy – For starters, Clairebear is a doll and I adore her so I have no desire to crush her like a bug and I actually value her opinion. As far as her crushing ME like a bug- HAH! If anyone is reading my blog simply due to her presence, then I strongly suggest they stay away as it is a false following and I have no time for such drivel nor do I want it. Trust me when I say I am not worried about my fans abandoning me.
My blog is intended for B entertainment. Max on the other hand enjoys the “chatroom” feel made so popular in the 90’s. For that effect, Claire has great value as people do tend to flock to her like sheep. I find it rather ironic that Max likes to write about places that specialize in sheep, now that I think about it…..
Anyway, I would love to check out your blog Candy, however all your links take me to Max’s blogs, hence my initial confusion as to which personality Max may have been using……….
Bill- thank you for stopping by! Your comments will soon start posting immediately, it’s just that first couple have to be approved by me so that WP knows you are not a spammer.
I agree with you that It’s Alive is nowhere near comparable to Rosemary’s Baby – you will find (in archives somewhere) that I tend to draw attention to the fact that most B movies seem to be inspired by blockbuster hits. I like that as both flavors are satisfied; the flavor for substance and the flavor for cheese. I have not seen “God told me so” but I will definitely check it out. Thanks for the heads up as I love being told of B stuff I have missed along the way.
I do have many more movie reviews in the works. Occasionally a tangent is taken (as you can see from the comments) however I have been on a B movie craze so it’s just a matter of finding the time to post about them all.
Anyway thanks for stopping by, and I foresee myself visiting your blog on a regular basis as well. Fellow fans of B are always worth visiting. ?