'ROSEMARY' REVIEWED

Roman Polanski's 1967 chiller, ROSEMARY'S BABY, is arguably the most influential pre-EXORCIST modern occult film. Using the potent elements of suspense, anxiety and psychological terror, and combined with the gradual revelation of the evil that surrounds the main character, it was at the time, unequaled.

Australian-born Gordon Gow's haughty and condescending review of ROSEMARY'S BABY in the March, 1969 of the UK movie magazine, FILMS AND FILMING, is however, not so enthusiastic. Gow has a major malfunction with the use of humor, and in particular, with Ruth Gordon's role, which I personally find quite subtly sinister despite his description of her as a "chirpy, herb-ridden hag" that would "seem overdone in TV's BEWITCHED." Gow continues his arrogant fusillade against the film by diminishing the output of the supporting actors by referring to them in what he considers better films.

Despite Gow's stuffy review, ROSEMARY'S BABY grossed over $33 million in the U.S., filmed on a budget of just $2.3 million. So, there!