Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Despite Roman Polanski’s infamous horror being widely regarded as one of the best horror films of all time, it suffers from its ending like so many of its genre. Pre-dating Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973) by five years and based on Ira Levin’s 1967 novel, Polanski’s film mainly concerns Rosemary’s unusual pregnancy shortly after moving into a new home, whilst her husband seems oblivious to her problems and her overly friendly neighbours are somewhat eerily too concerned. The build up is excellently paced, and the dream (or not) sequence in which Rosemary is assaulted is genuinely unsettling; a really well shot horror show. This ends up being the films’ center piece; after this the viewer either leans one way or the other in terms of Rosemary’s sanity which keeps the film balanced until the arrival of the baby and the films’ almost farcical final sequence. It’s a shame because until then, it almost comes off as a well-paced thriller with horror elements; although evidently this is a minority viewpoint, critically this is often heralded as Polanski’s masterpiece. 6.7/10