This was one where I read the book before seeing the movie, both of which I did over Halloween weekend (Happy Halloween to me!).
I had read, and admired Ira Levin’s Boys from Brazil years ago. Part of my issue with those kinds of high concept stories is that writers get too lost in the concept itself and fail to tell the story. Levin does not suffer from that problem. I’ve probably waited too long to read this (Stepford Wives as well).
The premise is well known to most and large parts of the story had already been spoiled for me so the twists, which probably shocked in 1968, weren’t as big of a deal. But I did enjoy how Levin teased things out, building Rosemary’s unease little by little along with the sinister Belford apartment complex until it was too late for her, for the baby, for everyone.
One thing I appreciated too is how the reader doesn’t need encyclopedic knowledge of Catholic Christianity to help. I’m well versed in the subject so some of the notes resonated with me but as long as you get the core concept of Jesus=good and Satan=bad, you should be able to follow through with it from there.
The book itself is an easy read so I was curious as to how it was adapted for a movie run time of 2.15 but it’s a faithful exploration of the book and its themes in horrifying visual form. Quite a way to observe Halloween weekend. Hope you all enjoyed.