LOOK WHAT’S HAPPENED TO ROSEMARY’S BABY (1976)
TV-Movie
Article 2585 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-3-2008
Posting Date: 9-10-2008
Directed by Sam O’Steen
Featuring Stephen McHattie, Patty Duke, Broderick Crawford
Country: USA

Rosemary’s Baby (Andrew/Adrian) has a split personality. The devil worshipers dispose of Rosemary and attempt to make the child live up to their expectations. Complications arise.

Just knowing that this sequel to the classic horror movie was a TV-Movie was enough to really put me on my guard. To its credit, it doesn’t go in the direction I thought it would; given the popularity of THE OMEN earlier in the year, I thought it would merely be a TV-Movie rip-off of that one masquerading as a sequel to the Polanski film (though, truth be told, I suspect that it was the popularity of THE OMEN that drove this one being made at all). Having now seen it, I find myself almost wishing it WOULD have gone that way; instead, it takes us on a confusing, frustrating, and thoroughly unsatisfying ride. The subtlety and focus of the original movie is gone; instead, we have obvious scares combined with muddled plotting. There are moments here where the touches are simply laughable; in particular, the birthday cake with the candles shaped in the form of a pentagram struck me as utterly ludicrous. Of the original cast, only Ruth Gordon returns in her role of Minnie Castavet, but the character that worked so wonderfully in the original is painfully out of place in this mess; it’s no wonder she’s given very little to do. The biggest problem in the movie is the character of Adrian/Andrew; for a character with a dual personality, it’s a shame you don’t get even one well-developed character at all. On a side note, this is the second movie in a row in a which a character is named Peter in clear reference to the apostle of the same name (in this movie, he’s called Peter Simon, which is just that much more blatant). In the final analysis, the movie goes nowhere; it ends where it begins, and the only thing it does is dispose of a couple of characters from the original movie. Also, third-billed Broderick Crawford has about a minute of screen time. The cast also includes Tina Louise, Donna Mills, and in the Sidney Blackmer role, Ray Milland.