After much searching, I finally got hold of a copy of the novel, Rosemary's Baby. RB is one of my all time favourite films; the build-up of creeping horror and suspense is amazing and the ending is one of the bleakest in modern cinema! I have to say, so far it doesn't disappoint and reading the novel, I realise what a faithful adaptation the film is. Even Ira Levin was impressed that Roman Polanski pretty much filmed the movie scene-by-scene from the book. Even the dialogue is spot on. I'm actually surprised at how hard it is to find the novel of Rosemary's Baby in the UK; Ira Levin is a staple of modern horror/thriller writers (he even has a street named after him in Silent Hill!), with books like The Stepford Wives, The Boys From Brazil and Sliver to his name. I'm a huge fan of his all-is-not-as-it-seems story-lines and Rosemary's Baby is one of the all-time greats of paranoid suspense. Highly recommended if you haven't read the book or seen the film; it was one of many movies in the late 1960's that changed the face of modern cinema.
Ooh, I've never read a Levin novel but do enjoy my horror, must check one out.
ReplyDeleteThey're not full on blood-and-guts horror but the suspense is awesome. Even though I've seen the film of RB a billion times, I still got really nervouse reading the book, even though I knew what whould happen! The Stepford Wives is a great book too.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen Rosemary's Baby in ages but I remember Mia Farrow putting in a really natural performance, made the horror of the situation so much worse. Might try the Stepford novel first, years since I saw that film too.
ReplyDeleteI am reading the book at present. I love the film and its true to the book. One thing that puzzled me in the book and film was the line guy says to Rosemary when they are being shown around the bulidin...'I did Hamlet a while back, didnt I liz?'. Why did he say the name Liz, can anyone enlighten me, an I missing something?
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