Wicked Review of a Horror Classic: Rosemary's Baby by Michael Newton, British Film Institute

Although film is one of the great loves of my life, I only ever did one year of film study at uni. As part of the course we were shown Citizen Kane, which I saw for the second time. We were then expected to produce a detailed overview of any aspect of a single film. Understandably most of my classmates did Citizen Kane which of course by then had been done to death. I chose the path less travelled and decided that my review would be about Terry Gilliam's Brazil, which had just opened. This resulted in me attending the cinema several times to see it with a torch scribbling notes. Anyway, I got a "B", probably just because the lecturer got tired of reading hundreds of reviews of Citizen Kane.

So it was with some trepidation that I picked up this book about one of the greatest and most influential horror films ever, Rosemary's Baby. I needn't have worried. This book is eminently approachable, in fact I read it over barely two days, I found it unputdownable. Everything you want to know this most complex and ambiguous of films is here: inspiration, conception, direction, editing, cast, perspectives, cultural themes, influences, et cetera et cetera. The passion and the admiration Michael Newton feels for this work is clearly transmitted to the reader. Towards the end I was getting a little leery that Mr Newton wouldn't dare to address the scandal and controversy surrounding Roman Polanski, but he did.

What can I say? If you like the horror genre, this book will not only entertain you but give you fantastic insight into this film and its place in the history of the big-screen and horror in particular.

Thank you as always to NetGalley for allowing me access to a free copy of this book