Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby

You might want to see this tepid movie of the week out of morbid curiosity, but please, don't go out of your way. First off, Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby didn't need a sequel--the haunting, ambiguous ending is supremely creepy and leaves you with something to think about. And if it did need a sequel, it certainly didn't need one as poor as this. Note the numerous inconsistencies with the original: If Adrian/Andrew was born in 1966, why is he in his twenties by 1976? Why is the Manhattan apartment building now sitting on a huge lawn? Minnie and Roman are present, but where are the other members of the original coven? And why have they now decided to refer to the coven as "the tribe"?

And of course, a talented cast is entirely wasted. Ruth Gordon, who won an Oscar as Minnie in the original, is reduced to a braying cartoon character. A semi-recreation of the Satainic rape scene is really lame. This may have been made to cash in on The Omen, as it bears more resemblance to that film than it does to Rosemary's Baby. If you want to see better execution of a similar theme, see The Devil's Daughter (1972). Cult film reviewer Michael Weldon summed up this disaster with the sarcastic question, "How about a TV sequel to Repulsion, too?" Indeed.

With its few touches of surrealism, LWHTRB works as low-grade horror, but as a major follow-up statement to the original, it flounders miserably.

Things begin somewhat promising during the telefilm's opening credits... We see and hear several interesting shots and sounds: The Baby's black crib with the overhanging, inverted cross; the kitchen knife Rosemary carried into the Castevette's apartment and dropped in shock (the utensil is shown sticking out of the hardwood floor); and the emptiness of the Bramford itself, without tenants or furniture (voice-overs can be heard here from the previous film's dialog). Interesting too is the Easter Egg hunt the titular child participates in (the eggs and baskets are also black). Once the story gets rolling, it never really 'rolls'... And what happens to Rosemary when she boards that driverless bus, and is whisked away to God-knows-where?

Patty Duke (a poor replacement for Mia Farrow), Ray Milland and Tina Louise (as the Southwestern Whore who raises the child, "Adrian/Andrew") head this almost-star cast, with Ruth Gordon reprising her "Minnie" role.

Although not a total failure, this sequel-of-sorts should have been released in book form first, then maybe we all could have been a bit better informed... and not left totally in the dark. A fairly recent sequel novel "Son of Rosemary" (1999?) is the legitimate followup by Ira Levin himself.

This film is a bad film but to gain any nutritional value from it I recommend watching it back to back with Rosemary's Baby.

There is a lot to learn seeing how different directors can draw different performances from the same actors playing the same characters. Observe Minnie Castevet (Ruth Gordon) and the fine work she did in the first film vs the awful rendition in this film.

It is also interesting to see how the same characters were played by different actors. Which leads me to wonder if anyone involved with the sequel were aware of the first film and did any of them watch Rosemary's Baby before making this?

If your interest in films is purely superficial then you would best avoid this one. I have a lot more to say about this film but I really don't want to go there.

I usually seek to find good in movies, even the bad ones.Unfortunately this movie is one where I fail miserably-and the fact that there's barely one positive review on this board shows many IMDb reviewers share my pain.

I don't usually watch sequels but I just had to see this since I love "Rosemary's Baby" so much. What a mistake that was. It simply reaffirms my belief in the fact that most sequels are lousy-though thankfully, very few are as bad as this. In fact in my mind this isn't even really a sequel, it's a satire on how bad a sequel can be. Movie recommended very highly for not viewing-at any time-ever.

I am only eleven years old, and even I think this is one of the most laughable movies ever! Patty Duke would have made a good Rosemary, if only there was another director! I know that she is a very good actress, for I saw her as a child in The Miracle Worker. I am a huge fan of the original and bidded for this movie and almost went as far as to pay 50 dollars for it. I finally found it for sixteen dollars on ebay.com. I got it and wondered why I even bothered, wasting all that energy over a very mediocre film! I heard there is a movie called Rosemary is Pregnant Again, and have wondered if it is connected in any way. I can't find it anywhere. All I know is thatthis movie will probably stay on my shelf forever until another unsuspecting victim comes in and wants to see it. Then, I can finally get rid of it! This film gets a 2/2 out of 5, for sheer dumb luck. I'd rather go watch the movie PI.