Rosemary's Baby

I absolutely love Rosemary's Baby (1968) and I think it is one of the most perfectly executed horror films of all time. There are so few movies that keep you at the pace of their main characters, where you don't know what's going to happen next, that it makes this stand out even more.

Rosemary Woodhouse is a newlywed, married to an up and coming actor in New York City. They move into a new apartment and are immediately welcomed by the neighbors after a tragedy puts them in the same place at the same time. But is this fate? Strange things soon begin to happen to Rosemary and she soon starts to question who around her is on her side and who is out to hurt her. In the end she discovers the truth, something truly chilling and terrifying with an ending that blows the viewer's mind.

They just don't make horror movies like this anymore, I could watch this film a hundred times. (9.2/10)

Repulsion

I was really looking forward to this movie. I think the only other Polanski film I've seen until now was Rosemary's Baby, and that is one of my favorite films of all time. I was thinking another psychological horror film from the same director made around the same time would be just as good, but I was wrong.

Repulsion (1965) is supposed to be a movie about sexual repression and how it can affect the mind. It's drawn a comparison to David Lynch's Eraserhead, another one of my favorite movies. I see the similarities, but the difference is the execution. Repulsion lumbers along from one scene to the next, every scene lasting too long and some not needed at all. I can appreciate the film and some of the visuals are quite startling, but in the end I don't think it was made all that well from any aspect.

For a movie titled Repulsion, I was expecting a bit more than what I found. (6.1/10)

Circus of Horrors

I stumbled upon this movie on TCM after watching the terrific final sequence of Tod Browning's Freaks. They were having a circus night and I knew I couldn't watch the whole movie, so I recorded it and watched it later. It was definitely an interesting experience.

Circus of Horrors (1960) looks like it was made on a micro-budget. The only part that's really impressive is the circus set-up itself, which was apparently an already existing circus. The film centers around a plastic surgeon who uses a circus as a front to "fix" deformed female criminals and keep them bound to his circus by blackmailing them with their past crimes. Anytime one of them tries to leave the circus, he finds a way to "accidently" kill them during the show.

The acting was on par with most smaller movies from the time period; a bit of overacting, but generally not too bad. I have to say my biggest dissatisfaction comes from a bear mauling that happens at the beginning of the film. The bear is clearly a large stuffed animal, if not a person in a bear suit, and it gives the scene a hokeyness that doesn't sit well with the rest of the film.

Overall, a good effort and a decently entertaining film. (6.3/10)