7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Troubled and sexually repressed Rosemary has serious issues with her estranged father abandoning her as a little girl at an orphanage. Rosemary neglects the carnal needs of her boyfriend John, so John turns to prostitute Unis to satisfy his lascivious desires. In the wake of her father's sudden passing, Rosemary sinks into a deep depression and finds herself caught up in a surreal erotic nightmare world of sex and death.
Starring: Sharon Thorpe, John Leslie (I), Lesllie Bovee, Ken Scudder, Candida RoyalleErotic | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
None
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
1976’s “Baby Rosemary” (not to be confused with “Rosemary’s Baby) depicts a woman suffering a nervous breakdown over unresolved childhood issues. It’s also an adult movie. Director John Hayes and screenwriters Ruth Price and Virgil Rome take quite a leap of faith in trying to merge these distinctly opposites realms of filmmaking, and it’s a near-miss for the production. It’s not easy to blend violence and hardcore sex and come away with a cohesive viewing experience, and “Baby Rosemary,” while not a mess, remains an uneasy concoction that’s much too harsh to be hot, while the heat gets in the way of the psychological study. Hayes isn’t that strong of a helmer to get the picture from start to finish without losing his place in the grand disease of it all.
Damage is detected often in the AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation, with "Baby Rosemary" arriving on Blu-ray with substantial wear and tear at times. Frame damage is found periodically, along with a few stretches of warping, and mild scratches and speckling appear as well. Despite some visual setbacks, the overall look of "Baby Rosemary" is open for inspection, making it past some focus issues to deliver compelling clarity, keeping the actors in full view in and out of clothes. Set decoration is easily inspected, and costuming remains textured. A few outdoor encounters offer ideal distances to pick out San Francisco landmarks. Colors are inviting, handling vibrant primaries to keep the period look, also finding greenery intact. Delineation is acceptable. Grain is good, maintaining a tight, filmic look.
The 1.0 DTS-HD MA mix carries a bit more of a horror-centric sound design, with ghostly voices and brazen acts of violence helping to vary the listening experience. Clarity is acceptable, with dialogue exchanges easy to follow and sexual response loud. Spookier vocal effects are presented without disruption. Scoring provides tonal support with acceptable instrumentation, leading with flute-based music to help communicate fractured innocence. Atmospherics are blunt but reasonable.
There is no supplementary material on this disc.
Moments of "Baby Rosemary" are silly, certain scenes are repellent and sexual contact is cold to the touch. The film hopes to disturb with its display of ruined lives and daddy issues, and the ending is quite chilling, though I'm not sure it's meant to be. "Baby Rosemary" doesn't have a defined tonal direction, and while it ultimately strives for agonized profundity, it ends up short on enlightenment and catharsis. Lose all the money shots, and maybe the feature could find its way back to its original intent.
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