Rituals, the Devil, oh, poor me, I am such a bore

 LOOK WHAT'S HAPPENED TO ROSEMARY'S BABY (1976)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

A TV-movie sequel to a classic, terrifying horror film about a coven of Satanists who conjure the Devil to rape poor Rosemary (Mia Farrow) is asking for trouble. After all, how can anyone even top what director Roman Polanski achieved when he mixed black humor and unimaginable (and imagined) unspeakable horrors in a first-class film of absolute restraint? Look no further than the 1976 sequel itself titled "Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby" which features good actors cast adrift in a movie that loses focus. 

Patty Duke is Rosemary Woodhouse (obviously replacing Mia), who is sheltering her son Adrian, now a young 8-year-old boy, from the Castavets who conjure the forces of evil to locate Rosemary. The Castavets first fail, then they succeed as they take the boy and Rosemary is left in a possessed bus never to be heard from again (Say what?) The Castavets are a strange couple played by Oscar-winning Ruth Gordon (reprising her Oscar win from the original) as the colorful Minnie and Ray Milland replacing the creepier Sidney Blackmer from the original as Roman - missing this time is their hideously gaudy outfits which made them seem initially less evil. 

Then the film flash-forwards to a twenty-something Adrian who works at a casino where he sings and plays guitar with a third-rate rock and roll band! This weary, gaunt Adrian is played by the amazing Stephen McHattie who always holds the screen with his steely gaze but he's not asked to do much other than gaze and appear weary. At one point, he goes berserk after being subjected to a ritual by the Castevets and is seen in whiteface makeup and red painted dashes on his eyelids as he takes control of the stage and the band to do nothing other than...gaze. A cross is burned into his skin earlier in the film and perhaps that may be the reason why (SPOILER ALERT) he might not be the Devil's Son and can't be subjected to rituals, though this is a dangling plot hole at best. 

All the actors are adequate (including Donna Mills as a far too concerned nurse) yet there is nothing to gravitate towards, no character to identify with and not enough story. The Castavets had already set their sights on Adrian since his conception so what more is there to say? That they can't control him yet he is the Devil's Son? McHattie is wasted here, seemingly lost and uncertain to resonate as a guy who realizes he is the Spawn of Satan. Sometimes you are not sure if he realizes it and quickly the film becomes more than a chore to sit through. And an anticlimactic ending leaves more questions than answers and practically negates the entire film not to the mention the original film. The film "Rosemary's Baby" sent a fervent chill to the bone that burned through the screen in its famous last scene. This one will make you wish Rosemary's Baby did not grow up to be such a jaded bore.