Repulsion review

 Number 473 on the top 1000 films of all time is Roman Polanski's 1965 psychological horror film 'Repulsion.'

Carol (Catherine Denueve) is a young Belgian beautician living in London with her sister Helen (Yvonne Furneaux) and Helen's husband Michael (Ian Hendry,) whom Carol hates. However, when Helen and Michael go away and leave Carol alone, she quickly spirals into insanity.

Repulsion is considered the first in an informal trilogy depicting the horrors of inner-city living along with other Polanski hits like Rosemary's Baby and Tenant. I'm not entirely sure how Repulsion could kick off such a trilogy especially since it was followed by the infinitely better Rosemary's Baby.

Much of my apathy towards the film stems from the rather tepid character of Carol who was nothing like the energetic Rosemary Woodhouse, played by Mia Farrow. Instead Carol seems to passively drift around her London flat jumping at every shadow. Even in moments where she takes agency like when she beats her sleazy landlord to death didn't seem very believable.

I understand Carol killing her would-be suitor Colin by hitting him from behind. But she kills her much bigger male landlord by slashing him to death with a straight razor. Surely, he would have been strong enough to fight her off. Carol's insipid nature also led to a rather insipid performance from the usually charismatic and empathetic Catherine Deneuve. Very much like Carol, she seemed to be going about the film in a daze.

The limited setting didn't help things either, very much making Repulsion a victim of its own success. Despite Rosemary's Baby having a similar limited apartment setting, it had so much more drama and conflict than Repulsion. Perhaps that was down to Carol being an unreliable narrator due to her declining mental health. Maybe she's hallucinating everything she saw. Maybe not. I don't know either way. And honestly? I didn't care.

And that very much sums up my reaction to Repulsion. I wasn't repulsed. Just apathetic.

Rosemary's Baby review

 Number 345 on the top 1000 films of all time is Roman Polanski's 1968 psychological-horror film 'Rosemary's Baby.'

Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) and her husband, stage-actor, Guy (John Cassavetes) are two newlyweds who have just moved to New York. Looking to settle down and start a family, they are soon expecting a baby. But Rosemary suspects that her husband and her neighbours have sinister intentions for her unborn child.

Production designer Richard Sylbert deemed this the "greatest horror film without any horror in it." I don't think I could have described this film any better. Despite not having any gore, jump scares or big, bad villain, Polanski still created an overwhelming sense of dread. True, the villains are a coven of witches, but it's not like Halloween, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre or the Wickerman where you can identify one key villain. 

You know that things are going to hit the fan - it's just a question of when. This is a film comprised of small, scary jigsaw pieces like the apparent suicide of Rosemary's neighbour or Guy getting the main part in a play, by virtue of another actor going inexplicably blind, which all add up to a frightening picture - Rosemary has been impregnated with the anti-Christ. All of these small parts culminate in a fever dream where Rosemary imagines that she is being raped by a demonic presence - perhaps even the devil himself. When she wakes up, she discovers that Guy actually raped her while she was asleep.

During production, Mia Farrow was undergoing with some marital problems with then-husband Frank Sinatra. He wanted her to leave the film and she was about to relent, before a studio executive convinced her to stay saying that she would win an Oscar for her performance. She stayed, Sinatra divorced her and Farrow wasn't even nominated for an Academy Award. Some have labelled this an egregious snub. I would agree. Farrow was great. She portrayed the fear, terror, but also resoluteness that you would expect from somebody like Rosemary.

I found it strange that Farrow wasn't nominated yet her co-star Ruth Gordon was not only nominated, but went onto win for Best Supporting Actress. Gordon played Farrow's neighbour Minnie Castevet - a busy body who becomes a little too involved in Rosemary and her unborn baby. It was a fine performance. It certainly wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination. Was it Oscar-worthy? Was it memorable enough to justify winning an Academy Award? I'm not too sure about that.

Nonetheless, Rosemary's Baby was probably one of the scariest horror films I've seen that didn't have any actual horror in it - other than Farrow being snubbed by the Academy, of course.

Roman Holiday review

 Number 230 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 1953 romantic-comedy Roman Holiday.

Princess Ann (Audrey Hepburn) is just completing her European tour in Rome. Sick of her diplomatic assignments she runs away for a night of fun. Enter hard-nosed journalist Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) who has been tasked with getting an exclusive interview with the princess but ends up falling in love with her.

Some have labelled Roman Holiday as one of the most romantic films of all time. I did enjoy it a lot, but I wouldn't go that far. I don't think there was enough conflict or tension running through the film. We see Ann and Joe scootering around Rome in a love-filled daze until it inevitably comes crashing down at the film's conclusion. But it might have been nice to see more worry and doubt throughout the film. We certainly saw the highs, but we also should have seen the lows. We needed that contrast.

Character-driven films like these rely on the strength of their two leads. And Hepburn and Peck were both good considering this was Hepburn's breakout role and Peck's first foray into comedy. He did very well with the comedy especially the physical comedy. At times the comedy descended into farce and incredulity, particularly the fight scene on the boat. Although perhaps I am unfairly judging it from my modern-standard. 

But there were still plenty of great supporting characters like Bradley's photographer friend Irving, Bradley's boss and all the small Italian roles especially the taxi driver at the film's beginning.

Is Roman Holiday an entertaining, fun romantic comedy? Yes. Is it one of the best romances of all time? No.