Rosemary's Baby

In a bonus feature interview, actress Zoe Saldana insists that this 2014 two-part miniseries is not a remake of Roman Polanski's brilliantly creepy 1968 film—but it is. The location has been changed and the time updated to modern-day, but otherwise the narrative doesn't stray from either novelist Ira Levin's original unnerving premise or Polanski's sinister take on witchcraft and devil worship. Rosemary Woodhouse—an appealingly strong yet vulnerable Saldana—and her husband, Guy (Patrick J. Adams), have fled New York to start anew in Paris (following Rosemary's miscarriage) with a plum teaching assignment for Guy at the Sorbonne. They “chance” upon a huge apartment in an ornate old building, complete with high-class neighbors who seem to have unnatural designs on Rosemary. Of course, it's her baby they want, conceived in a paroxysm of hallucinatory violence with someone who is decidedly not her husband. Carole Bouquet and Jason Isaacs are terrific as the mysterious Margaux and Roman Castevet, whose coven needs Rosemary's spawn for anti-divine guidance. The lovely Parisian locations are used to great effect by director Agnieszka Holland, and she brings suspense and a seductive touch to the script. The psychological elements are balanced by a fair amount of gore (a bite of fresh human heart?), but the material still strains against the restraints of broadcast TV and might have been better served by the freedom of pay cable. Extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes. A strong optional purchase. (T. Fry)