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The Castevets are the main antagonists of the 1968 psychological horror film Rosemary's Baby. They are an elderly couple who live next door to Rosemary Woodhouse and her husband Guy. In reality, they are members of a coven who are planning to bring the Antichrist into the world to rule.
Roman was portrayed by the late Sidney Blackmer, and Minnie was portrayed by the late Ruth Gordon, who also portrayed Abigail Mitchell in Columbo.
Biography[]
Roman was originally called Steven Marcato, and he was the son of a satanist called Adrian Marcato who conjured the devil many years ago. In order to hide his true identity, Steven changed his name to Roman Castevet (which is an anagram of his original name).
Roman eventually married Minnie at some point, and they started a plan to bring about the Antichrist along with a cult of satanists. They first rehabilitated a girl called Terry from drugs and invited her to live with them. They then tried to manipulate her into giving birth to the Antichrist. Terry was mysteriously found dead shortly after meeting Rosemary (who had recently moved into the same apartment building as the Castevets following the death of the previous tenant). The exact circumstances of Terry’s death are ambiguous, but it can be inferred that she was either killed by the Castevets for turning on them, or she found out about the Castevets’ plan and took her own life in order to escape from her grim fate.
After the death of Terry, the Castevets, taking note of Rosemary’s kind and gentle nature, begin to manipulate her. They start by befriending her and Guy before going behind her back and making a deal with Guy. They promise to have him star in a high profile play if he sides with them and their coven. He agrees, and the next morning, the cult blinds the man who was originally supposed to play the role Guy wanted to play, allowing him to take the role.
One night, the Castevets deliver drugged mousse to Rosemary. She passes out after eating some of it and is subsequently raped by Satan with assistance from Guy.
She soon becomes pregnant with the Antichrist, and the Castevets begin to serve her strange drinks that will support her pregnancy. They convince her to stop seeing her current doctor and start visiting another doctor called Abraham Sapirstein (who happens to be part of the cult too). This way, they can avoid having a legitimate doctor detect the presence of the Antichrist.
Rosemary begins to grow increasingly paranoid over the safety of her unborn child, and she also begins to suspect that something is off about the Castevets. Her friend Hutch realizes the truth, but before he can warn Rosemary, he is killed by the cult. Fortunately, he is able to leave behind a book that details the history of the cult and gives away Roman’s true identity and heritage. This convinces Rosemary to see Dr. Hill (her original doctor). She tries to inform him of the cult and their plans to do something abhorrent regarding her baby. He assumes that she is delusional and calls Guy and Dr. Sapirstein to pick her up and take her home. When they reach her apartment, she distracts them and escapes from them. They, along with the rest of the cult, end up cornering her in her room and holding her down when she tries to escape from them again. She finally delivers the Antichrist (although she has yet to be aware of who and what her baby truly is). They make a feeble attempt to deceive her into believing her baby is dead afterwards. However, she hears it crying, so she grabs a knife and walks into the room where the baby is located. She takes a look at it and reacts with pure horror. Roman then reveals to her that she has been pregnant with the Antichrist all along before proudly proclaiming that God is dead. He proceeds to try and convince her to be a mother to the baby, and he assures her that there is no need for her to join the coven.
Minnie then serves Rosemary a cup of lipton tea. She prepares to drink it but stops when she notices Laura-Louise (another associate of the Castevets) rocking the baby too hard. Roman orders Laura-Louise to sit down with the others, and he then asks Rosemary to rock the baby instead. Rosemary initially rebuffs before Roman asks, "Aren’t you his mother?" He, Minnie, and the rest of the cult watch as Rosemary begins to rock the baby with a faint smile on her face.