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Taking on a prequel to a beloved horror classic is a gutsy move – how do you keep it fresh when you’re telling part of a story that so many people already know? And how do you make it different enough that people don’t claim it’s a copy?
While the basic story beats in APARTMENT 7A will be familiar to fans of ROSEMARY’S BABY, Director Natalie Erika James has created a film that is so stylistically different, there’s no mistaking it for a ‘requel.’
7A is set in 1965, three years before Rosemary Woodhouse steps foot in the Bramford. After suffering a devastating injury (THE CRACKING NOISE eeeessssh), young dancer Terry Gionoffrio (Julia Garner), is rescued from her downward spiral by Minnie (Dianne Wiest) and Roman Castevet (Kevin McNally) outside of their lush apartment building, and the couple immediately bond with her, offering to support her financially so she can follow her dreams of being a star on Broadway.
After cocktails with fellow Bramford resident and influential Broadway producer Alan Marchand (Jim Sturgess) Terry wakes up and can’t fully remember the evening. When disturbing circumstances follow, she realizes that something evil is living not only in apartment 7A but in the Bramford itself.
James infuses 7A with gorgeously shot musical numbers, and while I’m sure a lot of folks won’t love how the devil appears, I was very into the way it kept on theme with Terry’s Broadway hallucinations. The entire cast is great, but the MVP, in my eyes, is Diane Weist – who fully inhabits Minnie in the most wonderful, terrifying, and amazing way. There’s a nightmare-inducing scene where she is literally just STANDING outside of a door, but the look on her face is just … incredible.
And of course Garner is fantastic as Terry; we can see every bit of conflicting emotion in her eyes as she puts the pieces of what’s happening to her together, and her internal struggle as she contemplates how far she’s willing to go to make her dreams of fame a reality. My favorite moment with her is a dance routine set to The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby.” It’s absolutely stunning.
Sure, there were a few things I didn’t love; too much exposition about The Bramford and its goings on, for example, but I adored the last 15 minutes so much, I can overlook one very unnecessary church scene and the “aha” moment at the very end that it really didn’t need.
This is one I keep thinking about, and I can’t wait to watch it again to see what things I’ll pick up on the second round.
APARTMENT 7A is currently screening at Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX – and will be streaming exclusively on Paramount+ and available for purchase on digital beginning Friday, September 27th.
I Love Splatter! 