Overview
A struggling young dancer finds herself drawn in by dark forces when a peculiar, well-connected older couple promise her a shot at fame.
The latest in a long line of horror prequels that seem to think there is some backstory to tap into, Apartment 7A is set in 1965, prior to the events of Rosmary’s Baby, and sees a dancer from Nebraska named Terry, who works in New York City, suffer an ankle injury which leaves her without work. Following a producer home to attempt to convince him to give her a shot, she collapses in the apartment building, waking to find herself being looked after by an elderly couple, Minnie and Roman, who offer her an empty apartment rent-free. Taking the generous offer, Terry moves in and starts getting her life in gear again, but unknown to her the apartment comes with a price, and Terry starts to become disturbed by haunting dreams, sickness, and the attentions of the inhabitants of the apartment building.
Just to get this out the way, Apartment 7A isn’t terrible. It is well made, with a period setting that feels authentic, with fashions and locations looking marvellously mid-60s. The pacing of the film also feels old, never rushing into something shocking, and letting the slow building unease creep in instead – which is rather refreshing in the modern era where far too many horror films feel they have to proffer up a death or two every ten minutes. The cast are perfectly fine, with Julia Garner as Terry only being surpassed by the marvellous Dianne Wiest who plays Minnie, one of the elderly couple who takes a shine to Terry. To all intents and purposes, this isn’t a bad film.
However, it is also a pointless film that, much like other prequels of horrors over the years, has nothing new to offer, no depth, and simply retreads the same ground that the original did, making you feel that it was intended as a remake until they worried that fans would get upset and so disguised it as a prequel instead. So nods and winks abound towards the classic 1968 film, even though those events are not supposed to have occurred at this point (this is set a year earlier according to the official synopsis, even if that doesn’t appear possible given that 1968 film was also set in 1965). The end result is a film that if you are a fan of the original film you will find nothing to really surprise you in this, and yet for those who haven’t seen the original I do wonder if it plays too close to the original to let it stand on its own?
Apartment 7A is a polished looking film that simply exists and will be swiftly forgotten in the shadow of the film it attempts to prequel.