MOVIE REVIEW: We establish if horror prequel 'Apartment 7A' has too many growing pains

Works as accompaniment piece to 'Rosemary's Baby' but suffers from knowing the fate of most of the characters.

You could be forgiven for thinking do we really need a prequel to Rosemary’s Baby?

The same thing crossed my mind ahead of viewing Relic director Natalie Erika James’ New York-set horror flick.

Apartment 7A manages to overcome most of these fears, though, and works as an accompaniment piece to the classic 1968 original.

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Julia Garner stars as Terry Gionoffrio , a struggling dancer who finds herself drawn in by dark forces when a peculiar, well-connected older couple - Minnie (Dianne Wiest) and Roman (Kevin McNally) - promise her a shot at fame.

There’s something very Black Swan about much of James’ movie, especially during the first half where Terry suffers for her art with brutal assaults on her ankle - and throughout stark, nightmarish vision sequences.

The film overall looks tremendous, with James and her production team and cinematographer effectively re-capturing the period setting of the original and beautifully shot real and dream dance rehearsals.

Garner does a terrific job as the vulnerable lead who gains more determination and confidence as her situation worsens.

Wiest and McNally, particularly the former, give good impressions of Ruth Gordon and Sidney Blackmer’s roles in the original and Jim Sturgess ( Alan Marchand ) is a devilishly enchanting-yet-sinister presence.

What lets the movie down is the inevitable prequel problem where you know the fate of most of the characters - and the eventual outcome of the mysterious plot involving Terry .

James and fellow writers Christian White and Skylar James do their best to keep things fresh and surprising but they are up against it from the get-go.

Certain moments are also more or less lifted straight from Rosemary’s Baby , which adds to any feelings of redundancy that may be growing inside you.

As prequels, especially in the horror genre, go, Apartment 7A is one of the better efforts, but it doesn’t birth a demonic delight comparable to its parental predecessor.

● What are some of your favourite, and worst, movie prequels? Do they have a place or are they just pointless?

Pop me an email at ian.bunting@reachplc.com and I will pass on your comments – and any movie or TV show recommendations you have – to your fellow readers.

● Apartment 7A is available to buy or rent on Sky Store.

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