The first I heard of Apartment 7A, a prequel to Rosemary’s Baby, was on September 26, the day before it started streaming on Paramount+. It’s haunted me ever since. Why?
Well, first of all, how did that miss my radar? Not that I’m a huge fan of Rosemary’s Baby, but it is an iconic horror movie. That alone should’ve caught my attention.
But I am a fan of one of its stars, Julia Garner, who plays a young, ambitious dancer Terry Gionoffrio. I first fell in love with Garner as the feisty spitfire Ruth in Ozarks. Since then, I’ve been awed by her range in everything from Dirty John to The Assistant to Inventing Anna. In my viewing preferences, she’s now joined the ranks of Elisabeth Moss and Kate Winslet—whatever they’re in, I’ll watch, just for their performance power alone.
Then there’s the fact that Apartment 7A is a prequel. Prequels seem to be having a moment lately, whether they’re movies like A Quiet Place: Day One or the forthcoming series IT: Welcome to Derry. Kind of interesting to see another one out and from an angle I wasn’t expecting at all.
Apartment 7A amplifies the story of a minor character.
*Warning!* Spoiler ahead.
In the movie Rosemary’s Baby, shortly after Rosemary Woodhouse and her husband Guy move into the Bramford, Rosemary meets one of her neighbors, Terry. Rosemary and Guy, portrayed by Amy Leeson and Scott Hume, appear in Apartment 7A, too, just not in any big way. After all, this isn’t their story this time. It’s Terry’s.
However, in a way, the prequel is one big spoiler as it is. Thanks to Rosemary’s Baby, we all know what happened to Terry. She jumped to her death from an apartment belonging to Roman and Minnie Castevet. The Castevets, who are this time played by Kevin McNally and Dianne Wiest, are once again central in Apartment 7A. (And, dare I say, are even creepier this go around?)
What we get to see this time is Terry’s reckoning with herself. For all her ambition, she realizes selling your soul to the Devil and birthing the Antichrist isn’t worth it. She sacrifices herself in order to try and prevent anymore calamity.
I had no idea how they’d craft a Rosemary’s Baby prequel, but this is an interesting point of view to do it from. I wonder if they’ll do any sequels. Or a prequel to the prequel. Maybe something like The Castavets? I’d like to know their backstory. What about you?
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What other iconic horror movies do you think have potential for interesting prequels?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of it. I know I hadn’t – and we have Paramount+, but there’s been some complaining on social media about how companies like Apple+, Paramount, and so forth are really doing a bad job at promoting their content. The refrain seems to go: “Do they want people to watch their stuff or not?! Because they are doing a lousy job at promoting their expensive products.”
Then there’s those really short windows to watch one of their new releases at a movie theater. (‘Wolfs’ for instance, if it shows in your area at all – which it didn’t here, and this is AFTER they ran trailers in OUR local theater!) Do these companies want to make any money??? Anyway, there’s been a lot of discontent lately about these streaming companies.
Good question, how about Children of the Corn? How did the pagan god end up in the cornfields to start with? Did Isaac call it there, on purpose? Or was the pagan god banished there and then called Isaac?
This is really interesting to hear what you’re hearing because I know I used to get a LOT more press releases and screeners than I do now. I still have many of the same contacts and publicity companies contacting me when they have something, but…it’s just not nearly as frequently. I think it all comes down to money. They’ll promote some things (and a lot of times I think those suck the most) while ignoring others and…I don’t know. Just hoping word of mouth will work? Or maybe the stars are doing interviews places I’m just not following. I don’t know. The landscape has changed drastically in the past year. I just had everything figured out and then now I’m back to square one trying to understand it all. lol
Ooooh!!!! That’s a good one, Priscilla!!! I’m really surprised that hasn’t happened now that you mention it. I’d LOVE to see something like that!!!