Julia Garner has a big horror project coming up in 2025 with Wolf Man, a remake of the 1941 horror classic of the same name, which can redeem her underwhelming Rosemary’s Baby prequel, Apartment 7A. The horror genre has been defined by specific trends in recent years, these being reboots, legacy sequels, prequels, and remakes. Julia Garner has now been part of the latter two with projects from two different horror classics, starting with a prequel to Rosemary’s Baby titled Apartment 7A, in which she played Terry Gionoffrio.
Apartment 7A focuses on Terry, a young dancer in 1965 New York City who breaks her ankle on stage. Once recovered, Terry struggles to continue her career and support herself, so she accepts the help of elderly couple Minnie (Dianne Wiest) and Roman Castevet (Kevin McNally), who offer her an apartment on the same floor as them at the Bramford building. Terry’s life and career begin to improve, but disturbing events also start happening around her. Apartment 7A hasn’t performed well with critics, but this can be redeemed with Garner’s upcoming horror remake.
Wolf Man Sounds Like It Will Redeem Julia Garner’s Classic Horror Prequel, Apartment 7A
Wolf Man Might Have A Better Performance Than Apartment 7A
Apartment 7A aimed to fill in some of the gaps left by Rosemary’s Baby, and though it did add to the latter’s backstory, it mostly failed as a horror prequel. Apartment 7A feels more like a remake than a prequel as it repeats the premise of Rosemary’s Baby with the same characters as antagonists and a lead character whose fate is already known thanks to Roman Polanski’s movie. Terry Gionoffrio had a brief appearance in Rosemary’s Baby and her death is shown in the first minutes, though the real reason for it wasn’t confirmed until the prequel came out.
At the time of writing, Apartment 7A has a 40% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, giving it a “rotten” label. Apartment 7A ended Garner’s positive Rotten Tomatoes streak that had been going on since 2017, but this bump on the road can be redeemed with her next horror project. Garner stars in Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man, a reboot of the 1941 horror classic of the same name starring Lon Chaney Jr. as the title monster. Garner plays Charlotte, the wife of Christopher Abbott’s Blake, with whom she has a daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth).
Wolf Man follows Blake, who inherits his remote childhood home in rural Oregon after his father disappears and is presumed dead. As their marriage has been struggling lately, Blake convinces Charlotte to take a break from the city and visit the house with their daughter. As they approach the house at night, they are attacked by an unseen animal and forced to barricade themselves in their new home as the creature continues to prowl outside. However, Blake begins to behave strangely and goes through a physical transformation that leaves him unrecognizable and turns him into a deadly threat to Charlotte and Ginger.
Despite being scheduled for a January 2025 release, Wolf Man is already one of the most anticipated horror movies, in large part thanks to the team behind it. Wolf Man is being produced by Jason Blum and has Leigh Whannell as director and co-writer, both of them big names in the horror genre. Wolf Man also has the advantage of being its own thing despite being a reboot, unlike Apartment 7A, which is linked to Rosemary’s Baby.
Why Apartment 7A Is So Divisive With Critics
Apartment 7A Hasn’t Been Well-Received
While some critics have called Apartment 7A a solid addition to the world of Rosemary’s Baby, many others found it to be underwhelming and that it doesn’t add much to the original movie. A problem that critics have pointed out as one of the movie’s biggest weaknesses is how different Terry is in Apartment 7A and in Rosemary’s Baby, which makes it hard to connect both movies. Apartment 7A has also been criticized for its pace and lack of suspense and scares, which can be mostly attributed to its retelling of a well-known story.
Although most critics have praised the performances of Garner and Weist, they weren’t enough to save the movie from becoming instantly forgettable. Apartment 7A is also predictable and doesn’t develop its core themes, staying at a surface level from beginning to end, unlike Rosemary’s Baby. While many critics agree that Apartment 7A is entertaining, it quickly joined the already long list of failed prequels that will most likely become forgettable very soon.
Leigh Whannell’s Last Classic Horror Movie Reboot Is Great News For Wolf Man’s Success
Leigh Whannell Has A Great Track Record In The Horror Genre
What also makes Wolf Man so exciting is Whannell’s track record in the horror genre, mostly with rebooting horror classics. In 2020, Whannell wrote and directed The Invisible Man, a reboot of the 1933 movie of the same name, based on H. G. Wells’ 1897 novel of the same name. However, Whannell’s movie stayed away from the idea of the reclusive character of the Invisible Man and the comedic moments from the 1933 movie and instead told a story of domestic abuse and trauma.
Whannell wants Wolf Man to be completely different from other werewolf movies.
The Invisible Man was a critical and commercial success, and it’s Whannell’s highest-rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes to date. Whannell has already spoken a bit about his creative process for Wolf Man, sharing he wants it to be completely different from other werewolf movies, which only adds to the anticipation around the project and gives it bigger chances of redeeming Julia Garner’s recent horror failure.