A family man learns about an Indian burial ground that has the power
to raise the dead, a power he taps into when tragedy strikes his family. HORROR
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Pet Sematary (1989)Directed by Mary Lambert
Written by Stephen King Starring Dale Midkiff, Fred Gwynne, Denise Crosby, Blaze Berdahl, Miko Hughes, Brad Greenquist, Susan Blommaert, Michael Lombard Based on the novel by Stephen King |
“I don’t want to be buried in your pet sematary. I don’t want to live my life again.” Those are the famous words sung by the Ramones for their song made specifically for this movie. A movie that, while not being the worst of the King adaptations, is also not one of the best. It has some pretty iconic and creepy moments. But it also features some alright performances from the main cast and pacing issues. With all that said, I have a soft spot for this film due to having seen it at such a young age. To be specific, shortly after I had started my obsession with all that is Stephen King.
Like I said, there are several creepy moments in this movie. The main two being Aunt Zelda and Gage and the nightmare inducing fuel these two are. The way Gage still acts like the child he is while mercilessly killing people is horrifying. As for Aunt Zelda, well, she’s an icon now for a reason. I actually remember when I first watched this, my own mother had to leave the room due to how scared she is of this character. A fear that has lasted when she first watched this as a teenager when it was released. So yeah, Aunt Zelda, fucking terrifying. While we’re talking about iconic characters, let’s not forget Fred Gwynne’s portrayal of Jud Crandall. He is amazing as the kindhearted neighbor who does his best to help the family out. His accent and delivery have become so iconic that South Park (yes, I’m talking about the long running animated sitcom) has used it for a recurring character since they began. Unfortunately, the other performances don’t quite match up because of it. Dale Midkiff doesn’t do bad as Louis Creed, but he’s not exactly exciting to watch. The other issue stems from pacing. While it moves for the most part, there are some lulls. Like most of Stephen King adaptations, Pet Sematary proved to be another hard one to crack. Admittedly, I feel this has a lot to do with the book’s themes of death and grief and how to handle them as being hard to translate completely to a roughly 90-minute movie. Still, there is a lot to like about this adaptation. Between two very scary characters and Fred Gwynne’s now iconic performance, it’s hard not to find some enjoyment out of this film. But, just remember, sometimes dead is better. |
Pet Sematary was a decent adaptation of King's work, but not the best by a long shot. Thanks mostly to Stephen King adapting his own novel, this film manages to preserve the unsettling tone and humanizing elements of the novel. Still, what ruins it in the end is its extremely rushed pace, which seems to be at fault with a lot of King adaptations.
Apart from Fred Gwynne's spot-on performance of Jud Crandall, the rest of the cast fails to bring out the tragedy-stricken characters from the novel. A lot of their acting falls flat, particularly in moments of genuine shock and horror. Having said that, there are moments in the film that are done perfectly. The resurrection of Church the cat, the path to the Pet Sematary, and the entire final scene once Evil Gage shows up are truly creepy and match the novel as closely as possible. I also enjoyed the awesome theme song by the Ramones that plays over the end credits. Overall, Pet Sematary is a creepy movie that does its best to bring out the best of Stephen King's dark and disturbing novel, but fails to capture the humanizing aspects of it and leaves out some key scenes. By the time Church was hit by a car in the book, we had already been with these characters for almost half the book. We cared about them and it hurt our feelings when Church died. In the movie, that scene happens within the first 20 minutes, which totally takes away the entire point of the scene and the book itself. The story is about mankind's innate fear of death and how we will do anything in our power to be in control. |