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Pet Sematary Review

By Matthew Passantino

Leave it Buried

Stephen King adaptations have always been popular, but they are seeing a resurgence lately thanks, in part, to the massive success of "It." The latest, Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer's "Pet Sematary," is looking to find similar success among horror fans and bring a new audience into the King's madness.

Going into the 2019 "Pet Sematary" (there was an adaptation directed by Mary Lambert in 1989), my due diligence hadn't been completed because I've never read King's novel (despite having been a massive fan of his work at one point in my life) or seen Lambert's version. While I can't compare the latest iteration against the previous or the source material, it was exciting to know nothing about this part of King's brain and see what nightmare he had developed with this story. As it goes, this was the one novel King was worry about publishing due to its content. Unfortunately, being new to the material didn't help because "Pet Sematary" is a suspiciously flat film, where terrifying things happen to the characters but aren't properly translated to the audience.

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Jason Clarke ("First Man") stars as Dr. Louis Creed, who is relocating from Boston to Maine with his wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz, "Alien: Covenant") and their two children, Ellie (Jeté Laurence) and Gage (played by twins Hugo and Lucas Lavoie). As is the case in a lot of King's work, the family is moving to a more remote area, which effectively plays into the mood and atmosphere of the film. Their secluded little home in Maine feels like it's in the middle of nowhere, without much but their neighbor Jud (John Lithgow, "Pitch Perfect 3") in sight. However, we are inside of King's mind, so things aren't that easy.

One day, while out playing, Ellie stumbles upon a cemetery in their backyard, which Jud informs her is used for families to bury their dearly departed pets. Jud takes an immediate liking to Ellie and her precocious sense of wonder, so when her cat (named Church, after Winston Churchill) dies, he wants to help. Jud brings Louis to a special burial ground, which has mystical powers and the ability to raise the dead. Hesitantly convinced by Jud, Louis wants to make his daughter happy and buries Church and waits for him to return home. He does, which makes Ellie happy, but something is different about Church.

The burial ground serves a bigger purpose in the film, and those familiar with the story know what happens next. "Pet Sematary" evolves into a surface-level examination of grief and despair, never knowing how to fuse seamlessly with the horror elements. The script by Jeff Buhler hits all the beats you'd expect, which doesn't leave a lot of room for suspense and surprise. It's a shame because an undercurrent of dread runs through the film but never manifests into anything particularly interesting.

By the time "Pet Sematary" ends, you might leave the theater with a mere shrug because the entire story feels mapped out from its beginning to its march to an inevitable conclusion. There has been such an uptick in horror films the past few years ("Us" just a few weeks ago is worth seeing for a second time before seeing this) that "Pet Sematary" feels like a reheated movie that could have been left alone.

What did you think?

Movie title Pet Sematary
Release year 2019
MPAA Rating R
Our rating
Summary This remake of a Stephen King adaptation hits all the beats you would expect, making for an occasionally creepy but ultimately flat experience.
View all articles by Matthew Passantino
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