Imagine a place where you could bury your dead pet and it could come back to life. The pet might reincarnate a bit different – and definitely a lot scarier – but it’s still your beloved pet. But what if this applied to humans? If someone you loved died and you could magically bring them back to life would you?. That was the premise of Stephen King’s 1983 novel Pet Sematary.
The story follows the Creed family, Louis and Rachel and their young children, Ellie and Gage, as the move from Boston to rural Maine. Upon their arrival, the family discovers that their property includes a creepy burial ground for dead pets, and behind that, an even creepier burial ground where the loved ones interred “come back to life,” as the Creeds’s avuncular neighbor, Jud, puts it. When the daughter’s beloved cat, Church, is hit by a speeding semi-truck right in front of the house Jud makes the impulsive decision to take the cat where it can come back to life. Unfortunately, resurrection puts Church in a terrible mood wreaking havoc on their property and even clawing at his owner, Ellie. Horrific events begin to unfold which tear the family apart.
Being released 30 years the original 1989 movie adaptation, Pet Sematary captures the brutality of King’s source material, but its attempts to add shocking twists to the original narrative. Unlike the original, this version delves into the haunted pasts of characters creating a more dimensional story. Pet Sematary is flawed by some cheesy special effects, awkward misdirections and frustratingly underdeveloped ideas. But the movie praises King by recreating a once used generation of horror. It will make you jump out of your seat, but what matters are the provocations you take home and can’t shake.
