K.T Simpson
Fans of Stephen King’s writing are living in bliss at the moment, with practically everything he’s penned coming to life on the big screen. While we await the next chapter of “IT” and the exciting follow-up to “The Shining” – that is, “Doctor Sleep”, we get another dose of “Pet Sematary”.
Losing your pets is hard, but if you had the choice to bring them back – would you do it? The answer might clearly be ‘yes’, but “Pet Sematary” is out to change your mind.
After moving to the country, Doctor Louis Creed (Jason Clarke) and his family slowly adjust with life outside of the big city. Louis is the only doctor in a remote surgery, and struggles with the workload, while his wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz) deals with horrific flashbacks of her sister’s death. Regardless, the couple try and adjust to live in the woods with their kids, Ellie and Gage, with only the passing trucks causing an unnerving feeling to their new lifestyle.
Ellie develops a friendship with neighbor Jud Crandall (John Lithgow), who despite his creepy demeanor, certainly means well and keeps an eye out for his new neighbours. He also warns them against venturing too deep inside the woods, after Ellie discovers a cemetery where people have buried their deceased furry friends.
The first casualty to the unpredictable traffic is Ellie’s cat Church, who finds a grisly end thanks to a passing truck. Jud and Louis go to bury the cat, and Jud convinces Louis to bury him further outside the designated burying spot, so they head out after dark to dispose of the dead animal. Of course, the next day Church is back, but notably different – much more aggressive and mean – unlike his former self.
Louis debates whether to put Church down or not, but in the end drives him out into the woods and sets him free, telling Ellie that he’s run off to greener pastures. Now, it’d be easy to spoil the “twist” here, but they essentially do that in the trailer, don’t they? Who dies next… I think you know but I’m also scared to say in fear of hate mail, so I’ll just stay mum on that and say – they die, they get buried near Church, and don’t come back the same. Cue, massive regret.
To be honest it’s hard to come out of this film and not directly compare it to its 1989 predecessor, and it’s essentially the same movie – just modernized. While the ’89 version had a vibe that was overall just creepy, 2019’s “Pet Sematary” relies heavily on jump-scares, while the fact that the film was put on camera in a studio is painfully obvious. If the camera panned back a little, you’d probably see a guy standing there holding a smoke machine, feigning the effects of fog that you had for real in 1989.
It’s not all criticism though, as “Pet Sematary” is a solid horror, and if it’s scares you want – it’s scares you’ll get. Clarke is a particular stand out, and he and Lithgow really cement themselves as a solid duo in this modern-day retelling. A Stephen King tale is always going to be a gripping story, and “Pet Sematary” is no exception with the tension in the cinema worthy of being cut by knives. There was more than one instance of the audience gripping white-knuckled to their chairs, and that’s really what you’re looking for in a horror flick these days. A few chuckles echoed throughout the theatre, and I’m still not entirely sure if it was pure humour or a nervous giggle, but either way, directors Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer have successfully cemented a solid horror entry into 2019.
