PET SEMATARY
Recap
Louis Creed, his wife Rachel, and their two children, Gage and Ellie, move to a rural home in Ludlow Maine, where they are welcomed and enlightened about the eerie 'Pet Sematary' located nearby. After the tragedy of their cat being killed by a truck, Louis resorts to burying it in the mysterious pet cemetery, which is definitely not as it seems, as it proves to the Creeds that sometimes, dead is better.
Review
Stephen King is undergoing something of a renaissance of late, with the two part remake of It, Dark Tower, the upcoming Joyland and now also Lisey’s Story announced as a TV series set to star Julianne Moore [Editor’s Note: Also the Hulu series, Castle Rock]. So what better time to dig up some other classics from the past and dust them off for a fresh audience. King himself once famously admitted Pet Sematary was the only book he wrote that ever actually scared him. The inspiration came in 1979 in his typically trademarked morbid way when his own daughter’s pet cat Smuckey was killed on the highway, at a time when a real pet cemetery was located near his property. This also triggered a memory of an incident where his son once nearly ran into the road as a truck was speeding by. And so Pet Sematary was born. Originally the novel was left in a dark corner for years, and it was only upon his wife’s later persuasion that he published it. The original 1989 movie directed by Mary Lambert may never be considered a true horror classic, but it pretty much did the job of ably condensing the book into a solid adaptation. Albeit without including the deeper meaning of the evil spirit present in the resurrections. But don’t by any means expect just a retread of the original here.
The stand out performances for me on the face of it were both Lithgow’s ersatz fatherly concern and Jeté Laurence’s charming innocence, as well as later when the dilemma becomes real and the focus falls on her. Overall the production value was also a vast improvement on the original movie, keeping the sweet and sentimental American sunny aspect of the countryside, yet injecting the same resonance of tragedy and pain that was the haunting legacy of the original novel. The music was suitably punctuated by drum beats, that give a tribal flavor and inform of the roots of the legend, while keeping a ponderously dark edge to the mood. Anecdotally I also noted during the accident scene that the truck driver is distracted by a phone call and the caller ID says Sheena. This is a nod to the original movie as the truck driver was listening to the Ramones ‘Sheena is a Punk Rocker’. King referenced the Ramones often in the novel and so as a homage they famously wrote the theme song for the movie at Lambert’s request, which was then included on their album Brain Drain. That theme song is again used in the end credits, this time covered by Starcrawler. And much like the film it is a fresh take on an old favorite.
Final Thoughts
A recipe that uses all the ingredients of the original cookbook, while creating a whole new dish. With a good dose of Americana and recognisable flavors of the last time it was cooked, yet with none of the sanitised aftertaste.
Pet Sematary (2019) I Don’t Want to Live My Life Again
- Writing - 8.5/108.5/10
- Storyline - 8.5/108.5/10
- Acting - 9/109/10
- Music - 9/109/10
- Production - 8/108/10