I've frequented Maine a lot in my life, and it's eerie how "Pet Sematary," the second film adaptation of Stephen King's novel, captures that atmosphere, more so than 2017's "It." It's the little things, you know, like the towering trees in every shot, the quaint little towns with approximately the correct architecture, and most noticeable, how far apart neighbors are. So perhaps I'm not the best person to review "Pet Sematary," the film had the home-field advantage and I was on its team. Perhaps that's why I walked out of the theater, disturbed. This most recent of King's adaptations is a gory, unpleasant experience in animal and child death, toying with your innate emotions; I didn't shed a tear, but I knew I'd need a clean shower once the credits roll.
Jason Clarke plays loving father Louis Creed, who moves his family from the fast-paced world of Massachusetts to the small town of Ludlow Maine, a town whose population is just 404 according to my quick research (must be why there are so few pets in the actual Pet Sematary, but more on that later). Him and his wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz) have one boy and one girl, and viewers of the original 1989 adaptation may be surprised to know which one of the children end up carrying that scalpel- wow look at me, I'm getting ahead of myself here. Virgins to the story just know, that their new house rests on a road where eighteen wheelers fly through (and there's a lot of trucks for such a small population), and they never think to put a fence up.
Ultimately it's up to their new neighbor Jud (John Lithgow), a chain-smoking elderly local to warn them about what happens on their new piece of property. Not long after they arrive, the sound of faint drums start playing, where a group of children in animal masks carry down a dead dog into the woods (the same woods which I swear anyone raised outside the city grew up by). There is an animal graveyard in their backyard, deep behind their house, lending itself to the film's title, but that's not all that's behind their new home.
Behind the cemetery is an Indian burial ground, one that does more than simply offer a place for eternal rest. It has the power to bring things back from the dead, not as zombies but not back their original selves, something in between. The first we see is their pet cat Churchill, killed by one of those aforementioned trucks. Jud, who has grown a sort of friendship with the kitty's owner Ellie (Jete Laurence), the family's daughter, doesn't want to see her in any pain and brings Louis to the burial ground dig the cat's grave. He doesn't tell anyone about the power of that place until the next morning when the cat comes back, to the surprise of the parents. He's not the same however, with ratty hair and a bit of a mean streak, scratching the little girl and bringing a nearly dead crow onto young couple's bed. After trying to put the cat down (with whatever doctor's can put into syringes) he finds himself unable to go through with it, and decides to let it out into the wild, far away from his residence.
Of course, this is a movie, and every film since "The Incredible Journey" has taught us that animals will always find their way home. Then, at Ellie's birthday party, she spots Church on the road and, well, this is where the film loses me. Look, I know what happens, the kid dies (the daughter here instead of the son, I suppose that's the producer's idea of a refreshing change of pace), but why? Perhaps it works better on page than it does on film, but there is absolutely no pleasure in exploiting the tragedy this way. It made me squirm in my seat, my skin crawled and I winced in distaste. I suppose it's my fault, I mean, I walked into the theater knowing what I was getting myself into. Hell, I was munching on Jujubes amidst all the chaos. But it doesn't work in using this misfortune for anything but schlocky, cheap tricks.
Pet Sematary is an ugly film, one without much merit in terms of filmmaking outside it's rather authentic looking locales and charming cast of actors (before I get ahead of myself, it's worth calling out that Lithgow is a scene-stealer). Every time the music stops, a character looks somewhere any normal person would (such as within the pitch black crawlspace or behind the doors of a dumbwaiter), followed by cacophonous music cue and a monster jumping at the camera. Is that all it can do for the audience with such sensitive material? A child dies, and what we get is it calling its mom a cow and stabbing people to death? I suppose that would be considered a spoiler, but that's only if I could recommend seeing it.
I give this two and a half stars against my better judgement, because it ended up getting a reaction out of me, good or bad, and I must acknowledge that. And despite all the tasteless bloodshed, unlike "It," I didn't see in bloody detail the disembodying of children (RIP Georgie.)
Of course, this is a movie, and every film since "The Incredible Journey" has taught us that animals will always find their way home. Then, at Ellie's birthday party, she spots Church on the road and, well, this is where the film loses me. Look, I know what happens, the kid dies (the daughter here instead of the son, I suppose that's the producer's idea of a refreshing change of pace), but why? Perhaps it works better on page than it does on film, but there is absolutely no pleasure in exploiting the tragedy this way. It made me squirm in my seat, my skin crawled and I winced in distaste. I suppose it's my fault, I mean, I walked into the theater knowing what I was getting myself into. Hell, I was munching on Jujubes amidst all the chaos. But it doesn't work in using this misfortune for anything but schlocky, cheap tricks.
Pet Sematary is an ugly film, one without much merit in terms of filmmaking outside it's rather authentic looking locales and charming cast of actors (before I get ahead of myself, it's worth calling out that Lithgow is a scene-stealer). Every time the music stops, a character looks somewhere any normal person would (such as within the pitch black crawlspace or behind the doors of a dumbwaiter), followed by cacophonous music cue and a monster jumping at the camera. Is that all it can do for the audience with such sensitive material? A child dies, and what we get is it calling its mom a cow and stabbing people to death? I suppose that would be considered a spoiler, but that's only if I could recommend seeing it.
I give this two and a half stars against my better judgement, because it ended up getting a reaction out of me, good or bad, and I must acknowledge that. And despite all the tasteless bloodshed, unlike "It," I didn't see in bloody detail the disembodying of children (RIP Georgie.)
