TW: Suicide, child death
THRILL SCALE 1-10
8
HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?
Yes, a few times
BEST SEQUENCE
My personal fave is Gage vs. Truck, but the Zelda scene is also very memorable
BEST LINE
"Sometimes dead is better" (the tagline)
ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE
55%
ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS
"Pet Sematary is a bruising horror flick that wears its quirks on its sleeves, to the detriment of its scare factor."
IMDB SYNOPSIS
"After tragedy strikes, a grieving father discovers an ancient burial ground behind his home with the power to raise the dead."
DIRECTOR
Mary Lambert
MAIN CAST
- Dale Midkiff, Fred Gwynne, Denise Crosby, Miko Hughes, Blaze Berdahl, Brad Greenquist
THOUGHTS
- Spoily alert, I'm going to tell you the whole movie
- The movie starts out with a delightfully creepy score as we're introduced to the "Pet Sematary". We see various pet graves/epitaphs. It's sad, eerie, but also sort of sweet. This opening credit sequence does a nice job of setting up a spooky atmosphere
- Enter the Creed family: Dr. Louis Creed, wife Rachel, daughter Ellie (played by twins), son Gage, and cat Church (short for Winston Churchill - a pretty great name for a cat). Louis is smokin' hot in this writer's opinion btw (apparently this part was almost played by Bruce Campbell). We meet the family as they arrive to their new home, which is located on a road where transport trucks whiz by in a very sinister, foreshadow-y way
- Next we meet the neighbour from across the street, Jud Crandall (Fred Gwynne). This character is played just as I always imagined him from reading the book, right down to his classic "A-yuh" responses. His accent is lots of fun to imitate and he smokes like a chimney. Jud takes the Creed family down to the Pet Sematary (here Rachel comments on the misspelling), which is conveniently accessed from a path on their property. He points out where he buried his childhood dog and recommends they get their cat fixed so he's less likely to wander
- On Louis's first day at his new job, a jogger named Victor Pascow is brought in, having been hit by a truck. Here we see some great practical gore effects as the poor guy's head is basically half smashed. There's clearly no saving him. The dead man then wakes, talks some nonsense, and says he'll be back. Talk about a rough first day. I love this character and how he's played in this movie. He's scary, funny, helpful, and his jogging shorts are amazing. Later, Pascow comes to Louis in a dream, taking him to the Pet Sematary and warning him not to go beyond the barrier (a huge wall of trees/branches, ominously glowing blue). Louis wakes up with his feet covered in mud (DUN DUN DUN)!
- Fast forward to Thanksgiving. Rachel takes the kids to her parents' while Louis stays home (he doesn't get along with the in-laws). Shocker: poor Church the cat is hit by a truck. Jud takes Louis to the place beyond the Pet Sematary, has him bury the cat, and instructs him not to tell anyone. The journey to the ancient burial ground is arduous. The fact that Louis blindly follows his old-ass, chain-smoking neighbour, basically up a tree covered cliff for well over an hour, without any idea where they're going and why seems silly. The next day, Church comes home. He smells like death (ha!) and is now vicious. Jud confides that he buried his childhood dog there and that he came back different too. WHAT THE EFF, JUD!?
- Did I mention the Creeds have a housekeeper? Her name is Missy and she's miserable. We learn that she has stomach cancer and she ends up hanging herself to free herself from the pain. At her funeral, Stephen King plays the minister. I actually completely forgot about this mini plot-point, but as unnecessary as it seems, it gives us our sweet sweet cameo and inspires Rachel to tell Louis about her sister Zelda...
- Meet Zelda. Rachel's dead sister. She was kept locked away and suffered from spinal meningitis. For many viewers, this is the scene that causes nightmares. Zelda (played by a man) has a scary, raspy voice, gaunt face, and deformed spine. She basically looks like a monster. As Rachel tells the story of being left alone with her on the night she died, my face is always stuck in a grimace. It's both horrible and horrifying. On the plus side, it gives Rachel's character some substance. Up until now, she's pretty bland
- Next comes my favourite scene in the movie. It's a beautiful day and the Creeds and ole Jud are having a picnic and flying a kite. Despite the cheesy music, we know right away that something bad is coming as we're shown a transport truck driver barrelling down the road. As Gage is flying the kite, the family is distracted by a gust of wind. Gage drops the kite string and begins to chase it towards the road. The family finally notices what's happening, but it's too late. We see a single shoe land on the road. This image has always stood out to me and the sequence as a whole has always filled me with such dread. The entire scene is so effective and even though we know we can't stop what's going to happen, we're on the edge of our seats
- Another great scene takes place at Gage's funeral. Rachel's father confronts Louis, blaming him for Gage's death. There's a scuffle and the two men end up knocking over the coffin. As it falls to the floor, the lid opens briefly and we see Gage's little hand for just a second before it closes again. Super creepy
- Rachel brings Ellie to her parents' place and once again we see that men can not be left alone. Louis gets the bright idea to dig up his son's grave and bury him in the ancient burial ground (this is after Jud has told him of someone trying this in the past and it going very wrong..). By this point, Dr. Lou Lou has gone cray cray (we see this very obviously as he's digging up Gage). Zombie Gage comes back and gives us a seriously impressive performance for a 2 year old (this actor would go on to star in Kindergarten Cop and another fave of mine, Wes Craven's New Nightmare). As Louis sleeps, Gage takes one of his scalpels and goes to Jud's house. Here we have some very obvious foreshadowing as Jud shuffles around in his slippers looking for Gage, the camera focused on his ankles. Sure enough, Gage reaches out from under the bed and slices Jud's achilles, giving us another great gore shot. Gage finishes off Jud, somehow calls his dad on the phone (can't explain that one), and invites him over to "play"
- Meanwhile, Rachel is rushing back home after Ellie has had a bad dream about her father. And lucky for Rachel (and us!), Pascow is back to save the day! He uses his ghostly powers to help her catch her flight and get the last rental car! Thanks Pascow! (Fun little easter egg - when Rachel gets out of the truck she got a ride in, we see that the truck number is "666". SpOoKy!) She gets home and goes straight to Jud's because she hears a voice. She's so happy when she sees Gage, but of course he's evil now and kills her. Also, we get some real "Chucky" vibes from lil Gage in these scenes. Very fun!
- Let's wrap this up: Louis makes it over to Jud's, discovers what has happened, puts Gage to "sleep" with some doctor drugs, lights the place on fire, and decides to BURY RACHEL IN THE BURIAL GROUND! Dr. Creed, you are hot, but damn you are dumb. Men, am I right!?
- Louis waits up for his dead wife to return. In she saunters, and girl is looking rough. Like, pus coming out of her eyeball rough. It's actually pretty awesome until they start making out. In the original cut, the scene was more ambiguous, ending when Rachel entered the kitchen. The studio thought it was too tame, so it was re-shot with much more gruesome effects. The audience sees Rachel reach for a knife during their embrace, Louis screams, cut to black
- To sum up, I love this movie. I love the gore, the characters, even the silly, unbelievable bits (like Louis wrestling what is clearly a dummy version of Gage). It's fun and it's memorable. And while the story has some minor deviations from the book, I think that SK writing the screenplay really helped to keep the same spirit of the original story. I have seen the sequel and very much enjoyed it (more great practical effects), but have yet to see the 2019 remake
- Looking back at my notes, I see that I wrote "Jud and his Buds". This was a reference to all the Budweisers he drinks. Just wanted you all to know. Other things I wrote : "Hot Doctor Daddy", "Men are idiots", "Church's eyes" (forgot to mention their cheesy glow)
- Kudos to my husband for writing these things. I need a drink now
Up next: Oh hey, it's me, Mark again! Thanks to my wonderful wife Ashley for the review, she did an excellent job! Which is convenient because our next movie is also about a wonderful wife who does an excellent job: Gone Girl from 2014
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