earthsign
My partner and I have been having a King movie fest. We started by watching Firestarter then Carrie then the The Shining, and then we watched Pet Sematary. Wow. I know Firestarter is considered by some to be a terrible movie but it actually has a heart and an emotional centre which was very easy to get into. It's also directed really well I felt regardless that King dislikes it. Firestarter is a masterpiece compared to Pet Sematary! This is a laughable forgetful 80s horror movie.. the story and the movie were rubbish. It ripped off the The Amityville Horror soundtrack, then seemed to be trying to bring flavours of Nightmare on Elm Street 3 towards the end.. but it was such a pathetic story with the sidekick ghost and the completely illogical sequence of events when the kid comes back.. it reminded me of why I stopped reading Stephen King books after finishing the 21st one. Such 1 dimensional characters, often schmaltzy and relying on such stereotyped personalities. I'd heard that King absolutely hates Kubrik's Shining. I guess it must be difficult seeing someone take your schmaltzy 1 dimensional work, ignoring your repeated failings and crafting it into a suspenseful and a well directed movie! Stephen King is a writer whose stories only translate to screen well when a director completely ignores King's characterisations. Unfortunately I think the director here remained faithful to King's book as well as throwing in the cheap 80s schlock horror style, thus Pet Sematary ended up as junk. My partner and I both felt the same way about it.
Smoreni Zmaj
Believe it or not, occasionally someone succeeds to adapt Stephen King story in a good movie. First time I saw it, back when it was released, I was ten years old and I couldn't sleep for a very long time. Also, I shuddered at the very thought of cats or graveyards. Till today it stands as one of the most traumatic movie experiences of my life. Almost three decades later I decided to watch it again and I must admit it is pretty much scary even for a forty years old. Mary Lambert nailed King's atmosphere, story is simple but accurately hits primeval fears in us, and acting is good enough for movie to be convincing. Especially strong impression on me was left by Fred Gwynne and little Miko Huges, who stands shoulder to shoulder with legendary Damien from Omen. Interesting fact is that cult song by Ramones "I Don't Wanna Be Buried in a Pet Sematary" was nominated for Razzie Award for Worst Original Song. This is definitely my favorite Ramones song. Anyway, however different our tastes may be, this movie is mandatory for every true horror fan.8/10
manisimmati
The Creed family has a sweet house cat named Church. Unfortunately, it gets run over by a truck and dies. The family's neighbor Jud has a suggestion: Why not bury Church in the mysterious "Pet Semetary", which is hidden near their house? The father Louis Creed dares to do it. And what do you know, the next morning Church is alive and well again. But he does seem somewhat different
Has Louis disturbed the border between life and death? "Pet Sematary" is an allegoric horror flick, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by King himself. That seems promising, but it turns out to be disappointing. The script is fast-paced, but way too preachy, focusing on the trite tagline: "Sometimes, death is better." The message here is painfully obvious, which makes the movie a rather dull affair. I didn't care for the actors, either. Fred Gwynne apparently enjoys his role as the shady neighbor, but he chews the scenery like there is no tomorrow. And Dale Midkiff as Louis Creed is so wooden, you can't get into his character. That's especially true in the last third, where he's acting like a total nut job.Director Mary Lambert saves this movie from being a flop. She treats us with some seriously creepy and gory scenes. But she doesn't always find the right tone. In some parts, you're not sure if you're supposed to wince or laugh. There's an undead sidekick named Victor Pascow. I guess he was meant to be funny, but it's not entirely clear. During the finale, "Pet Sematary" mutates into an exponent of the slasher genre, which is entertaining enough, but doesn't help the story at all. The ending is downright laughable. I enjoyed it quite a bit - on a trash level, mind you.You can get some thrills out of "Pet Semetary", but I can't wholeheartedly recommend it. The story is too crude and the execution too muddled.
Brett Banser
I normally don't take the time to review movies I dislike, but in this case I feel like I need to vent. This movie tries so hard to be a genuinely creepy movie and through out the movie, it delivers on that, yet I still feel let down by the end product. The first problem i have is the sound editing in the movie is really quite agitating, and I realize that is probably by design, but I have seen many amazing horror movies that do not rely on audio this jarring to put the viewer in a state of unrest. I mean I cringe every time I hear a phone ring or an alarm go off, a truck horn blare. Like I said, I see the intent of it, but the execution is flawed. The second problem is the overall tone of the movie which is inconsistent throughout. When Judd and Louis make the trip to the burial ground the first time, that is the tone I want to be present throughout the movie. Instead we get little sections that make it feel like the exorcist or chucky or poltergeist, it just bounces around too much. And I appreciate the music of the Rmaones, but their songs in the movie, again, do nothing for the tone and are actually so removed from the movie that when Pet Sematary began playing at the end of the film it felt completely removed from the rest of the film.
AD
