Pet Sematary

Pet Sematary

Starring Jason Clarke, Amy Seimetz, John Lithgow, Jete Laurence

Directed by Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmyer

The Story:
Moving from the big city of Boston to a small town in Maine, Dr. Louis Creed (Jason Clarke), his wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz), young daughter Ellie (Jete Laurence), and young son Gage (Hugo & Lucas Lavoie) plan to enjoy a quiet lifestyle away from the hustle and bustle of the big city.  Apart from having a house so close to a busy road, Rachel and Ellie then discover a pet cemetery in their backyard after seeing a procession of kids wearing masks burying one of their pets.

Ellie is drawn to the cemetery and returns, where she meets elderly neighbor Jud (John Lithgow), who becomes good friends with the family.  When Ellie's cat Church is killed on the road, Jud takes Louis to the pet cemetery to bury him, but after realizing Ellie truly loved the cat, Jud takes Louis past the cemetery to a hidden part of the woods where Louis buries Church.  The next day Church returns, but he's more ill-tempered than before, and Jud tells Louis that the cemetery brings dead things back to life, but they're not the same.  When a bigger tragedy hits the Creed family, Louis once again turns to the pet cemetery in hopes of bringing his loved one back, but as Jud warned him before, "sometimes dead is better."

The Synopsis:
Generally, films adapted from novels rarely do better than the source material.  When it comes to the works of Stephen King, the films are often a mixed bag, with some being total bombs ("Maximum Overdrive," which is the only film King directed himself), and others being critical darlings ("Misery" earned Kathy Bates an Oscar, and even though King hated it, "The Shining" is still hailed as one of cinema's best horror films) - but things seem to be on the upswing with the remake of "It" being released two years ago, resulting in the film earning over $320 million domestically, and also being critically hailed.  Although the original "Pet Sematary" film was released in 1989, it was about time for a remake - and while the results aren't as stellar as "It," it still manages to provide some decent scares and a compelling story.

The Creed family moves to a small town in Maine to experience family life together, but finds out that their backyard is home to a mysterious pet cemetery that has an inexplicable power to bring dead things back to life.  After a tragedy befalls the family, patriarch Louis decides to bury his loved one in the pet cemetery in hopes of it coming back to life - it does, but it's definitely not the same.

I don't particularly remember much about the original film (except the Achilles tendon scene), so I can't really compare it to the original like others have done, but I do know that directors Kevin Kolesch and Dennis Widmyer drastically changed the original source material in a way that shouldn't have been advertised, but was the main focus of the second trailer release (basically it'd be like a trailer of "The Empire Strikes Back" that features Darth Vader telling Luke he's his father).  If it had been kept secret, it would've been a huge shocking moment, but since people were expecting it, the impact was lessened - but it was also a stroke of genius as it allowed the deceased character better development than the original.

The actors perform decently, especially John Lithgow as the eccentric old neighbor who knows the entire history of the pet cemetery, yet for some reason allows Louis to do what he does despite knowing the consequences.  Equally, young Jete Laurence shines as young Ellie - a sweet, innocent girl who always has an inquisitive look in her eyes - as she encounters the cemetery and asks tough questions to her parents.  Jason Clarke and Amy Seimetz do adequately as the parents, but neither one really pops out in their performances - Clarke is your typical skeptical doctor who doesn't believe in the afterlife until he needs to, and Seimetz's character struggles with a childhood trauma that doesn't really have a complete coherence to it.

That is one of the small flaws I have with the film - Rachel Creed deals with an event in her childhood that's scarred her for life, and we witness some truly gruesome flashbacks and visions, but there's not a lot of payoff there.  Equally, while the majority of the film deals with character development and the overwhelming fear of approaching dread, the film seems to fast-forward itself through the truly horrific moments and wraps itself up way quicker than it should have.  It's like winding a jack-in-the-box, knowing eventually the clown is going to spring out, but instead of a lingering pop it kinda peeks its head out and retreats back in the box.  Still, the film does have some great character development and a compelling argument about the afterlife (Ellie questions about death after seeing the pet cemetery, and while Rachel believes loved ones are in heaven, Louis doesn't believe in the afterlife at all, and isn't afraid to tell his daughter that), and there's a lot of backstory that's unpacked that shows the motives of the characters.  Plus John Lithgow was amazing.

The Summary:While doing a great job at establishing mood and the incoming horror, "Pet Sematary" seems to gloss over the actual horror in the end and wraps up quicker than it should've - it could've been at least twenty minutes more, and it would've been fantastic instead of just great.

The Score: A