My Review of Pet Sematary (2019)

 

Written by Matt Greenberg And Jeff Buhler

Directed by Kevin Loach And Dennis Widmyer

Jud: "Sometimes dead is better."

Confession time: I've not seen the 1989 adaptation of this particular Stephen King tale so I can't in all honesty say whether the 2019 version is better or worse. I can however give an honest perspective on this version nonetheless.

Story is mostly the same, albeit with some cultural changes. A doctor named Louis (Jason Clarke) and his wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz) move from Boston to Maine with their children and it's not long before they realise that strange things happen in their new town.

When the daughter Ellie (Jete Laurence) wanders around the pet sematary and encounters the rather odd Jud (John Lithgow), it's soon revealed that the dead don't stay that way and come back a lot different than when they left.

Elie learns this when her cat returns and has become so feral her father has no choice but to get rid of it. The cat then reappears during Ellie's birthday party and tragedy then strikes for the family when Ellie is killed.

Of course learning nothing from the cat, Ellie is brought back to life by her grieving father and then turns on him and her mother before killing poor Jud.

The ending is an unsatisfactory cliffhanger but the lead performances are fairly strong with the movie looking very chilling and atmospheric, especially during the night scenes. Also that cat was more menacing than Ellie herself.

- There's a sly reference to Cujo at one point in the movie by Jud.

- I still find it a bit odd that Ellie called her cat Church after Winston Churchill but it's amusing when you realise that John Lithgow played him in The Crown.

- The Easter release of this movie was timely considering its resurrection theme.

- Chronology: I assume 2019 as to when the movie came out.  

Pet Sematary is probably not the strongest adaptation of a Stephen King work but it's charming nonetheless. The cast are solid as is the direction and atmosphere in general and overall that works for me.

Rating: 7 out of 10