Pet Sematary review
Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. For those who know me you know about my love for horror films so once a month I’m going to review and discuss a scary flick. We’ll look at the classics, some new films, and I want your suggestions on what I should review. I’ll do my best to cover all the different genres within the genre – slashers, ghosts, monsters, etc.
SPOILER ALERT! – These will be reviews so if you haven’t seen the movie you’ll want to watch it first before you read this. Let’s do this.
PET SEMATARY
“Sometimes, dead is better” These are the words – maybe the warning – said by Jud Crandall in Pet Sematary. A great tagline that really sums up the movie. Once again I turn to a film based on a Stephen King novel to review. Pet Sematary is probably my favorite King novel and the film adaptation does a damn good job. King said writing the book was very personal for him and he was an important part of the film’s production including a cameo. Anytime a parent would write about the death of a child then it certainly becomes personal. It’s a horror film but it’s emotional. Directed by Mary Lambert, Pet Sematary has good characters that we can relate to. The friends we meet in life, the decisions we make and the family we sometimes just plain don’t like.
The Creed family – Louis, his wife Rachel, daughter Ellie and son Gage - has just moved to the great state of Maine from Chicago. Louis will be taking a job as a doctor at the University of Maine. They move into a beautiful house, which sits right on top of a very busy road used as a trucking route. The family is quite happy for the most part in their new home. Louis and Rachel are enjoying raising daughter Ellie and toddler son Gage. They meet neighborly Jud Crandall who welcomes them and later introduces them to the Pet Sematary. The first time we see the Pet Sematary is one of the best scenes of the film. A spooky little section of forest near the Creeds home accessed by a dusty path. A graveyard for children’s pets that have passed away over the decades. Exactly what you would expect a cemetery built by children to look like (hence the spelling of sematary) Set decoration is great. The old crosses, hand written tombstones, even the possum that rests on top of the gate in the first shot. It’s a peaceful place that seems to be fully understood by Ellie. Rachel however, does not appreciate the cemetery. Rachel does not like the idea of death. Growing up she had a sister who was locked away in a bedroom of their home suffering from, and eventually dying of meningitis. She has a difficult time dealing with it and doesn’t want to expose her children to it.
On his first day at UMaine, Louis watches a man, Victor Pascow, die in his care after being hit by a car. Later that night Louis has a dream where Pascow warns him not to go beyond the sematary. He wakes up assuming it was a dream but finds his feet covered in mud. Rachel takes the children to her parents’ home in Chicago for Thanksgiving leaving Louis home alone. Louis does not have a good relationship with his in-laws and avoids them whenever possible. Instead he’ll spend his alone time with his neighbor Jud. Jud Crandall is THE best character in the film. Played by Fred Gwynne of Munsters fame – he played Herman Munster – Jud is a wonderful embodiment of Down East Maine. His lines are memorable. “It’s that damn road!”, “I’m gonna go over yonder to have a smoke”, “Fixed cat don’t tend to wander”. He’s lived his whole life in this little part of Maine and knows everything about it. Everything. One morning Louis finds Ellie’s cat Church dead in the front lawn. Killed by one of the Orinco trucks traveling the road outside their home. He calls Jud to let him know and Jud has a suggestion. They won’t bury him in the pet sematary, but go beyond that. Past the deadfall to another burial ground. It’s here that Jud introduces Louis to the ancient Native American burial ground used by the Mi’kmaq tribe but abandoned since the ground became evil. It’s a pretty powerful sight. A rugged, stony landscape on top of a hill laden with cairns built long ago. Jud explains that by burying Church here, he will return. It will be better for Ellie this way. Well, Church comes back. He smells terrible and is basically pure evil, but nothing seems out of the ordinary to the family when they return.
The scene where Gage is killed is tough to watch. As Louis races to catch him as he approaches the deadly road, you sit up a little squirming in your seat hoping he will get to him in time before the tanker truck hits him. The shot of Louis releasing pure anguish when he sees his son killed is powerful. At the funeral the tensions between Louis and his Father-in-law reach a tipping point when they get into a physical confrontation. Followed by the oh so quick shot of Gage’s arm emerging from the casket as it’s knocked to the floor. The family is in ruin and Jud says he feels responsible. He believes that the Mi’kmaq burial ground was responsible for Gage’s death. This is when he tells Louis the truth that a person was buried there once. So distraught over the death of his son, Timmy Baderman’s father buried him there. Timmy came back much like Church. Animated but not nearly human. Louis begins thinking something terrible and Jud begs him not to follow through.
Rachel and Ellie go to Chicago and Louis begins to unravel. After digging up Gage, he takes him to the Mi’kmaq grounds to lay him to rest. Gage returns and is as far from his former human self as could be. After Ellie has terrible dreams, Rachel scrambles to return home – with the help of Pascow’s spirit – and discovers the damage Gage has inflicted. He has killed Jud (which includes a tendon slicing scene that will make your skin crawl) and wastes no time in murdering her. Louis finally puts him out of his misery in a scene using a syringe I can only imagine must have been intense to film with a small child. Gage stumbles around until he finally dies, again. Louis, by now out of his mind, sets Jud’s house on fire and begins taking Rachel’s corpse to the burying ground. Pascow begging him to turn around. While Louis is playing cards late in the night, Rachel returns from the grave rotting away and grabs a knife to kill her husband.
How far would you be willing to go to save someone? Would you do something that could bring them back? That’s one of the messages or themes I see in Pet Sematary. The burial ground will revive someone or something but at a cost. When a person returns though, they are no longer a person. The power that the burial ground possesses makes it impossible to resist. Louis is overcome with the loss of his son and is willing to do literally anything to bring him back. In his madness he does the same with his wife, saying “she only died just a little while ago” This justifies that burying her quickly won’t result in her return as a demon. This tells us we cannot change death. The other interesting theme in this film, and other horror films is the story of burial. Specifically burial grounds or places of rest. In Pet Sematary Jud mentions the Mi’kmaq’s stopped using the place because the ground went bad or became evil. In the film Poltergeist we find out at the end that their home is built on an old cemetery and the remains were never moved. Remember in The Shining when the hotel manager mentions The Overlook was built on an old Indian burying ground? Similar in the Amityville Horror. The message seems to be that we should not disrespect sacred or holy places. What was once pure and peaceful becomes barren and evil. I’ll note specifically Native American grounds. Why is it always an Indian burial ground in horror movies? Does it have to do with mistreatment of Native Americans over so many centuries? The spirit of the Wendigo makes itself known in the film as well. A very old Native American folktale prevalent in that part of the country where the film takes place.
I said earlier that the film adaptation of the King novel is great and remains a cult classic. I remember it being a top scary film to see when I was a kid. I think the biggest thing missing from the film is there isn’t enough detail about the trail that leads to burial ground. In the novel it’s so well described and comes off as a very haunted, almost mythical place you would not want to ever get lost in. Read the novel if you get a chance. There was a sequel that wasn’t great but I always find myself watching it when it’s on TV. Worth a watch at least once. The idea for a remake has been tossed around for years but nothing yet. I have a Pet Sematary poster in my collection that I had signed by the majority of the cast and it’s one of my favorite pieces of memorabilia. If you want to really get into the production of the film you need to watch Unearthed & Untold: The path to Pet Sematary. Outstanding documentary any fan of the film will love. For you Ramones fans out there, you can enjoy Sheena is a Punk Rocker in one scene as well as an original song for the film. King is a big Ramones fan. I’ve heard Pet Sematary compared to The Monkey’s Paw. Having a number of wishes that you pay a price for. To quote Rage Against the Machine – “What you reap is what you sow” Remember, sometimes dead is better.
Enjoy the trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpjpUOXQZac