Pet Sematary (2019) — A Review

18th August 2019.

Yes … 

It’s a Sunday night.



And frankly, it’s a Sunday night off.

After a couple of shifts that have been … exhausting, to say the least.

NOT helped by the fact I’m not exactly as thin as I was, twenty years ago.

I’m … 



I’m not having doubts about the job.



But may need to have a quiet word about the length of my shifts.

~≈†≈~

At any rate … ?



I’ve had today off.

Off … and have no worries about getting up in the morning … 

Yes: you’ve guessed it: that’s given me enough time for a movie.

Now … did you figure out it was the 2019 version of Pet Sematary?

~≈†≈~

Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, Pet Sematary introduces us to Louis Creed (Jason Clarke), his wife, Rachel (Amy Seimetz), and their children, Ellie (Jeté Laurence) and Gage (Hugo and Lucas Lavoie.)

The family have moved to the small town of Ludlow, to be closer to Louis’s new job as a university doctor.

On practically the first day … ?

Ellie spots a small group of neighbourhood kids heading out to the woods: with a dead dog they intend to bury.

At a local patch of woodland known as the pet sematary … 

It seems it’s some something of a local tradition.

Whilst there?   Ellie is prevented from going an further the next door neighbour, Jud (John Lithgow): who warns her the wood are dangerous.

Whilst at work?

Louis has to deal with a student called Victor (Obssa Ahmed): critically injured in a car accident … 

And whose corpse warns Louis not to venture … beyond.

Louis doesn’t …



For the duration … 

It’s only when October comes around, that things change.

When, during a Halloween celebration, Jud quietly informs Louis that Church, the family cat … has been run over.

Which is when Jud tells exactly why people should bury their cats in ancient Native American burial grounds.

Sometimes, things come back … 

~≈†≈~

Now … 

Good … ?

Bad … ?

Indifferent?



I have to say it’s been a while since I’ve seen the late 80s version of Pet Sematary: or read King’s original novel.

So I have to emphasise two things.

• This version has a changed ending
• I’m not going to make any direct comparisons

This 2019 version of Pet Sematary is a fantastic movie, in it’s own right.

Jump scares in the shape of passing trucks, pathos, genuine emotion … and is possibly one of the scariest movies going.



Because everything?



Is implicit from the start … when you see children conducting a funeral for a much loved dog … and when you realise the Creed family have had a chance to put in a fence: to protect their children.



Stephen King has gone on the record to say Pet Sematary is the scariest thing he’s ever written.   that the novel he penned, scares him.

I don’t know if the film live up to the novel.

But Pet Sematary has a very good go …

Pet Sematary
★★★★