Review of Pet Sematary (1989) by Gavin P — 15 Apr 2016

This film is a mixed bag for me. Conventional wisdom is this film is garbage, though among horror film aficionados, which I consider myself, there is a significant cult following for this 1989 film adaptation of the Stephen King novel.

The story of a secret burial ground where the dead can be brought back to life is a deceptively simple one, but King makes the story much more complicated when loved ones don't come back the same when their family members still love them the same and don't want to let go.

Of all of King's horror and fantasy stories, this is the one that seemed best suited for a film adaptation in that it didn't have a huge scope, it wouldn't require wild special effects, and it's a story with themes that would be universally applicable to a wide audience.

My main problem with the film is that the characters are not well developed and the film tends to dip into cliched slasher film tropes much too easily and much too often. Despite the film's many flaws, there are some parts of this film that have always stuck with me.

Some of those moments are lowbrow slasher/horror film moments, like the slicing of an Achilles tendon, the ghost guide with a bloody head injury or the sister with over-the-top spinal meningitis. All memorable, but not great filmmaking.

However, there are some parts that are done very well and do deserve authentic credit for being well done, most notably the (SPOILER ALERT) heartbreaking moment when the father makes the decision to kill his re-animated son who came back bad.

That singular moment is what the film should have been focused on building up to, both in terms of story and theme. A film focused on love, mourning and emotion would have been a much more powerful of film than one filled with pointless gore and bloody prosthetics.

In any case, there's a fine score by one of my favorite modern film composers, Elliot Goldenthal. This film also features a very catchy theme song by The Ramones. Overall, this film is a pretty big disappointment and could have easily have been among the best King adaptation ("Misery" "The Shawshank Redemption" "Stand by Me" "The Shining" "Carrie"), but it's nowhere close.

However, it's also far from the worst King adaptation, for which there are unfortunately many (most of them from the 80s and 90s. "The Lawnmower Man," anyone?). Worth watching, but hardly a classic.