Review of Pet Sematary (1989) by John D — 19 Jul 2010

Dr Louis, his wife Rachel and their kids Ellie and Gage, and their cat move to a new home in Maine. They are warned by their neighbor Jud about the local pet cemetery and how it is cursed. Louis thinks nothing of this and everything's fine until the family cat is killed. He buries it in the cursed cemetery and it comes back to life, constantly hissing at the family and wanting to be left alone. One day, infant Gage runs out in the road and is run over and killed by a truck, and Louis knows he must bury him in the cemetery. When Gage comes back to life, he is changed with a penchant for human flesh. Some things are better left dead!

This below average movie based on Stephen King's story contains one or two scares and a few gory scenes but it's just not enough to save this wreck. The acting is a bit of a mixed bag. Fred Gwynne and Denise Crosby are OK but Dale Midkiff is awful. The guy just can't act and has a blank expression on his face for most of the movie. The story itself is a bit laughable if I'm being honest especially the one about the grotesque sister of the doctor's wife. Another thing you've got to ask yourself is how can an evil 3 year old hang his own mother and lift her up into the attic? The ghost kid warning Dr Louis also provides some unintentional laughs! It's such a stupid movie which beggars belief. It's watchable in a "how dumb can this movie be" but it's certainly not frightening. If you're bored one rainy afternoon and want a few laughs then take a look otherwise don't bother.