Rated: MA15+
Directed by: Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kölsch
Based on the Novel by: Stephen King
Screen Story by: Matt Greenberg
Screenplay by: Jeff Buhler
Produced by: Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Steven Schneider, Mark Vahradian
Starring: Jason Clarke, Amy Seimetz and John Lithgow.
Opening on a scene above the trees, it’s like looking above to shed light on the below, on the woods that surround the new home of the Creed family.
When Dr. Creed (Jason Clarke) and his family, wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz) and their two children, Ellie (Jeté Laurence) and Gage (Hugo Lavoie) move to Maine, all they want is peace and quiet.
The next-door neighbour, Jud (John Lithgow) seems like a well-natured old codger. But the kids who bury their dead pets in the so named, ‘Pet Sematary’, included in the Creed’s newly acquired land, not so much.
Kids wearing animal masks, beating a tin drum while wheeling a dead dog towards a woodland cemetery can be intimidating to a mother still grieving, processing, terrified of her dead sister – remember her? The one with spina bifida who hated her sister? Who still haunts her?
I found these bits scarier than the other more supernatural moments.
So, there’s a cemetery and an old codger who knows of an ancient Native American burial ground that brings back those buried there. Like a dead cat named Church, for example. Dead things get buried there. They comeback. But not the same.
Pet Sematary is a remake of a familiar story.
While watching, I was reminded of the original, Pet Sematary (1989), an, ‘oh that’s right, that happens…’
But also, ‘that’s different. I don’t remember that bit…’
I watched the original film during the day, about thirteen years old, and had to sit outside on the swings till someone came home after. Didn’t think I’d get that scared. Then, I read the book, and that was much better, much scarier.
I’m so glad the transfer of the mind of Stephen King and his stories – the telepathy of stories, he might even say – is becoming more successful.
I still don’t think the films get that creeping suspense of the characters slowly losing their mind. There’s just not enough space to get the build.
The novels are slow, subtle and ultimately terrifying because of the creep.
Here, the film has character, setting and story; the film more story than character. But the condensing is successful, covered in the dialogue. Not the same effect, but with a different perspective from screenwriters, Matt Greenberg and Jeff Buhler; the story remains solid.
It’s a push at times with throwaway remarks like: ‘How far back is the acreage?’
‘Further back than you’d like to go.’
And there were moments where I wondered why you’d bury the dead somewhere you know they’re going to come back? Bad? Which is where we get the dialogue to explain the call of the Windego.
This is where the film glosses over character and where the novel digs deep.
What I like about this re-make is how visceral the scenes get when it matters.
And there’s some great devices used here, the montages of dripping blood, the movement of feet while compressing the heart to the flashing of red lights to entice the unsuspecting in front of an oncoming grill of a runaway truck – the red flashing because the ground is sour and woods are calling.
Look, I wasn’t completely blown away, probably because if felt familiar; yet directors Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kölsch have taken this known tale and refreshed the storyline. A solid storyline with enough scares to satisfy this horror fan.