A while back I reviewed the 2019 remake/reimagining of Pet Sematary and I thought that it was fantastic. I am a massive Stephen King fan and I have been watching some older movies based on his work and I did a back to back special of Pet Sematary and Pet Sematary 2 recently and wanted to talk about them, well the first Pet Sematary here.
How to Download Pet Sematary (1989)
Pet Sematary was released on April 21, 1989. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice.
The Movie Review
Revisiting the Classic Horror Story
By the way, I often wonder if I am the only person in the world who out of the Pet Sematary movies, likes Pet Sematary 2 the best. I know for sure, that is not a common opinion. Anyway, let’s get back to talking about the original Pet Sematary which was released in 1989 and is based on Stephen King’s 1983 book.
The Story of Pet Sematary
I am sure most people at the very least know the premise of Pet Sematary, but I will let you know the basics. First of all the misspelling of the title is intentional as this is how it is written at the entrance of the fabled Pet Sematary in the movie. We have the Creed family which consists of father Louis, wife Rachel, and kids Ellie and Gage. The Creed family have moved from Chicago to Maine where Louis is going to be working as a doctor. Their new life out in the sticks could be just what the family needs!
They soon meet their new neighbor Jud. Jud is played by Fred Gwynne and he is awesome, when I think of classic Stephen King movies and their characters, Jud always comes to mind. Louis learns from Jud as well as a strange guy out jogging about the Pet Sematary and how it is not what it seems.
The Horror Begins
Well, the Creed family cat dies and Jud takes Louis to a place beyond the Pet Sematary to bury it, it is an ancient burial ground that has mysterious powers, powers to bring back the dead! The cat returns and it is very aggressive and clearly something is wrong, but things are about to get a lot worse.
The youngest Creed, the little boy Gage is hit by a truck and killed, while Jud warns him not to, Louis is so filled with grief he buries Gage in the Pet Sematary and Gage comes back! The young actor, Miko Hughes who plays Gage is just fantastic in this role, I would put little Gage wielding his scalpel as one of the creepiest horror kids of all time. Gage causes absolute chaos and terror and Louis realizes what he must do. Hey, this is a Stephen King movie, so it will not shock you to learn that it does not exactly have a happy ending!
A Dark and Creepy Classic
I still think that Pet Sematary is a very creepy movie and I love how dark and just horrible everything here is. Gage is a fantastic villain and as I said, for a kid, the performance here is just incredible. Although, after I watched it this time around, I kind of just wanted to reach my hand through the screen and punch Louis for being such a moron, sure the dude has gone through hell, but he chose to visit the Pet Sematary not once, not twice, but three damn times! Hey, this is still great stuff, but Pet Sematary 2 is always going to be my favorite.
