PET SEMATARY
(director: Dennis Widmyer, Kevin Kolsh; screenwriters: novel by Stephen King, Matt Greenberg, Jeff Buhler; cinematographer: Laurie Rose; editor: Sarah Broshar; music: Christopher Young; cast: Jason Clarke (Dr. Louis Creed), Amy Seimetz (Rachel Creed), John Lithgow (Jud Crandall), Jete Laurence (Ellie), Hugo and Lucas Lavoie (Gage), Alyssa Brooke Levine (Zelda), Obssa Ahmed (Victor Pascow); Runtime: 101; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Mark Vahradian, Steven Schneider; Paramount; 2019)
“Casts a somber mood and leaves no room for humor or fun to creep in.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Co-directors Dennis Widmyer (“Starry Eyes”) and Kevin Kolsh (“The Swallow”/“Starry Eyes”) of the supernatural thriller based on the novel by Stephen King. It’s co-written by Matt Greenberg and Jeff Buhler. It’s a by-the-numbers direction horror pic, with jump scares, that casts a somber mood and leaves no room for humor or fun to creep in.
This is the film’s second adaption from the box office hit original in 1989.
Dr. Louis Creed (Jason Clarke) and his wife, Rachel (Amy Seimetz), relocate from Boston to a small town in rural Maine to live a slower paced life, with their two young children, the 8-year-old Ellie (Jete Laurence) and their toddler son Gage (Lucas Lavoie). Louis goes from being an ER hospital doctor to a doctor on a college campus.
The family soon discover a mysterious burial ground for pets hidden deep in the woods on the property of their new home.
They meet their old-timer new neighbor, the widower Judd Crandall (John Lithgow), a troubled but kind man, who lives alone.
Their heavily wooded property runs close to a busy highway. The gentle family cat, Church, gets run over by a truck, and Judd shows Louis how to bury it atop the hill, away from the cemetery where the locals bury their pets. But he fails to tell Louis his pet will be reborn if buried there. Church returns as a very big and menacing cat, which unleashes some horrific consequences.
REVIEWED ON 7/28/2024 GRADE: B-
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