THIS is a remake of the 1989 movie adapted from the scary novel of the same name by Stephen King.
I love the first film, which starred Dale Midkiff and Fred Gwynne as the two leads.
This remake, 30 years after the first, has been receiving some rave reviews.
While I enjoyed this film, I would not call it a must-watch horror.
This may be because I know how the story will pan out.
For a horror movie, knowing this somehow kills the excitement.
The directors have made some changes to the storyline, but the changes are minimal and do not add any surprise element to the plot.
Pet Sematary (2019) stars Jason Clarke in the lead as Dr Louis Creed, who with his wife Rachel (Amy Semitz) and young children Ellie (Jete Laurence) and Gage (played by twins Hugo and Lucas Lavoie), move to a remote woodland house on the outskirts of town.
They quickly become friends with their neighbour Jud (John Lithgow).
The family also notices a strange ‘pet cemetary’ near their house, full of dead pets that have been buried by the neighbourhood over the years, and marked by a misspelled sign.
At work, Louis fails to save the life of a student called Victor Pascow (Obssa Ahmed), and is later plagued by nightmares where he sees Victor warning him to stay away from the woods.
One day, Ellie’s beloved pet cat Church is hit by a truck.
Jud convinces Louis to bury Church in an ancient Indian burial ground near the Pet Sematary.
The next day, Louis is stunned to discover Church has come back to life.
However, the cat is now more violent.
Louis confronts Jud, who tells him the Pet Sematary is able to bring the dead back to life.
During a birthday party for young Ellie, a tragic accident happens which takes the young girl’s life.
A grief-stricken Louis goes against Jud’s warnings and later digs up Ellie’s grave and places her body in the ancient burial grounds, hoping she too will return to life.
Ellie does indeed return home, but she is no longer the innocent child she once was.
And now, the rest of the family is in danger.
Clarke played his role as the grieving father convincingly.
But I thought Midkiff gave a better portrayal in the 1989 film.
The same goes for John Lithgow. He made a very compelling Jud, but in the original, Gwynne put more edginess to the character.
For this new adaptation, the show stealer has to be young Jeté.
She easily switches between innocent and cold-blooded in her portrayal of the undead Ellie.
