Zoey Hickman

Pet Semetary: Some Stories Should Stay Dead Written by Zoey Hickman In recent years, rebooted adaptations of Stephen King’s most iconic works of fiction have been flying onto the big screen. It has gone well for King fans for the most part, with the 2017 adaptation of “It” becoming a major box office success. The most recent King adaptation has not been as well received, though. So, why is “Pet Sematary” so unpopular? “Pet Sematary” is a story about grief and our selfish need for more time with the ones that we have lost. The title’s crude misspelling is a representation of the innocence of children that the story seeks to undercut. Unfortunately, the original plot was changed in this most recent transfer to the screen, shifting the story in a not-entirely-positive way. The story follows the Creed family, with father Louis as the main protagonist. Jason Clarke’s performance as Louis was acceptable, but overall a bit lackluster. There were moments when this actor’s veneer of confidence cracked to show how little he understood the character and his motivations. A mourning parent is a difficult role to play, but with the death of a child at the crux of this film’s plot, we should expect better. To be fair to the actors, the direction of this film also came off shaky. Even John Lithgow, a seasoned and usually impressive actor, gave somewhat of a diluted performance. Both men came off stale and borderline emotionless in times of horror or despair. This gave the film a much more careless energy than this story deserves. That being said, this is a scary film. If you are not a King fan and are just looking for a film to make you jump in your seat, I would definitely recommend “Pet Sematary.” While main protagonist Louis and the shifted main plot of the film falls flat, wife Rachel’s side plot was the star of the show. When Rachel was a child, she witnessed her incredibly sick sister die from a horrible accident. The moments of flashbacks in this film are haunting, with a terrifying score and unsettling atmosphere that will make the hairs on your arms stand tall. In fact, the most impressive and jarring performances are from Rachel. Her character gets very little screen time, and basically no growth in the story, but Amy Seimetz handling of this character is a showstopper. Her moments of PTSD-like paranoia had me begging for more. Those scenes were so well executed, and her performance as a mother dealing with trauma is so well done that it almost leaves you wishing that the entire story was about Rachel. It is a shame that so much attention was put on those scenes to bring the horror to this film, but Seimetz really should be praised for her performance. The makeup design in this film was also breathtakingly disturbing. While some of the dialogue comes off cheap, the effects certainly do not. If you’re not a fan of gore or body horror, I might suggest you skip this film. The character with half of his face torn off, for example, is very well executed and effective. What is unfortunate is that the really beautiful, disgusting pieces are used so infrequently that the audience is definitely not left satiated. Fans of the original story will probably not be pleased with this film. While so much of the first half is perfectly in sync with the original narrative, the second half falls so flat. Any connection that you may have made to any of the characters is lost, leaving a disinterested feeling at what should be an absolutely terrifying ending to this story. It is clear that the writers of this ending did not love this story and appreciate the complexities of its meaning. The final moments came off cheap and underdeveloped, leaving everyone in the theater almost confused. I found myself frustrated by the lack of emotion that I felt for a story that is entirely about mourning and loss. Overall, “Pet Sematary” was an okay theater experience. I would recommend checking it out even if you are a King fan so that you can judge it for yourself. If you go with an open mind and low expectations, you are sure to enjoy yourself at least a bit. I think that non-King fans can definitely find enjoyment in this film, though, and I would highly recommend fans of modern horror films like “Oculus” or “Insidious” to see this movie. The writing lives up to a majority of supernatural horror films and the scares are definitely there.