"Sometimes Dead Is Better..."
Acting as the most recent entry into the Stephen King revival era which has been embraced gleefully both on the big screen and the small thanks to the success of the likes of It, Mr. Mercedes and Netflix's Gerald's Game, Pet Sematary is the latest contemporary adaptation of one of the American writer's most well-known novels from 1983, acting as a completely fresh adaptation after the rather lukewarm reception given to the 1989 and original film version which on retrospect, hasn't exactly aged at all well. Directed by the film-making duo of Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer, whose previous work includes the little-seen horror flick, Starry Eyes, as well as credits on the television version of Scream, Pet Sematary sees Jason Clarke (First Man) as Louis Creed, a well-respected and straight-thinking university doctor who after moving his family to a remote woodland house on the outskirts of Ludlow, Maine, soon begins to experience a wide range of supernatural and nightmarish encounters, all of which seem to stem from the discovery of the local titular graveyard, a particularly powerful area which seems to be much much more than a quaint location for the local deceased bunny rabbit.
With King's original novel undeniably one of his most nihilistic and terrifying tales to date, Kölsch and Widmyer's movie does impressively manage to transfer the overarching sense of dread onto the big screen for pretty much the majority of the film's one hundred minute run-time, and with the added boost of a particularly haunting musical score from horror auteur, Christopher Young (Hellraiser, Sinister) and enough creepy fog and pitch black cinematography to make David Fincher's Seven look like something from CBeebies, it's fair to say that in terms of atmospheric setting, Pet Sematary circa 2018 doesn't just tick the box for the horror genre, it absolutely smothers it. With a superbly crafted cast which features a quartet of impressive performances including John Lithgow (Dexter) as the wise and elderly neighbour, Jud Crandall, and Amy Seimetz (Upstream Color) as Louis' wife, Rachel Creed, the movie also benefits from the decision made by both screenwriters, Jeff Buhler and Matt Greenberg, to alter the central death at the heart of the story, a bold choice which is understandable in the way it makes complete cinematic sense whilst offering the chance for young Jeté Laurence to absolute oodles of fun with her role as the Creed's young daughter. Whilst some differences to the novel do feel slightly jarring, including a shock-tastic ending which doesn't carry the same impact as the book's own conclusion, and the lack of real depth ultimately resulting in the film nowhere near as rewarding as the book, Pet Sematary doesn't hold back on the sheer nastiness of the source material, and with a heavy dedication to King's own written word, is a movie which is up there with the much better examples of what a Stephen King adaptation should ultimately look like.
