3 out of 5

Directed by: Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer

There is certainly a crowd of filmgoers who were / are unaware of the original Pet Sematary film (and perhaps the Stephen King book on which this and that movie are based), and would’ve watched this 2019 version as their initial exposure to the concept. I was almost one of them, in a way, as I had no real memories of the ’89 edition beyond some edited-for-TV watches ages ago that at least had me informed of the movie’s general beats. But I did catch up on that movie and its sequel before diving in here (for posterity?), and it had me reflecting on how the King “brand” really does help cement a film’s place in the horror collective’s blood-inscribed book of notable horrors, because otherwise… the original wasn’t really a great film, I don’t think. Not even horror movie “great.” Its sequel was, but would we have gotten its budgeted followup if not for some relative success of the first one, and would that first one have had success without the King name…?

This is important for Pet Sematary 2019 because I do think the plot is a worthwhile one, tapping into a good cross-section that plays with adult and childhood fears / comprehensions of death: when the Creed family moves to smalltown Maine to escape some big city problems, they find that their property encompasses the town’s mislabeled “pet sematary,” a seemingly kid-maintained burial ground for pets taken by natural and otherwise causes; and when father Louis (Jason Clarke) buries the family cat there, he finds the ‘sematary’ also has the power to bring its occupants back to life. …Or a form of it, anyway.

The original could not solve for its shallow characters and very lacking logic; it also had a high quotient of, if you’ll pardon the phrase, King bullshit – like psychic kids – that really didn’t seem necessary, or at least in the movie version. Writer Jeff Buhler and directors Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer correct for that greatly, by giving us more time to get to know the family and more room for the actors to embody their roles beyond setup; the script includes some bullshit as nods to the book or other film, but it’s executed with a bit more grace, and subtle tweaks to the way some details are managed helps modernize things significantly.

…And then some less subtle tweaks.

There’s a big shift to the movie versus its sources, and it also happens to be given away in the trailers. I’m curious about this plot point in general being given away, but it was in the ’89 movie’s trailer as well, so, fair game. This does present a bit of a conundrum in terms of evaluating the movie, though: are these changes for change’s sake, or do they actually work? Will the audience who’s never seen / read the others care?

I do think the shift is largely a better one, and / or the movie just deals with it so much more effectively. ’89 director Mary Lambert had an appreciably gothic, slightly campy style, but again, this didn’t paper fully over the film’s plotting and pacing flaws. Kölsch and Widmyer are much more in sync here, showing restraint and patience with not over “down home”sing the production, or doing a modern gothic thing of being too bleak and moody, while also – with Christopher Young’s subtle score – effecting a particular visual style. And I also liked the way much of the scary stuff takes place at night – Lambert tried evoking fear in daytime, and it felt a bit hokey – even if the day-for-night shooting (or whatever was done to superficially brighten the initial burial scenes) ends up looking unfortunately cheap.

In both cases, when events build and spiral during the conclusion, things cease making a lot of sense. Even here, though, PS ’19 triumphs: Lambert and King gave us random imagery and had to work / cut around a very young actor; it’s just kind of silly. Kölsch and Widmyer still have some cutting to do but aren’t as limited, and go bonkers in quite a different way that, most importantly, gives its victims a bit more involvement in their fates, and then secondly antes things up in a really fun fashion; I legit laughed out loud at the final shot.

Speaking of those edits, the way some pivotal scenes are snipped together feels very… off, as though editor Sarah Broshar and our directors were doing everything they could to not go too far beyond a 90-minute mark. So some moments where key dialogue is delivered – what should be some emotional beats – get all the breathing room shriveled out, and the endings and beginnings of some scenes are shoved as close together as possible. Maybe this wasn’t a runtime thing, or a studio asking for fat to be trimmed, but whatever the motivation, the movie definitely feels rushed during its midsection.

Clarke is great, playing the disbelief and trauma of someone in his role believably. The whole cast is in upgrade: Amy Seimetz makes Rachel, the wife, into an actual human character instead of the original’s nag, and John Lithgow makes neighbor Jud into someone haunted by his past, instead of the confuzzled and bobbling Jud of the original. Jeté Laurence is amazing as the Creed’s daughter, Ellie, carrying a lot of the movie’s emotional weight, and then special shoutouts to the animal wranglers and the four cats (and various puppets) which played Church, and ten thousand kudos to our directors and / or effects team for making that thing seem physical – i.e. not a CG effect – for every shot.