Pet Sematary

Starring: Dale Midkiff, Fred Gwynne, Denise Crosby, Brad Greenquist, Michael Lombard, Miko Hughes, Blaze Berdahl, Stephen King
Directed by: Mary Lambert
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Thriller
1989

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A family moves into a home that is close to a pet cemetery, close to a burial ground with supernatural powers.

Review:

Tim: Horror movies in the 1980s were all over the place. A lot of them were terrible. While Pet Sematary is a pretty decent film (all things considered), I still wish it was a better movie. The source material was obviously strong- there's some great themes, interesting ideas, and unexpected moments in this film. However, Mary Lambert doesn't execute effectively enough on them. That makes this movie less effective than it could have been.

I'm a big Stephen King fan, but I haven't read the book upon which this movie is based. From the events here, it sounds like it would be worth checking out. This movie greatly benefits from a compelling story. The idea of a family moving into a new home, the home bordering a pet cemetery as well as a busy street with speeding trucks, a wife who struggles with horrific memories from her past, a mysterious/creepy neighbor- these are all effective elements. The story here is one of the strongest aspects of the movie. King wrote the screenplay for this movie as well- you can see his fingerprints all over it. I don't fault the film's story (and to be fair, this isn't out of some blind loyalty to King- he's made a ton of blunders in the movies). This movie greatly benefits from a strong script.

The issue here is that Lambert directs a lackluster horror movie. I had to put myself into the right frame of mind, because I saw this movie for the first time 30 years after it was initially released. I've seen enough 80s horror movies to know good from bad. This one falls into the middle. The visual effects were mostly good- the bloody head of the guy who was hit by the truck is frightening. The effects really let the movie down only during the conclusion- there's some really cheesy, cheap effects with the boy. Those are quite terrible and take you out of the movie, but thankfully, they are kept to a minimum.

The biggest issue I had is that the cast is pretty terrible and they don't give strong enough performances to make you care about the characters. I don't know Dale Midkiff, but man, he's a bad actor. His blank stare was annoying. He fumbled through this performance and didn't help the movie at all. Denise Crosby is pretty bad, too. She gives the kind of performance you imagine she would just cringe if she had to watch it today. Fred Gwynne was actually pretty decent. You didn't quite know if he was trustworthy or not. You wanted to like him, but you could never quite be sure. Miko Hughes was good for such a young actor in his very first starring role. He was most recognizable to me from his memorable line in Kindergarten Cop, as well as his role in Apollo 13. He was asked to do a lot here, which is impressive considering he was so young and had never acted before. Blaze Berdahl definitely wasn't believable in her role.

While the movie has too many cheesy moments, there's some effective ones as well. The best scene has to be the aerial shot of the burial ground. That was so cool- it was creepy, mysterious, and memorable. The look of the resurrected cat is quite effective as well- those glowing eyes were a cool visual effect.

As a whole, there's been far worse Stephen King adaptations than Pet Sematary. The movie as a whole is only decent, but it has some nice moments. This film is worth seeing.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Pet Sematary II