Pet Sematary (1989) 30th Anniversary Edition Review
Pet Sematary (1989) Review
The terrifying tale by Stephen King is also a beloved adaptation of the best-selling author’s work. Newly remastered for its 30th Anniversary, Pet Sematary follows the tragic story of the Creed family. After their cat is accidentally killed, a friendly neighbour advises its burial in a mysterious nearby cemetery. When the cat comes back, it’s only the beginning of an unthinkable evil leading to hell and back. Sometimes, so it seems, dead is better.
This Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD release for Pet Sematary is not only timely for the film’s 30th anniversary but also ties in nicely to coast along on the back of the theatrical release of the forthcoming remake a week later. Both versions are based upon Stephen King’s 1983 novel of the same name, a novel that also happens to be one of my favourites and is still easily the scariest novel that I have read to date. Both King and his wife Tabitha felt that the source novel was so nasty that it was probably better off not being published. King also claims that is the only novel that has written that really scared him.
In 1984 it was reported that the rights to the novel had been sold to director George A. Romero for $10,000 and a healthy share of any profits made. Until then King had declined a number of offers for a film adaptation; however as King had worked with Romero previously on the big-screen anthology Creepshow (1982), as well as appearing in a brief cameo for the director’s Knightriders (1981), he knew that with Romero this adaptation would be in good hands. Convincing studios that King was still a name that sold at the box-office meant that the path taken to getting Pet Sematary to the big screen took longer than expected. Consequently Romero had to pull out of production as, by then, he had started working on Monkey Shines instead.
Director Mary Lambert stepped into Romero’s vacated role after her pitch to Paramount won the studio over. Until Pet Sematary Lambert had just one feature film to her name – 1987’s Siesta – and was better known for troubling the Catholic Church and causing tabloid headlines for her work on pop star Madonna’s Like a Prayer video. Lambert admits to not being a fan of the horror genre and I feel her lack of genre appreciation has slighted the finished product. It’s watchable but never once did it engage me on an emotional level which is critical to making the horrific events that unfold in Pet Sematary all the more shocking.
I recall leaving the cinema, after seeing it back on its original theatrical release, and wondering how such a frightening novel could have been diminished to something so lacking in horror. Yes, I get that the events that unfold are shocking in principal but Lambert’s direction manages to fudge the scares and it didn’t help matters that King omitted the unseen force in the novel (it’s alluded to briefly in the film) from his own script – for me, that added to the unease that built up to the scalpel-wielding climax. It doesn’t help that the lead actor – Dale Midkiff – lacks the range, coming across as more of a TV leading man than motion picture material.
From a budget of an estimated $11.5million Pet Sematary went on to gross a reasonable, for the time, $57.5million. Its financial success prompted a sequel and, as a result of the remarkable box-office takings for the recent big-screen adaptation of Stephen King’s IT, a 2019 remake. A documentary – Unearthed & Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary – is well worth seeking out, and will appeal not just to the film’s fans but to non-fans, like me, that may need some coaxing to give this 1989 flick another look.
