DIRECTORS: Kevin Kölsch, Dennis Widmyer
LEAD CAST: Jason Clarke, Amy
Seimetz, John Lithgow SCREENPLAY BY: Jeff Buhler STORY BY: Matt Greenberg, based on Pet Sematary by Stephen King PRODUCERS: Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Steven Schneide,
Mark Vahradian GENRE: Horror, Thriller MUSIC BY: Christopher Young EDITED BY: Sarah Broshar CINEMATOGRAPHY: Laurie Rose PRODUCTION COMPANY: Di Bonaventura Pictures, Alphaville Films DISTRIBUTED BY: Paramount Pictures COUNTRY: United
States LANGUAGE: English RUNNING TIME: 1 hour 48 minutes
Technical
assessment: 2
Moral
assessment: 2
CINEMA
rating: V18
MTRCB
rating: R16
Tired of living in the big city, Dr. Louis Creed
(Jason Clarke) moves his wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz) and their two kids,
eight-year-old Ellie (Jeté Laurence) and toddler Gage (Lucas Lavoie) from
Boston to rural Maine. Everyone seems to like their rustic new house, even
Church the cat. But the house is along a superhighway with speeding trucks that
can squash persons or animals in seconds. When the inevitable tragedy happens,
Louis turns to neighbor Jud Crandall (John Lithgow) who tells them about an old
Native-American graveyard out back where kids bury their road kill and its powers
of bringing the dead back to life. Little did they know that trying it out sets
off a dangerous chain reaction that unleashes an unspeakable evil with horrific
consequences.
Pet
Sematary
is both a remake and an adaptation of Stephen King’s 1983 novel. The film feels
dated in its approach and in some plot elements. The exposition is also quite
too long and it takes a while before the story gets really interesting. There
are bits of scares here and there but nothing really unforgettable. The movie
tries very hard to be psychological but it fails to really explore the various
subplots which could have made it more insightful if not more exciting. The
actors have played their parts well although the material does not really call
for more depth. This film is one classic example of intelligent characters
doing stupid things and it gets in the way of suspending disbelief.
What if your favorite pet dies and you bury it
in a place where it could get back to life again? And what if the same is
applied to humans? That is basically the film’s premise that calls for debate
on dealing with loss, grief and death. Just as when the Creeds are trying to
pull their lives together and settle in a more laidback environment to spend
more time together and cherish each and every waking moment, tragedy strikes.
People have different ways and capacities of coping with loss. It is seen in
the film that the Creeds do not have a faith practice and Louis does not really
believe in God nor in life after death. Church for the Creeds is nothing more
than their pet. The film clearly shows what happens if our happiness depends on
people and pets—they will inevitably leave and fail us—so loss would be so
painful that one will defy all sorts of reason. The film lacks any redemptive
value for the protagonist does not demonstrate any kind of remorse and he just
opens up their bodies and souls to be instruments of the devil. In Louis’
desire to bring back to life a dead loved one, he deprives everyone around him
of peace and the chance of living a beautiful life. Sometimes, dead is better—as
the movie says. Given its theme of psychological and spiritual warfare, and the
gore and violence, CINEMA deems Pet
Sematary as appropriate only for audiences 18 years old and above.—RPJ
