Sometimes dead is better
Disclaimer: This review was originally written as content for the University Daily Kansan
Following the 2017 remake of Stephen King’s “It” becoming the highest-grossing horror movie of all time,the author’s work has been making a comeback. With “Pet Sematary,” the remake of the 1989 film of the same name, directors Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer try to recreate the magic and push it even further. Despite its potential, the attempt to make another Stephen King blockbuster didn’t quite hit its mark.
The story follows a family of four moving to rural Maine from their busy life in Boston. After the parents Louis and Rachel (played by Jason Clarke and Amy Seimetz, respectively) discover a spooky burial ground in the woods near their home, tragedy strikes and Louis goes to his neighbor Jud (John Lithgow) for help. This sets off a chain of events with a mysterious evil threatening the safety of everyone involved.
The movie’s strengths are in its atmosphere and suspense. Throughout a good portion of the film, you can feel the woods’ dreadful aura. When tragedy hits, the mix of sound and imagery makes you feel the family’s sadness, especially from Louis. When things go bad, you’re on the edge of your seat waiting for what will happen next. It’s a slow burn at times, but it feels like it’s properly preparing you for something that will shock and horrify you when the inevitable evil comes to take the family.
However, those strengths come back to bite it in the end. The biggest flaws were easily the pacing and the end of the film. The movie has plenty of build-up leading to the climax, but then the last 15 minutes are rushed before finishing without any real satisfaction. There’s no payoff — it just suddenly ends and the credits roll.
The story and the characters didn’t quite make the impact they were meant to, either. Certain plot points or characters could have made a difference, but it felt like they weren’t built up enough to be significant, or they were just thrown in to push the plot forward. The main characters didn’t get the development that they deserved. There’s an entire subplot about a twisted event in Rachel’s childhood that shows that the filmmakers tried, but it feels disconnected and meaningless.
The movie itself also just isn’t all that scary. It’s suspenseful, but in the end I felt more tense and uncomfortable than terrified; and not the kind of tense or uncomfortable that comes from a good horror film — it has a good scare here and there, but overall it’s more gross than anything else.
“Pet Sematary” is another mediocre horror movie in a genre already bloated with mediocrity and subpar projects. If you’re an avid fan of Stephen King or are just looking for a good spring spook, “Pet Sematary” is worth the watch. Otherwise, this re-envisioning of the story is unnecessary. Jud was right; sometimes dead is better.
The Movie Hall 
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