Pet Sematary (2019) Review

I want to make something clear: I loved this movie. That being said, I want to make another thing equally as clear: I never want to see it again.

Pet Sematary is a great adaptation of one of my favorite books. Stephen King wrote a masterpiece that explored some of the darkest issues a person can go through: the loss of a child. (It's not a spoiler; it's all over the advertising.)

Being a father, the most difficult thing for me to endure is anything to do with injury or death to a child. That being said, Pet Sematary (the book and both movies) does a great job of taking you through that experience. There were times when the movie was masterfully made, yet I felt the grief and loss that the characters were going through. Movies, books, and even music are great when they are able to elicit an emotion from the consumer. This movie does that incredibly well.

The acting is good, if not great. They feel like a family and they exhibit emotion in all the right places. If there is one nitpick, it would be the relationship between Jud (played by John Lithgow) and the Creed family, minus Ellie (played exceptionally well by Jeté Laurence). Having read the book, I thought that the relationship between Jud and the Creeds was one of the major driving forces, adding to the tension when things start towards the climax of the story. While still tense, I didn't get that feeling in this version of the story.

The directors (Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer) changed several things from the original story, some of which added depth. They went into the lore that the book touched upon, creating some of the creepiest and scariest scenes in doing so. The special effects were great and their use of real cats was a nice touch. My highest praise is that they took a book that was grim and scary and somehow upped the ante by giving an ending that maintained the original story's spirit, while adding a new elements not originally present.

If you're looking to be scared, or even if you just want to be taken out of your comfort zone, this is the movie for you. Just don't ask me to watch it again.

​4.5 * out of 5