Pet Semetary

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Of all the older versions of Stephen Kings films this is probably the best, I won’t even bother to mention a lot of the newer adaptations of King’s work as they are mostly meh at best: I never wanted to see Pennywise dance or lick a piece of glass, but hey that’s me. By comparison to the remake this version of Pet Semetary might just be a masterpiece.

In terms of scares there is something of a fever dream quality to the film, where things never seem quite right. I enjoyed the gothic world the film creates where those we love can come back as evil versions of themselves, I think the premise is rife for exploration into the human condition and for the most part this film does that. There were a few unsettling moments that were made scary by the atmosphere the film had built, sadly in this regard the film also has an oddly comedic, campy charm to it that often takes away from a lot of the scares- on the plus side it does make the film hilarious.

I think the ending of this film is much better to what we got in the remake as well, as it ends with the hint of bad things to come, but it doesn’t go out of its way to show you, it leaves it to your imagination and there is defiantly something to be said for that approach.

Overall, a lot of goofy fun, not perfect but a damn sight better than what would follow it. PS. The Ramones tie in song rules and still holds up today.

Pros.

The end credits song

The ending

The scares

The unintentional comedy, though this does take away from the scares

Cons.

A little dated now

Quite slow pace

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