Pet Sematary
Starring Jason Clarke, Amy Seimetz and John Lithgow
Rated MA15+
Based on the novel by Stephen King, Pet Sematary is an initially-clunky but overall chilling and gruesome horror film.
After moving to rural Maine, Louis Creed (Jason Clarke) discovers a secluded forest region that can raise the dead.
Pet Sematary has a rocky start due to some very poor editing.
The first act contains several jarring cuts that skip too much time and space, along with some awkward dialogue.
But the film’s technique stabilises, ironically, as the Creed family’s situation grows more dire.
Pet Sematary takes time to establish the forest’s macabre qualities and the close, loving bonds within the Creed family.
When tragedy strikes the Creeds, our emotional investment in this family makes the grieving Louis’s use of the forest cemetery feel all the more plausible.
Jete Laurence displays phenomenal range and conviction as Louis’s daughter Ellie, portraying a clever, sweet girl and her snide, aggressive reanimated self.
The plot’s final act has a taut, unnerving escalation, as Louis is punished for his hubris and his family are hunted by manifestations of their repressed grief.
Horror, as a genre, is almost unique in its capacity for presenting calm situations breaking down in logical but shocking ways, and Pet Sematary succeeds handsomely – or gruesomely – in this function.
Despite an inept start, Pet Sematary is a visceral, well-paced horror film.
– Seth Lukas Hynes
