Pet Sematary

Based on Stephen King’s iconic novel, Pet Sematary follows Louis (Jason Clarke) and Rachel (Amy Seimetz) as they relocate from Boston to rural Maine with their two young children and eventually discover a mysterious burial ground on their new property. There’s little doubt that, at the outset, Pet Sematary fares better than Mary Lambert’s almost campy 1989 take on King’s book, as filmmakers Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer have infused the proceedings with a much darker sensibility that initially does hold plenty of promise (and it goes without saying that Clarke is certainly a more accomplished performer than his Louis predecessor, Dale Midkiff). It does become increasingly clear, however, that Kölsch and Widmyer have taken the material too far in the opposite direction, as the directors’ morose, deliberately-paced sensibilities pave the way for a progressively tedious and thoroughly uninvolving midsection – with the charmless performances only exacerbating the already-tedious atmosphere. And while the picture boasts a small handful of effective moments (eg the tragic accident that sets the whole plot into motion is admittedly quite engrossing and well done), Pet Sematary eventually progresses into a decidedly anticlimactic third act that’s hardly able to pack the visceral punch Kölsch and Widmyer are clearly striving for – which ultimately does cement the movie’s place as a somewhat misbegotten adaptation that seemingly confirms the novel’s place as an unfilmable endeavor.

** out of ****