Pet Sematary (2019)

While I won’t stand on a firm platform that every horror movie classic needs a “re-boot” or “re-make”, I believe there are some stories worth re-telling through a modern lens, and 30 years after the original was released is a sufficient enough time gap. Although there are plenty of poorly made “re-imaginings” of classic films, I am not one to write-off a movie just because it is not an original. In fact, I will be as bold as to state John Carpenter’s 1982 “The Thing” is far superior than the 1951 “The Thing from Another World” that it is derived from. (Yeah, I said it!) This year’s “Pet Sematary” is not, in my opinion, better than the original, but it is absolutely a horror movie worth watching.

For anyone who has seen 1989’s “Pert Sematary”, and you wouldn’t forget it if you had, you will appreciate the subtle (and not-so-subtle) twists on some of the more memorably disturbing scenes from the original. I’m not going to spoil anything because I highly recommend grabbing some popcorn, shutting the lights off and enjoying the movie for yourself, but I will tell you all of your favorite “shocks” are still here in one form or another.

The filmmakers did a terrific job of casting, as well. Not many actors can follow the great, attention-demanding presence of Fred Gwynne as 1989’s Jud Crandall, but John Lithgow does a tremendous job in his performance of the character. Anyone familiar with the original film will never forget little Gage Creed and the impression that actor left, and while Gage’s character doesn’t have as much screen time in the 2019 film, I will say they have done a great job casting him. We can’t forget everyone’s favorite disfigured ghost sister, Zelda, and while the performance of the actor was great I will say they didn’t leave as big of an impression on me as their 1989 counterpart.

This movie is…

Definitely one of the better horror movies of 2019.

Cheers and goodnight.