Pet Sematary *** (1989, Dale Midkiff, Denise Crosby, Fred Gwynne) – Classic Movie Review 7110

Director Mary Lambert’s 1989 fantasy horror thriller Pet Sematary turns Stephen King’s disturbing, far-fetched tale into a chillingly gory, upsetting horror movie with appealing performances (particularly by stars Dale Midkiff and Fred Gwynne), an eerie mood, atmospheric Maine filming and plenty of chills, but little style or suspense.

Dale Midkiff and Denise Crosby star as nice young doctor Louis Creed and his pretty wife Rachel, who move to a new home with their lovely little children (Miko Hughes, Blaze Berdahl) from Chicago to Massachusetts, where they quickly make friends with charming old neighbour Jud Crandall (Fred Gwynne).

Doctor Dale somehow hasn’t noticed that their new house is built on a highway that lorries roar down killing local pets, and naturally there is a sinister pet cemetery (well, sematary) at the bottom of the garden in the woods behind the house. The cemetery has powers that allow the creatures buried there to come back from the dead.

King, who has an acting turn as a priest, adapts his own novel. Also in the cast are Brad Greenquist, Michael Lombard, Susan Blommaert, Mara Clark, Kavi Raz, Mary Louise Wilson, Andrew Hubatsek and Liz Davies.

It is shot at Bucksport, Sedgwick, Ellsworth, Hancock, Bangor, and Acadia National Park, Maine, US.

Beware, it is pretty severe in the violence and gore department and there are a couple of very nasty bits. There is moderate swearing, with one use of the F word. It has a UK 18 certificate and a US R rating.

Pet Sematary is directed by Mary Lambert, runs 102 minutes, is made by Paramount Pictures and Laurel Productions, is released by Paramount, is written by Stephen King, based on his own novel, is shot in Technicolor by Peter Stein, is produced by Richard P Rubinstein, is scored by Elliot Goldenthal, and is designed by Michael Z Hanan.

Stephen King’s 1989 hit grossed $84 million worldwide on an $11 million budget, and Lambert directed a sequel, Pet Sematary Two [Pet Sematary II], in 1992.

Jason Clarke and Amy Seimetz star in Paramount’s reboot of the Stephen King classic for release on 4 April 2019. John Lithgow plays the Fred Gwynne role of Jud Crandall. Starry Eyes co-directors Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer direct.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7110

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com