Pet Sematary (1989) is a Disturbing Horror Film

Sometimes dead is better.

Pet Sematary is a 1989 film adaptation based on Stephen King’s novel. The Creeds move into a new home in Maine. They discover a pet cemetery not too far from their house. Upon learning of an ancient burial ground with a dark power, tragedy strikes the family.

Pet Sematary is the most disturbing movie I have ever seen. I felt like I was holding my breath the first time I read this book and then the movie. Stephen King’s novel is a bleak presentation about death and grieving.

You have to hand it to the cast for their realistic portrayals of the characters in a dismal film like this. I had mixed opinions about Dale Midkiff’s performance as Louis Creed. He often had bleak expressions and bland deliveries. Louis loses his mind and takes advantage of a power that is shady to begin with.

Denise Crosby is excellent as Rachel Creed. Her role was emotionally difficult. Rachel avoids topics like death after a traumatizing event in her childhood. Crosby performs an uneasy monologue about her late sister.

Fred Gwynn is the most believable performance. He understood the assignment and brought Jud Crandell out of King’s pages. His black hair was dyed gray to match the character’s age. I still don’t understand why Jud introduces Louis to the burial grounds when he knows of their deadly powers.

For his young age, only 3, Miko Hughes was an impressive young actor. His deliveries are so creepy. Ellie Creed was played by twin actors Blaze Berdahl and the uncredited Beau Berdahl Oliver. The actresses don’t get enough credit for their performances as Ellie, especially during emotional scenes.

Nine cats played the Creed’s family cat, Church. Each had a specific job like eating or scenes that involved cuddling. Out of anything in the film, the cats were the most difficult to train and react to situations. The cats were creepy, perturbing the right frightening vibe.

Nobody would sit next to Brad Greenquist (Victor Pascow) because of how realistic (and gross) his makeup was. The makeup team created gory effects.

Mary Lambert evoked terror in her outstanding direction of Pet Sematary. Lambert’s direction is the best part of the film. She knew how to direct this film. She thought up great ideas to make Pet Sematary creepier.

The film was shot on location in Maine where the story takes place. According to behind-the-scene, Lambert took the crew all over Maine to find geographics that suited the film.

Every horrifying, bleak, and emotionally gut-wrenching detail from the book is in the movie. Stephen King noted that Pet Sematary was the only novel of his that terrified him. He was reluctant to publish it.

Pet Sematary is a disheartening film. The horror is realistic. The grim themes about death make your stomach squirm. One scene is so awful that I hugged my legs tightly to my chest and just wanted to cry.

I am not going to write a review for the 1992 remake, but I have one thing to say about it. Originally, the sequel had Ellie Creed as the main character. The studio didn’t want to make this sequel because Paramount wasn’t confident in a teenage girl as the lead. I would have watched this film over the awful plotline in Pet Sematary II!

Pet Sematary is not a happy film and may not sit well with viewers. The film was remade in 2019. I watched it once and that was enough. The tormenting scenes are now stapled in my head forever.