Pet Semetary Is A Surprisngly Decent Remake Thats Let Down By It's Terrible Ending

      Making a remake to a horror film is no easy task as no one asks for it, adapting a Stephen King novel into a film while remaking a previous interpretation of it is twice as hard. Riding off the massive success of Stephen King's 2017 film adaptation IT which also was a successful remake of the popular 1990 miniseries, it seems that all the major horror film studios are rushing to re-imagine some of King's most successful work and bring it to the big screen in hopes of achieving a similar result of success. The latest effort is a redoing of his best-seller Pet Semetary while also serving as a remake of the original 1989 film. While the original film despite becoming a classic wasn't a perfect horror flick, it was entertaining and effective enough to be remade while leaving room for improvement for the new filmmakers to modernize the classic tale while providing their own twists and turns to make it scarier. What the audiences got is a surprisingly decent remake that ranks with the 2003 Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the 2006 Wes Craven produced remake of The Hills Have Eyes, the 2005 Amityville Horror remake, and the 2017 version of IT to deliver a solid job at retelling these classic horror tales while adding their own dark and cynical touch to them. However unlike those films, the main problem with the remake of Pet Semetary lies in the fact that the film as a whole is let down by its hugely disappointing end that feels like a classic case of lazy writing.

      The plot for Pet Semetary remains virtually the same as the original with Dr. Louis Creed and his wife Rachel, relocating themselves from Boston to rural Maine with their two young children. What first feels like a peaceful getaway soon takes a dark turn when the couple uncover a mysterious burial ground hidden deep in the woods near their new residence with the power to bring dead things back to life with unintended consequences. One of the main points of the story that connects both the original and the remake is that they both heavily center around the concept of grief. The films within their dark atmosphere tackle issues such as death, life after death, grieving, love, heaven and second chances. Looking at those themes, one would think this is a powerful drama about loss and healing, except it has Stephen King as the writer, whose proven to be a master at providing creepy atmosphere that builds steady suspense. With the issue of grief and the longing for a second chance with the lost loved ones, King provides the consequence for both the characters and the audience desperation to have that second opportunity to cheat death. It is not an easy task to depict grief on film and doing so, the audience needs to have characters that come across as being sympathetic. What the remake does that keeps it consistent with the original is it maintains that level of sympathy with the main characters while emphasizing the grief more in this version. It helps that the Creed family is both likable and relatable making the audience understand their situation and feeling their pain when tragedy strikes while also wanting them to live when terror emerges. When doing a remake to an original film, its always best to honor what came before it while also adding bringing something new to the table. With the new Pet Semetary, roles are switched with the actors delivering fresh takes on the main characters making them compelling and engaging to watch on their own merits.

      In terms of acting, the main cast of Pet Semetary do a damn fine job of bringing King's story to life while delivering their own portrayals of the characters. For the role of the parents, Jason Clarke and Amy Seimetz are perfectly cast here and are no strangers to the horror genre. They do a great job playing a loving couple that both love their children while also wanting whats best for them. Simetz's character Rachel has an established backstory that helps add a creepy atmosphere to the plot with the flashbacks showing her taking care of her sister who was cursed with spinal meningitis, leading to a horrific and early death. The character of Louis played by Clarke experiences his own warning about the environment after witnessing a disturbing image of a man who died in the hospital before he could save him. The two main characters are not only wonderfully cast but the main actors play off each others love, fear, and concerns so well that the audience totally feels their emotional depth while growing concerned about them as things take a horrific turn for the worse. John Lithgow delivers a strong performance as the couples next door neighbor Jud Crandell, a questionable figure that first discovers the families cat ran over by a car and suggests they bury it at a local graveyard where family pets are laid to rest. As the audience already knows from the synopsis of the film as well as the original film and Kings book, the dead don't stay dead for long. Lithgow's performance is not as strong as Fred Gwynnes in the original but he still manages to hit the right notes being both likable, mysterious, and creepy at the same time. The performances from the young actors, particularly Elle played by Jete Laurence is excellent as she helps make the question of death around the family come across as being awkward and chilling. For an actress as young as she is, she does a great job as her character and motives become more drastic throughout the film.

      As far as the films directing and writing are concerned, the directors Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer bring a very dark, uneasy, and moody atmosphere that remains steady and chilling throughout. That atmosphere is emphasized in the beginning sequence with the opening shot to the introduction of the Creed family as the audience gets the feeling that something terrifying is creeping up on them. The action and suspense is handled in a way which allows it to steadily build until its shocking yet disappointing conclusion. The directors of this film give the impression that they know what they want to show the audience and do so with confidence and enthusiasm while cleverly providing new twists and turns that make it different from the original in certain ways. The two do a great job at showing how the heartbreak and desperation of losing loved ones can push people to do unthinkable things while making the Creed families tragedy feel fresh and gut wrenching. They make the case that bringing a story like this back was worth the time and investment despite the audience disapproval of the pairs decision on how to end the film. The big change that the directors made with the storyline was surprising and works, however it led to a conclusion that leaves the viewer scratching their head while feeling majorly let down despite being effective on a certain level.

      The writing by Matt Greenberg and Jeff Buhler is strong while placing heavy emphasis on the themes of grief and death in a mostly satisfying way. They make no effort in showing the imperfection of the parents despite how loving they are and the poor decisions they make come with strong consequences that are rightfully demonstrated throughout the film. On a technical note, the film is visually appealing with composer Christopher Young delivering a genuinely creepy yet effective score that's complimented by Laurie Roses Cinematography. The films pacing moves steadily and is brisk, never feeling like the story is moving too slow but doesn't move too fast either as it builds up its suspense and thrills masterfully.

      Overall the remake of Pet Semetary lives up to its hype as being a faithful re-imagining of the classic source material while turning out to be a better than expected remake of the original. The film is certainly not perfect as its ending almost ruins the strong craftsmanship the filmmakers put into telling this clever story about one families endurance of loss and grief putting them on a pathway towards the ultimate decent of darkness. The film is gory in all the right parts, disturbing in images when it needs to be, holds back on the terror and allows it to be a gripping human drama in between, and nonetheless a creepy yet darkly chilling ride courtesy of one of the great horror masters in literature. Pet Semetary is one of the years strongest horror movies that despite its disappointing conclusion, is worth a watch by fans of the original as well as horror movie fans in general. If they can handle such a cynical and twisted conclusion that almost feels like a betrayal to the rest of the film then this movie is worth their time and enjoyment. The remake of Pet Semetary is not a bad movie, it's just not a great one which is a shame because it had the potential to be.

Final Verdict: Worth a watch though prepare for disappointment with how it ends.