209. Pet Sematary; movie review

PET SEMATARY
Cert 15
101 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong bloody violence, gore, threat

How very very disappointing.
Pet Sematary is one of the top box office horrors of the year and Mrs W had said what a riveting read Stephen King's novel is.
And within the first five minutes of Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer's film, I had jumped twice.
"That's just the beginning," Mrs W whispered. "There will be plenty more by the end of the film."
Sadly, she was wrong. There was just one solitary leap and a lot of yawning thereafter.
Indeed, the problem with Pet Sematary was that it just wasn't very scary (and it has an annoying misspelt word).

It stars Jason Clarke and Amy Seimetz as a young married couple who are trying to achieve a work/life balance by buying a place in the country.
However, within a day it is clear that this was one mighty bad purchase.
Yep, within just 24 hours, Clarke's doctor character has to handle a violent death which prompts visions, a creepy neighbour (John Lithgow) turns up and there is a very unnerving funeral ritual carried out by locals in their back garden.
Believe it or not, when buying the property, the couple had not spotted a very eerie burying ground for pets.
Somehow it didn't come up on the surveyor's report.
Anyway, it turns out that magical temptations lay beyond the cemetery but the cost of being lured is frighteningly high.
Clarke's character becomes more and more desperate as the movie descends to all-out gore-fest.
Meanwhile, Lithgow, usually known for comedy, goes straight and dark as the neighbour who keeps what he knows too close to his chest.
However, the most memorable turn is from Jeté Laurence as the little girl who cares too much for her pet cat.
It is a shame she should have the hopeless task of breathing zest into a film which is as lifeless as the residents of its title.

Reasons to watch: The novel is a Stephen King classic
Reasons to avoid: It is disappointingly tepid

Laughs: None
Jumps: Three
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 3.5/10

Did you know? Stephen King’s inspiration for Pet Sematary came directly from events in his own life. In the late 1970s, King and his family moved to Orrington, Maine The road that ran past the rural house was full of fast, heavy trucks, and frequently claimed the lives of local pets. As a result, a pet cemetery had been established in the woods by local children and it really did bear a sign that read “Pet Sematary.”

The final word. Stephen King: "Everything in the book up to the point of the supernatural stuff is true."

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