Pet Sematary (1989)

horror, movies, reviews, stephen king 2 Minutes

Directed by Mary Lambert.  Written by Stephen King.  Starring Dale Midkiff, Fred Gwynne, Miko Hughes, Blaze Berdahl and Denise Crosby.

Plot: animals (and people) come back from the dead when buried in the pet cemetery

pet-sematary-1

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you should have watched this already.  Sure it’s full of people making poor decisions, but it’s also one of the greatest horror movies of all time.  Here’s  reasons why:

  1. If you’ve ever read the book, which is one of the scariest books of all time (our mother can’t finish it), the movie is a very nice adaptation.  Sure, there’s no Norma and we do miss her, but she can be lived without.
  2. Highly original idea.  People don’t write about graveyards bringing people back from the dead.
  3. Great casting choices.  Now, I do have a problem with Denise Crosby.  I mean, as a person I’m sure she’s cool, but I’ve never seen her as Rachel.  Everyone else is spectacular though.  Fred Gwynne is perfection.  And Miko, he gets his own number.
  4. Miko Hughes.  Cute, even dead.
  5. Memorable death scenes.  Every single time I see Jud go down I am pained.  Hell, I’m pained right now just thinking about it.

    pet-sematary-pascow
    The ground beyond is sour.
  6. Zelda.  One of the most terrifying characters of all time.  She gives DJ nightmares just thinking about her.  To be honest, she’s the reason even I won’t watch this movie alone.
  7. Ellie.  The most sensible 8-year-old in all of moviedom.  She has sensible thoughts and says sensible things.  It’s refreshing in a movie filled with fools.
  8. The following of simple rules.  We know many movies gets this concept wrong, but King is on top of his game.  You put a body in the cemetery and it comes back, WRONG, and game over.  That’s it.  Those are the rules.  No ifs, ands or buts about it.
  9. The cool ending credits song.  Because if you’re going to end a movie this good, you gotta do it in style.
  10. A terrifying story.  A story filled with so much love and so much agony that it’d be beautiful even if it weren’t so damn frightening.
    PetSematary_Gage
    Now I want to play with you.

    DJ and I love this movie.  Aside from the unlikable characters and the lack of intelligence, it’s an A+.  Together, we give it an 88/100 and tell you to watch it.  Now.

Sometimes, dead is better.

Unknown's avatar

Published by TaraRomero

I suppose I could list my favorite movies here, but instead I'll give you a strange glimpse into what makes me TaraRomero. 1. I met George Romero. He was the kindest and sweetest man. He talked to me for longer than he should have with the line getting longer. He also held my hand. And when he noticed the ladybug I have tattooed on my wrist, he said he liked it and asked me it's name. Till then, it had not had a name. Now, I call him George. 2. I love stickers. All stickers. I just adore them. I even ask for stickers for Christmas! As a matter of fact, the birthday that just past, every member of my immediate family gave me sticker packs as gifts. Affordable and extremely appreciated. 3. I have never put much stock in astrology or horoscopes, but I LOVE the magic of the MBTI. Omg. I am an INFP and it actually sounds just like me. Introverted mostly. Creative always. Heart before head and not the most logical. Totally me! For better or worse. 4. It's no surprise I count horror so high up on the list of things that make me, me. However, it's so within my soul that I was part of the Horror Club in college. Interesting bunch. And even took a Horror Lit class as an elective. I got an A. 5. Coffee always makes me happy. Always. I'm particularly fond of caramel macchiatos. But I'll drink black coffee if it's the only thing available. 6. I hate shock for the sake of shock and endings that depress me. I always mention the movies Within (2016) and the Eli Roth produced, written and starred in, Aftershock (2012), as proof of this distate I have. I abhor the idea that just because I like horror, some people think I'd actually praise a movie that lets you think the "Final Girl" just made it through the night, only to slap her in the face with a tsunami. 7. We are big time animal people. I mean, if I could, I'd have an elephant, a bear, a zebra, a penguin, an otter and a meerkat, living with me. Seriously though. We have 2 dogs right now and 2 cats. Both cats we picked up when they each came to our front door hungry. And both dogs we got from 2 different sets of neighbors. Both who, unfortunately, don't know how to care for pets long-term. But they're happy and healthy now!! 8. Revisiting my love of horror, one of the above cats, my cat, is a little black guy named Church. Because Pet Sematary. His middle name is even Pascow. To give credit where credit's due, the name was DJ's idea. But he loves horror too! 9. I'm big into art. Along with movie posters and an Anne Frank quote, I have some actual paintings on my wall. I really think Dali paints beautifully when he wants to. And if I don't get to see Michaelangelo's Pieta in person some day, I will be very disappointed. 10. Lastly, I find Emily Dickinson's poetry intriguing. I took an elective course about her as well. But do you know I injected horror even there? I was given a poem to dissect and I picked one on death, of course. Then, I researched old "Death Photos" and even printed out copies for everyone in the class. They were so interested in looking at them that it stopped them from all looking at me, and I was able to deal quite well with my stage fright. Haha

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