Welcome horror fans to a special FearStyle Friday. Today we are taking a look into the classic Stephen King novel and its original movie adaptation, Pet Sematary. With the reboot just hitting theaters, what better a time to dive in and dissect the pure horror that is the original story. Without further ado, Pet Sematary.
Pet Sematary is about the Creed family-Husband and wife, Louis and Rachel and their two children Ellen and Gage- who move into a big, old house after Louis is transferred to be the doctor at the University of Maine. Their house is positioned off of a busy highway, across from their elderly neighbor Jud Crandall who warns them about the highway. Louis and Judd quickly become friends. One day, several weeks after the Creeds had moved in, Jud takes the family on a walk down the trail behind their home. The trail leads them to a pet sematary made by children of years past, most of them killed by the busy highway. Rachel disapproves of the trip as she doesn't want Ellen to be traumatized by death like she was with her sister Zelda. Rachel's sister Zelda had died from Spinal Meningitis when they were children. She has been scared by her sisters twisted, mangled body that the disease had caused and had since been plagued with flashbacks and nightmares of her sister. Louis empathizes with her, reassuring her that her sisters death was not he fault and she has nothing to fear now. Oh, how little do they know.
Louis has been traumatized too, at this point. During his first week of working at the University a young jogger named Victor Pascow was killed in a car accident. Before passing, however, Victor addresses his last words to Louis. That night, Louis dreams of Pascow who leads him to the back fall at the back of the sematary and tells him "not to go beyond, no matter how much you feel you need to". When he wakes, Louis believes that this was just a dream, an accumulation of stress from the death and the anxieties his wife has about death. However, when he removes his blankets he finds that his feet and sheets are covered in mud and pine needles. The topic death comes back to bother Louis again during the Thanksgiving holiday, while his wife and children are in Chicago visiting her family, who doesn't like Louis all that much. It is while they are away that Ellen's cat Church dies, struck by an eighteen wheeler. Dreading having to tell his daughter about her cat, Jud takes Louis to the pet sematary. Instead of stopping there, they continue past the sematary to an ancient burial ground that had been used by Micmac Indians. With Jud's instruction, Louis buries the cat and the two go back home. Nothing seems to have changed until Church returns home. The once vibrant and lovely feline has returned as a vicious mice and bird killing machine. However, he doesn't eat the mice and birds he kills; he tears them apart. Church has changed, he has become more distant and stinks of the earth. Everyone can see the difference especially Ellen. Jud explains to Louis that this is the expectation of animals buried there. They all come back but not all the same. Sometimes dead is better.
Time flies and everything (except the cat) is going as happily and as normally as you might would expect from a typical family. That is, until the day Gage died. It was a bright and sunny afternoon, filled with barbecuing and kite flying with the Creeds and Jud Crandall, until Gage runs out into the road. Unable to catch up with him, Gage is killed by an eighteen wheeler. The family is devistated. Grief stricken, Louis appears to be the most heartbroken, unable to console his wife's father who attacks him at the baby's funeral. To try to and relieve some heartache, Louis sends his wife and daughter to go and stay with her father for a while, all the while thinking of something he shouldn't.
While Rachel and Ellen set off to Chicago, Ellen starts seeing the jogger in her dreams. He is telling her to warm her daddy because the Dead knows what he is it to. Before Louis can do anything, jud tells him that even know there is pain now, it will pass and not to do anything he might regret. It is here that he tells him about the person who was buried in the pet sematary and what happened. Like church, anyone who comes back from the sematary comes back changed, different. They aren't fully human and sometimes, dead is better.
Not heading his warning, Louis does the unthinkable. He digs up his dead son and carries him to beyond the pet sematary. When he wakes, he finds his medical bag open and his scalpel missing. Gage has returned with a vengeance. First going after Jud, Gage takes him down with ease. Unbeknownst to Louis, Rachel has flown back home because she acknowledge the peril Louis was in because of her daughter's dreams. However, when she arrives to Juds house she is overcome with emotion to find her dead son, alive and walking towards her with Louis's scalpel. She too does not survive the baby, killed by her love for him. Louis finally realized what he had done when his son calls him and tellae him to come and play withhim. Louis races to Juds house to find his friend and his wife dead. Once again, overcome with grief he kills his son and gathers his wife. Not learning from his past mistake, Louis takes his wife to the sematary, deciding that Gage didn't come back right because he waited too long to bury him. She's fresh, she should come back better, right? He stays up for her and when she comes, he is horrifically surprised.
That's it. That's the story. The original movie differs very little from Kings novel and one of my favorite of his movie adaptations. It is a heartbreaking story about playing God and the repercussions of letting your emotions make your decisions. The movie has some great makeup effects, too. This works in making the story even more scary. Especially Rachel's sister , Zelda. They succeeded in making the actor look mangled and twisted and genuinely horrifying. It is so scary goo, I love it.
Now, as for the new one, that's different. From what I've seen, they have changed to story around...a lot. Like a lot a lot. I'm not gonna say anything because I haven't seen it yet, but the trailer is different and I realize that this was probably done on purpose. They want those of us who are familiar with the book and the movie to be thrown off. I'm not in to it right now, but I am going to see it tomorrow so I will let you know. That's probably it for now, but I want to part with one word of advice: watch the original movie! It is so good and I love the actor who plays Jud, Mr. Munster. He is great. And if you have seen the movie, read the book! It is a great and horrifying story. Do it before you see the new one, you'll have more to compare the new one to. So stay spooky and remember, sometimes dead is better!
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