Pet Sematary: Then and Now

The first Stephen King book I ever read was Pet Sematary and it is still my favourite of his. I remember thinking how scary the book was, not just because of the burial ground but also because it involves a painful death. There’s a scene where the main character Louis dreams about the Olympics (it makes sense in the book) that I never forget, even till years later. It just hits me in a way that many other books haven’t.

When I read the book I was unaware that a movie adaptation was already made. I finally watched the movie a few years later and I remember liking the movie, despite some minor changes. Sometimes when a movie is faithful it serves its source material well.

So when I heard there’ll be a new movie adaptation I was excited! As much as I liked the original movie, a remake seems apt, transporting the 80s story into modern times. The themes of death and grief are eternal so I didn’t think much could go wrong. Was I wrong!

The new movie missed the point of Pet Sematary and I’m going to tell you why.

SPOILERS BELOW ON BOOK AND BOTH MOVIES

PET SEMATARY

When the Creeds move into a beautiful old house in rural Maine, it all seems too good to be true: Louis, the physician father; Rachel, the beautiful wife; Ellie, the charming little daughter; and Gage, the adorable infant son. As a family, they’ve got it all… right down to the friendly cat, Church. But the nearby woods hide a blood-chilling truth—more terrifying than death itself… and hideously more powerful. The Creeds are going to learn that sometimes dead is better.

The book deals with the idea that the dead should stay dead. Death is part of life and that should be embraced, not feared. I reread the book recently and loved it just as much as I did the first time. It’s ultimately about a man who tries to fight death and loses.

Louis Creed is a doctor and while death isn’t something he is terribly familiar with, it is part of his job. When a student at the university he works at dies in a terrible accident, he is shaken but moves on. Until he starts having nightmares where the student, Victor Pascow, warns him about the burial ground beyond the Pet Sematary.

The setting for the Pet Sematary and the burial ground is one of the best parts of the book. When Jud – the Creeds’ neighbour – brings the family to the cemetery, the tone is light, almost funny. They look at the misspellings of various makeshift headstones made by children for their dead pets and talk about how the children in town still keep the place well-tended.

But later when he brings Louis alone to bury the family’s dead cat, Church, the cemetery loses its playful appeal. Beyond the cemetery is a powerful ancient burial ground of a Native American tribe, and it’s a cold, haunting place. There are voices in the distance and a feeling that something is watching them.

Bringing Church back to life gives Louis misplaced hope. Death no longer seems like the end of the road. To Louis, even though the resurrected Church is mean and behaves nothing like the alive Chuch, there’s an open door to the afterlife.

Death also looms over Rachel’s life. When Rachel was young, she had to watch her sister, Zelda, fall sick from spinal meningitis. The disease caused Zelda’s appearance to change, scaring Rachel. One day, Rachel was left alone by her parents and had to witness Zelda’s death. This trauma lasts her whole life, to the point where she avoids funerals and forbids Louis from discussing death with their daughter, Ellie. In Rachel’s mind, if they don’t talk about it, it will never happen. Of course, life doesn’t work that way.

When Gage dies, the family is shattered. Louis is numb, his mind constantly reliving the painful day when he failed to save his son. Rachel is heartbroken, her worst nightmare coming true. Ellie is withdrawn, talking about waiting for Gage to come back. All of them are in denial of their grief, and this leads to Louis choosing to return to the burial ground.

The book also delves into the spirit of the Wendigo. This spirit hangs over the town and everyone in it, so that their behaviour may have been influenced to the point where they could no longer fight it. Jud warned Louis that the ground was dangerous, but he was the one who led Louis to it in the first place. Ellie keeps having nightmares and premonitions about her family. Whether it is their choices or a powerful spirit taking advantage of a delicate situation, the result remains the same.

I love how the book portrays grief and Louis’s descent into madness. He keeps telling himself that if Gage returns changed, he can kill off the resurrected Gage. What he didn’t take into account is zombie Gage wreaking havoc by killing Jud and Rachel. By then, what Louis witnessed means he can no longer go back to who he used to be. All he cares about now is bringing his wife back, convinced he can finally cheat death this time.

PET SEMATARY (1989)

The movie is pretty faithful to the book, with the exception of a few changes. One, Jud’s wife, Norma, is replaced by a smaller character in the book, Missy, the Creeds’ housekeeper. In the movie, Missy died by suicide. I don’t understand why this change is necessary, because her death causes Louis and Ellie to discuss death, which could have been done with Norma. In the book, Louis saving Norma’s life is largely why Jud decided to help Louis bring Church back. Without that, Jud’s motivation in the movie seems questionable.

Another change is the spirit in the ground isn’t mentioned but the ghost of Pascow reigns large, especially towards the end. His spirit accompanies Rachel almost like a guide to help her get home. I don’t mind this change, it feels a bit twee but it’s an easy way to show there are things beyond the natural in their lives.

Other things remain almost the same, from the flashbacks of Zelda to Gage’s painful death scene to Louis’s breakdown. I really liked Louis and Jud’s friendship. They have plenty of conversations and it helps strengthen Louis’s isolation from the rest of his family. We even got Jud’s story of Timmy Baterman, who came back after his father buried him in the ground, as a warning to Louis to stay away from the ground.

When Gage comes back, his cute appearance clashes with his evil nature and it makes for a really messed up scene. Though I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Gage especially when he starts crying as Louis tries to kill him. I don’t think that’s the point but he’s so cute!

For an 80s film, it’s pretty spooky. I watched this on my own and when I was done I kept thinking about Zelda’s face! The editing is a bit choppy but still coherent, so even non-readers of the book can still enjoy the movie (as much as you can enjoy a movie like this!) The movie’s not afraid to show happy moments so that when darkness comes it really shakes you up.

PET SEMATARY (2019)

I read mixed reviews about the movie but decided to remain positive. Thanks to the trailer though I was spoiled by a major plot change, which is that instead of Gage, it is Ellie who dies. I was initially annoyed by the change, but then I read an article where the filmmakers decided to make the change because they wanted Ellie’s conversation about death to continue in her afterlife. Okay, I could accept that. I was even excited to see Ellie terrorising her family. Look at poor Gage’s face!

When I finally watched the movie, I was disappointed. I felt that it’s a horror movie first, a book adaptation second. Which is fine! Sometimes it works! But not here.

The movie starts out slow. The first change is that Jud and Louis don’t meet, instead, Ellie meets with Jud first. In fact, Jud and Louis barely have any scenes together, so their friendship isn’t established. Norma’s character also isn’t in the movie. This means Jud’s introduction of the cemetery to Louis makes no sense. Why would he go all the way for a neighbour that he barely knows?

Rachel knows about Church dying and then coming back, which to me defeats the purpose of Louis having this secret on his own. I liked that Louis and Rachel seem closer in this movie than in the first one, but I think a large part of why the story works is because Louis keeps everything to himself. His mental state is already burdened with Church coming back and the burial ground, so when his son dies he goes straight to the only solution he knows. Which is to bring his son back, no matter the cost.

Then we get to the death scene. Louis’s decision to resurrect Ellie seems more robotic than a result of grief. He gives zombie Ellie a bath and tells Rachel happily that her daughter has returned. Presumably, as Jud has not enlightened Louis about Timmy Baterman, Louis isn’t aware that a resurrected Ellie will not be the same. But he had seen Zombie Church so he knows there is something wrong with him, which means something is wrong with Ellie.

Ellie is also a typical horror-movie-child. Her being older means she gets to do more, but the story loses the disturbing aspect of a killer toddler. It’s telling that in the book and original movie, Rachel’s automatic reaction upon seeing zombie Gage is to give him a hug. She doesn’t care that he is supposed to be dead, she just wants him back. In the new movie, Rachel’s reaction upon seeing zombie Ellie is to cower and then run away. That feeling of sadness, of love, is missing.

The ending sees Ellie on a rampage, killing Jud and going after her parents. Ellie kills her mother and buries her in the ground. Then both of them kill Louis and bury him as well. All three descend on poor Gage sitting in a car, about to bring him into the Zombie Creed family.

I have a problem with this ending. To me, the whole point of Pet Sematary is that the dead should stay dead. Bringing back a life, especially a human life, has massive consequences. Louis’s insanity from grief causes him to continue making the same mistake, even at his own detriment. We know what he’s doing is wrong but in a way, we can understand why he did it. Ultimately, he pays for his actions. In the new movie, Louis gets his family back (zombified, but still). It’s as if the movie tries to justify his decision to mess with the burial ground.

Anyway, I was relatively okay with the new movie until the end. It has some chilling moments and I really like the scene where kids wearing animal masks visit the cemetery, it’s pretty creepy. For a horror movie, it works fine. For an adaptation of Pet Sematary though, it is mediocre at best.