Sunday, April 7, 2019

Pet Sematary (2019) Sometimes Dead Is Better



Pet Sematary (2019)
Dir- Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer

Remakes are often met with mixed feelings as purists automatically reject any followup that they feel is unnecessary while others enjoy a fresh perspective on previous work. Stephen King's Pet Sematary was a big hit in 1989 despite mixed reviews; many thought it was too much a slasher while others enjoyed the shocking twists that made it a favorite film. The plot of 2019 adaptation directed by Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer has a family of four moving to a small town in Maine where Dr. Louis Creed takes a job as a physician at the local university. The home they move into has a forest surrounding it where the local children bury their deceased pets in a nearby pet graveyard. The daughter Ellie meets the elderly neighbor Jud who tells her father Louis about the darker history of his property after their cat is killed by a truck on the road bordering the house. It is this dangerous road that will lead the Creed family into turmoil and some bad decisions after a tragic accident occurs. The 2019 version of Pet Sematary deals with some intense family issues including losing a beloved member of the family and the guilt it may bring to the survivors. Whereas the first film relied on straight up scares, this version is more psychological exploring the evil forces within the forest manifesting the pain and suffering of the wife and husband as events from their past and present force them to confront their anxieties. As both films leave out some details from the book, this version has also been met with some concern over plot changes. Directors Kölsch and Widmyer make use of this change to help advance the story and to better explain some of the more darker aspects of the story. The new version of Pet Sematary may not please all, but it does offer a terrifying look at family loss and the mistakes made when someone tries to cheat death.  


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