I said in my review of Shazam that you needed to look no further than the new Pet Semetary‘s trailers to see how bad trailers have become when it comes to spoiling movies.
I can distinctly remember watching the second trailer for this film and being infuriated by many huge spoilers there were.
The trailer showed a huge twist in the film that deviated from Stephen King’s original book and its first adaptation, which could have shocked and horrified audiences in the theater if it had not been in the trailer.
What’s worse is that I can tell by watching the film that the directors, Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer, wanted this twist to be a surprise because of how many red herrings they put in place.
So, for this huge surprise to be ruined in the trailers is very disheartening to me, and shows that trailers really need to be more like Shazam and Avengers: Endgame‘s going forward.
Moving onto the film though, beside the aggravating spoilers, Pet Semetary is a solid adaptation of Stephen King’s original novel.
It follows Louis Creed (Jason Clarke), his wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz) and their two children, Ellie (Jete Laurence) and baby Gage, as they move to their new home in Maine, the centerpiece of all things horror when it comes to Stephen King.
After Ellie’s cat Church is killed by a truck, Louis’ neighbor Jud Crandall (John Lithgow) shows him the misspelled Pet Semetary, a cursed place where dead things come back to life when buried there.
However, after Church is buried and comes back from the dead, it becomes clear that he is not the same and something evil now controls him.
From there, Louis’ life spirals out of control when a tragic event leads him directly back to the Pet Semetary, where more evil continues to rise from the grave.
The film is as scary as it sounds, with a lot of gore and scares to keep the audience on the edge of their seat.
Then there is the acting, which is great across the board, especially from Jason Clarke and Jete Laurence, as the father and daughter.
The performances make you care for the characters more, which makes it all the more horrifying when the film reaches its third act and builds to its pulse pounding conclusion.
However, Pet Semetary is still far from perfect.
Along with the trailer spoiling almost everything, there are a few things that feel a bit unnecessary in the film.
For example, this weird ritual is set up in the beginning with these creepy kids who go to bury their pets at the Pet Semetary, but it is never addressed again.
Coming back to the ending, while it was a well done and a scarier deviation from the original novel and film’s ending, and that is saying something, it does feel a bit rushed.
I distinctly remember thinking that’s it? as soon as the credits started to roll, because the film ends so abruptly.
Pet Semetary is still a good time though, with a lot of creepy moments and great performances across the board.
Just under no circumstances watch the trailer because then you will not feel the shock and horror at the twist the directors wanted.
THE REVIEW MONSTER 