We definitely don’t want to be buried in a Pet Sematary. Hot off the heals of Stephen King’s “IT,” Pet Sematary brings a classic horror tale to a new generation. Does it rise from the grave to bring us something skewed? Or should the film have listened to its own tag line and stayed dead? Listen in as the Brothers Brotastic mark a first in this podcast’s history.
The mother of the Brothers Brotastic is a huge Stephen King fan, possibly reading and watching everything with his name attached to it. Because of this, we grew up with a strong Stephen King influence. “IT,” Tommyknockers, Langoliers, The Stand, The Shining, Creep Show… we saw it all, and read some. So when this remake came out, there was only one person we had to see it with, our mother.
Upon viewing, we couldn’t help but keep making comparisons to the original film made in 1989. If not comparing to the original, we were comparing to other horror films that have come out recently, like The Conjuring, or Annabelle. Unfortunately this film didn’t do anything new or different enough to stand out from others in its genre, nor the shadow of its predecessor.
Occasionally, there were some jump scares that would make anyone’s adrenaline spike momentarily, but jump scares don’t make a horror film good. This film could be compared to a popular Mexican condiment; salsa. There are many kinds, and levels of spiciness. A really good salsa would have good flavor and some kick, but what is more marketable and consumed on a larger scale is a milder version; all the ingredients are there… but there’s no kick. Pet Seminary is not the only film guilty of this, many of the trailers that showed before the film looked as flat and clichéd as this one was. Many of the films that have been spun off in The Conjuring Universe are guilty of this as well with the exception of its very foundation, The Conjuring.
One aspect that neither Philip nor Andrew seem to remember from the original film involves flashbacks of Rachel, one of the main characters. Rachel’s sister suffered from some disease that deformed her body. Because of this illness, she was completely dependent upon others to eat, sleep, bathe, and so on. Rachel, being very young, didn’t quite understand the disease and due to often being left alone to be her caretaker, feared her sister. These sequences essentially vilified a person with a deformity. We couldn’t help but be reminded of how the British Film Institute has made an effort to no longer fund films that villainize characters with scars or deformities. How many people out there have a bone disease that makes the body grow in a painful way? How would they feel if their disease was the only reason a character was evil?
For the first time in this podcast’s history, Andrew rated this movie 0 tickets. He enjoyed seeing the film with his mother and brother… both fans of Stephen King. However, he could have gone through life without seeing this version of Pet Sematary.
Philip rated the film 1 ticket. He is glad to have seen the film. He has no intentions to see it again… and he’s fine with that. He does not, however, think this film deserves a 0 ticket rating lumping it in with a mutually despised film by both brothers… Zoolander.
