H'ween Horrorthon: Pet Sematary

"Sometimes...dead is better."–Jud Crandall played by Fred Gwynne

Hello again, hello.

Let me say at the outset that I am a die-hard Stephen King fan. When dreaming of making the perfect horror movie or writing the perfect horror story back in my restless youth, his books and movies were always my favorite pastime. I read his many works and stories and watched many of his film adaptations, many of which are queued and perennial favorites in my annual Halloween Horrorthon.

So, this one's a bit of a conundrum for me. I always make it a priority to revisit a movie or film that I may have had a lukewarm or negative reaction to. I had seen the 1989 film adaptation of the 1983 book by Stephen King; not having read the actual book at the time. I was still in high school and only then getting to view R-rated films on my own.

I remember being attracted to the promise of a killer Stephen King movie adaptation seeing as how more recent adaptations were paler by comparison: "Firestarter", "Cat's Eye", "Maximum Overdrive" and "Creepshow 2" were pretty paltry by comparison...although the first two, I do consider guilty pleasures in their own right. Rob Reiner did direct "Stand By Me" in 1986, to high acclaim and lightning would strike twice for him with "Misery" in 1990; that one, indeed, being a horror story written by King.

I saw it with one friend of mine from high school (we're no longer on speaking terms - hey, it happens) and the other was HIS best friend; not mine. I was initially baffled. I found the film chilling in some parts, but blank and cold; even bloodless in many other parts. The acting was sub-par considering I recognized the actors during opening credits. Dale Midkiff was a mostly television actor who had played Elvis Presley and even played a vicious wife-beater in some TV-movie-of-the-week in the 1990's. Denise Crosby was the granddaughter of song-man Bing Crosby and had a "Star Trek" following and appeared on soaps. Young Miko Hughes who played the young toddler Gage, would then become a well-known child star, starring in films like "Kindergarten Cop" and "Mercury Rising". King, screen-adapted the book himself and it was attached to director Mary Lambert, a music-video director who made many popular videos with Madonna and Janet Jackson. So, what could possibly go wrong?

Bottom line? It was NOTHING like the book! The book was waaaaay better!

Here, I'll explain:

The Movie Poster from 1989.

I took it upon myself to read the novel years after the fact (hell, I even subjected myself to that dreadful sequel, "Pet Sematary Two" in 1992 with the kid from "T2: Judgement Day" [Edward Furlong] and the tall guy from "The Bride" [Clancy Brown] from 1985. The Stephen King book was totally and utterly effingAMAZING! A dark parable about what actually happens when "One Plays God".

The basic plot matched the movie, yes. Louis and Rachel Creed, bring their young daughter Ellie, and toddler son, Gage, from Chicago to Maine, as Creed, a doctor set to be working at Maine University and dealing with a handful of issues dealing with his father's death and resentments toward his father-in-law. Here, he meets Jud Crandall and his wife, Norma (not in the film for, I imagine, budget reasons). Their idyllic new life is constantly interrupted by semi-trucks from a plant called Orinoco constantly riding at light speed and there's the unnecessary fact of knowing that an animal graveyard (the titular 'Sematary' as it were) where kids buried their dead pets is adjacent to their home.

All seems to be going well, until the death of a college student named Victor Pascow sets things in motion. He warns Louis to not go beyond the 'barrier', no matter how tempting the reasoning behind it was. Then, Ellie's Calico cat, Church (N.E. Winston Churchill) is run over by a truck and it causes major concern for Louis. Neither Ellie, nor his wife, Rachel, handle the subject of death very well and this would clearly traumatize little Ellie. In the film, Ellie would be played by Blaze Berdahl, who I can honestly say, am thankful that she never pursued acting afterwards.

In the novel and film, Jud introduces Louis to what's beyond the pet cemetery; which is in fact, a burial ground considered blessed (or perhaps, cursed) by the Micmac Indians. Jud suggests Louis bury Ellie's cat in the hard-to-dig soil. Thinking he's off his rocker, but still easily persuaded, he does so. Church, does indeed, come back from the dead. Only he's now a cold, eerie version of himself. He follows Louis around a lot and never lets him in peace. At this point (only in the novel) Norma dies of a heart attack. Then, one day in a family picnic, Gage wanders a little too far off into the road - with a semi just seconds away...

It's here that this is indeed, the heart of the story. Louis and Rachel, even Ellie are now FORCED to deal with death, for real this time. I will leave it here for now. But...sadly, I do require the dreaded -

***SPOILER ALERT (It came out in 1989. By now, everyone knows that Gage comes back from the dead and wreaks bloody havoc on the Creeds and then-some!)***

Yes, baby Gage Creed is no more. After being buried in the Micmac burial ground, of which even Jud himself warns Louis not to - if he values his soul whatsoever, comes back and he's a Chucky-style child killer in the film, slashing his way through the remainder of the film. Seriously? Having read the book, I felt that director Lambert and even King himself, could've made Gage a far more horrifying creation than was shown in the film. That is in no way to denounce Miko Hughes' performance. Considering his age at the time, (4 1/2, I read somewhere), he was actually terrific and quite convincing as the zombie-fied Gage. I actually felt he was the best thing in the whole movie. But in the novel, Gage was a fierce, disfigured, profanity-spewing demon child who made it very clear to his father that you NEVER upset the order of things. Life...and death!

In closing, I still recommend the novel more than I do the movie. Fred Gwynne (best known as Herman Munster in the classic sitcom: "The Munsters") was also terrific playing kindly elderly neighbor Jud Crandall; sans wife. My feeling was that the 1989 film version may have suffered from budgetary restraints and probably an unwillingness by the studio [Paramount Pictures] to really deal with the controversial subject matter, let alone, let a child run rampant killing people and cursing on screen. The rumor is that it's soon due for a remake itself. With the amazing things that can be done with CGI, Gage may possibly be what I, and many who've read King's book, expected.

How do I feel about the movie now? Yeah, I still watch it now and again and for this particular time of season. I still enjoy parts of it (mostly for Hughes), though I find Brad Greenquist's ghost of Victor Pascow painfully annoying, not to mention Berdahl's annoyingly whiny Ellie. I also find it strange adding The Ramones to the film's final credits with the film's theme song. WTF?! Seriously? But...I do feel that like IT (2017), the promise of a better, more faithful film version is still a hopeful one.

Final Fun Fact: King himself cameos as a preacher at a neighbor's funeral. [evil demonic laugh...evil demonic laugh...evil demonic laugh...evil demonic laugh...]

Next Up: Tribute to a master filmmaker who made Texas even scarier for us all.