Pet Semetary: Quickly decaying
Once again returning to the world of Stephen King, Pet Semetary is a new version of the classic novel that was originally adapted for the big screen in 1989. This new adaptation is a movie loaded with tension and headlined by two incredible performances, but unfortunately suffers from a final act that quickly falls aparts.
For a good majority of the film, Semetary is a great example of a slow build horror film. It allows tension to build and does a great job of letting it hang thick in the air. This is helped by fantastic performances by Jason Clarke and John Lithgow. Clarke plays the main character Dr. Creed and absolutely holds this film together. His ability to add great emotional weight into scenes without a word helps make some of the more emotional moments have a bigger impact. Lithgow plays the neighbor Jud and manages to hit every aspect from creepy to warm and loving throughout the film. The interactions between the two are excellent and are some of the best of the entire film. The other cast is good as well, and do a good job of making all these characters be people you can get behind, and when the worst happens, it is affecting. Special note must be given to the cat, who manages to come off as honestly the creepiest thing in the movie. With the actors providing a strong based, it allows for the movie to move at a pace that allows everything to settle in.
Sadly, after so much tension building through most of the film, once the final act kicks off, the film turns into a generic slasher. Characters become stupid, the killer is honestly more laughable than scary, and it turns into a jumpscare-a-minute movie. It feels like during production they realized that the movie had to be under a certain length and the finale had to be rushed. It hurts what was an entertaining film pretty badly, because it just changes the tone of the film completely and doesn’t feel like a satisfying ending to up to that point was an engaging thriller.
Overall, this is a movie worth seeing when it is available for home release, if for no other reason than to see Clarke’s and Lithgow’s performances. A large portion of the film is a solid movie that has emotional weight and tells a great story wrapped in a tension-filled thriller. It is too bad that when the film reaches its climax it shifts gear and becomes a boring slasher. Still, for quite a while, this movie is wholly entertaining, and worth checking out.
3.25 / 5
