After the Creed family moves to rural Maine, they stumble upon an ancient burial ground with sinister powers. When tragedy strikes, a perilous chain of events unleashes an unfathomable evil. Based upon the novel by Stephen King, a film by Mary Lambert, starring Dale Midkiff, Denise Crosby, Brad Greenquist, Michael Lombard, Miko Hughes, Blaze Berdahl, Andrew Hubatsek, Susan Blommaert, and Fred Gwynne.

Louis Creed (Dale Midkiff) and his wife Rachel (Denise Crosby), and their children, Ellie (Blaze Berdahl) and Gage (Miko Hughes), move from Chicago to rural Ludlow, Maine, after Louis accepts a job as a new doctor at the local College. Upon arrival, Ellie plays on an old swing and sees the path leading to the forest behind the house. An old robe snaps and the swing falls to the ground, hurting Ellie.

Ludlow is a town located in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. The town has a population of 434 as of the 2020 census. Ludlow is situated at an elevation of 253 meters. The town is named after Ludlow, Massachusetts. Ludlow is also known for being the fictional setting of several Stephen King novels and films, including “Pet Sematary” and “The Dark Half”.

While Louis and Rachel are checking on Ellie to make sure she’s alright, Gage is drawn to the sound of trucks passing by the road in front of their new house. Rachel is shocked when she sees Gage walking towards the road. She and Louis quickly raced to get Gage as a truck was closing in with speed. Luckily, an elderly man who lives across the road manages to save Gage and carry him back to Rachel. The man introduced himself as Jud Crandall (Fred Gwynne). He warns the Creed family to watch out for that road, due to the trucks that keep going back and forth all day and most of the night. Ellie asks Jud whether he knows anything about the path that leads into the forest. Jud tells Ellie that he’ll take her up there sometime; he’ll also tell her the story.

The film introduces us to another character named Missy Dandridge (Susan Blommaert), a local woman Rachel hires as a house maid to help with cleaning. Missy’s role in the story is relatively minor. Missy’s death later becomes the topic that sparks Ellie’s curiosity about death and whether Missy went to heaven.

Jud takes the Creed family down the path leading to the forest that contains the pet cemetery. A sign hanging above the gate reads “PET SEMATARY”. Jud explains that the trucks killed a lot of local children’s pets. This is the place where they buried their dead pets. Because of her childhood trauma, Rachel becomes frustrated. She seems to want to shield her children from learning the truth about death.

Victor Pascow (Brad Greenquist) is brought in to the emergency room after being hit by a truck. By that time, Pascow’s condition is critical. Louis attempts to save him, although he knows it’s already too late. As Louis sits and contemplates next to Pascow’s body, Victor suddenly awakens to draw his last breath and delivers Louis a cryptic message, “The soil of a man’s heart is stonier, Louis.” Louis is shocked and asks Pascow how he did he know his name as they have never met before. Victor replies, “I’ll come to you.” then dies again.

In the middle of the night, Louis is awakened by Pascow’s ghost, who appears at the house. Pascow’s ghost explains that he wants to help Louis because Louis tried to save his life. The ghost then leads Louis to the Pet Sematary and warns him not to cross the barrier beyond the cemetery. Louis, terrified, believes he’s having a nightmare and curls himself on the ground, hoping to wake up. Waking in his bed the next morning, Louis is shocked to find his feet covered in dirt, implying his visit to the cemetery might have been real.

During Thanksgiving, while Rachel takes their children to Chicago to see their grandparents (whom Louis believes don’t like him, making him choose to stay behind), Jud calls Louis with some bad news. Ellie’s cat, Winston “Church” Churchill, has been killed by a truck. Knowing how devastated Ellie would be, Jud takes Louis beyond the cemetery to an ancient Miꞌkmaq burial ground. Louis explains that he has his reasons, but doesn’t elaborate. He instructs Louis to dig a hole and bury Church there.

The Miꞌkmaq are an Indigenous people native to eastern Canada and parts of the northeastern United States. The Miꞌkmaq are one of the First Nations peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the Atlantic provinces of Canada as well as the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec and parts of Maine, USA. The Miꞌkmaq have traditional burial practices that involve carefully placing the deceased in the ground.

To Louis’s shocking surprise, Church returns the next day, although it’s not quite the same cat. Church appears more aggressive, and its eyes glow an eerie yellow in the dark. Louis confronts Jud, who reveals that he was told by a half-Miꞌkmaq ragman what to do when his childhood dog, Spot, died. Jud also mentions that when Spot returned from the Miꞌkmaq burial ground, it was never quite the same dog he’d known, and when Spot died for the second time, young Jud (Matthew August Ferrell) decided to bury it in the pet cemetery. Out of curiosity, Louis asks Jud if anyone ever buried a person up there. Jud shudders. “Christ on his throne, no. And who ever would?”

Missy’s suicide triggers Rachel’s depression, unearthing a buried childhood trauma. It all comes back to the time Rachel was left alone at home to care for her older sister Zelda (Andrew Hubatsek), who was sick with spinal meningitis. Rachel reveals a horrifying secret: she had secretly wished for Zelda’s death. When Zelda actually died, Rachel became so confused and frustrated that she couldn’t control her emotions, crying and laughing at the same time because of her sister’s death.

Spinal meningitis, also known as meningitis, is an inflammation of the protective membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms can include sudden high fever, severe headache, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, confusion, and sensitivity to light. Symptoms can also progress rapidly and become life-threatening.

One day, while the Creed family is having a picnic with Jud near the forest, Louis teaches Gage how to fly a kite. Suddenly, as Louis turns his attention to Ellie, Gage runs after a bridle that he accidentally dropped and it rolls towards the road. A speeding truck barrels down the road. Louis races after Gage, but trips before reaching him. The truck driver attempts to swerve, causing the truck to flip over. Louis is hit by the truck and dies instantly.

Directed by American filmmaker Mary Lambert from a screenplay written by Stephen King, PET SEMATARY is based on King’s 1983 novel of the same name. A chilling exploration of grief, loss, and the consequences of defying the natural order, the film follows a family who recently moves to a house bordering an ancient Mi’kmaq burial ground that has the power to bring the dead back to life.

When their son dies in a tragic accident, the father, driven by grief and the desperate hope of seeing his son again, decides to bury him in the forbidden ground despite grave warnings. Believing he can control the outcome he makes a choice that unleashes a malevolent force with deadly intentions.

I find the film adaptation quite faithful to the source materials, capturing the tone and themes of the novel since the novel’s author wrote the screenplay himself. However, the film suffers from slow pacing due to flashbacks and development of supporting characters. We don’t fully understand why Zelda keeps haunting her sister Rachel. Is it the evil entity manifested as Zelda? Regardless of the ambiguity, Zelda’s appearance is undeniably one of the most disturbing and frightening portrayals in horror cinema.

I realize it would be practically impossible to find a child actor who could look both innocent and act convincingly as an evil child possessed by a murderous entity, given the limitations of CGI technology at the time. The issue lies with Miko Hughes, who portrayed the role. While Miko Hughes delivers a good performance, Gage’s character, a resurrected son who still appears too cute, makes it difficult for me to believe that he’s possessed.

The film’s conclusion, featuring a dramatic scene that implies Louis’s descent into madness, also feels predictable and offers little room for interpretation.

PET SEMATARY was theatrically released in the United States on 21 April 1989. It grossed over $57.5 million on an $11.5 million production budget, making it a considerable commercial success.

The film was released on 4K UHD Blu-ray on 26 March 2019 in the United States, featuring a 2160p/Dolby Vision presentation, which is a substantial improvement over the 2012 Blu-ray and the 2019 Blu-ray. The restoration was supervised by director Mary Lambert, resulting in a very filmic and agreeable presentation.

An exclusive edition of Mondo x SteelBook® #037 was released on 17 April 2019. This edition is part of the film’s 30th anniversary celebration and includes the 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray discs. It features the original Mondo artwork by American illustrator Mike Saputo.