PopHorror Let's Get Scared
At a young age, I had the pleasure of having a mother that greatly appreciated the one genre I would grow to love: horror. Being introduced at a young age had many enjoyable benefits. One of them, of course, was being able to go to the nearest video rental store and discovering rare and new gems I still hold precious to this day. It was an experience, walking down the aisle and witnessing all the “old style” cover art on the VHS boxes. I had my “go to” movies, like any kid, but one horror film would always be saved for a special occasion. A horror film that taught me the true meaning of being scared. That film is Pet Sematary (1989).
Let’s start from the beginning shall we? When the Master of Macabre, Stephen King, first wrote the rough draft of Pet Sematary, it deeply scared him and wife, Tabitha. It was shelved for a couple years until finally being published in 1983. It was instantly a success with the readers, tossing them into a story that was far more than your usual “scare” story. A film was put into works, and in 1989, director Mary Lambert brought the darkness to life. Starring Dale Midkiff and veteran actor Fred Gwynn, the two brought the grotesque realism of the novel into the bright light. The film was a hit, bringing in $57.5 million worldwide and becoming a best-selling video when released by Paramount Pictures. It’s terror and legacy lives on as in 2014, a documentary by the name Unearthed & Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary was developed and well received.
The Pet Sematary story centers on the Creed family. A family that fits the picture perfect stereotype of the American Dream. After the Creed’s move to Ludlow, Maine for Louis’s (Midkiff) new job as the college’s head doctor, they cross paths with the friendly neighbor across the street Jud Crandall (Gwynne). The old neighbor welcomes the family warmly, but deep inside his eyes you can obviously see secrets hidden in dark corners. The Creed daughter, Ellie (played by the Berdahl twins), spots a path in the backyard and Jud introduces the family to the Pet Sematary. It is a patch of graves for animals and pets laid to rest by grieving children.
Once the family is settled in their new home, a brutal accident occurs at Louis’s campus hospital, which leaves Louis alone with a dying boy that was struck by a truck while jogging. As Victor Pascow (Brad Greenquist) slowly dies, he resurrects suddenly to warn Louis of “the place where the dead walk”. It is one of the most squeamish and genuinely creepy moments of the film as we see Louis first brought to the edge of sanity. Weeks later, as the Creed family visits Chicago while Louis stays back home, the family cat, Church, is run down by a semi-truck while crossing the street. For fear of Ellie learning death too early, Jud shows Louis the Micmac burial ground, that somehow holds powers to resurrection. As the lovable cat comes back morbidly different, Judd does not know he had unwilling set forth a destruction of no return. How far will he go when death strikes again?
What inspired me as a horror film addict and as a storyteller is the true depth of terror this tale can still conjure up deep inside me. It goes far beyond the supernatural, showing us a dark side to grief while giving a choice to every parent’s worst nightmare. If you had the power to bring back a loved one, would you take the chance? Being a parent, that question now haunts me like a terrible disease.
Also, how can I forget to mention Zelda? She was the leading scare factor in the whole movie, or that’s how most people feel. Although Zelda is the sister of Rachel Creed, the actor who played her was Andrew Hubatsek, and he did a phenomenal job. Zelda screaming out, “Rachel!” still haunts me today and gives me the goosebumps.
A depressing and overall disturbing film, Pet Sematary will always be held high in cult status. A horror story unique in every way, flooding countless minds with some of the scariest scenes in cinema. A true masterpiece with an intense but sensible tagline, “Sometimes dead is better.” Or is it?
