Stephen King is a name that almost everyone knows, and a lot of people are very familiar with his work.
I am not one of those people.
The only movie I have seen that was based on a Stephen King book was It (unpopular opinion, I didn't think it was scary at all...) and I have never read any of his books, although I would like to remedy that.
And so, when I was scrolling through Netflix, hoping something would magically appear that I wanted to watch, and I saw this movie, I decided to settle down with a blanket, and press play...
Let me introduce this movie, and we can get into what I thought about it!
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My Review...
A new house. A new life. Louis and Rachel Creed packed up everything they knew, and moved their family to a new house, far from everything they knew. With the desire to slow down, to spend more time at home with their two children, Ellie and Gage, Louis in particular takes this move as an opportunity to start a new kind of life, one where he doesn't spend hours upon hours working the nighttime shift at the hospital, and instead, spends those hours with the people he loves.
As Ellie starts to explore her new home, she come across an unusual area in the woods by the house. With a sign reading 'Pet Sematary', and graves all around, she is undoubtedly curious. Rachel had a difficult childhood, with the trauma of losing her sister and blaming herself for her sister's death, and has tried to shelter Ellie from the realities of death. And, while Louis doesn't completely understand, he lets his wife shield Ellie from the fact that what comes after death is unknown, and it is, unfortunately, inevitable.
But, when Ellie's cat, Church, is found dead on the side of the road outside their house, a road that trucks speed down dangerously, Rachel can't bear to tell Ellie that her beloved cat is gone. Instead, they weave a tale that Church has run away, and their new neighbour, Jud, takes Louis to bury Church. Instead of the Pet Sematary, though, Jud leads Louis to a different place, and bury the cat there, even if it is creepy, and has a strange feel to it.
The next morning, they find Church alive, in Ellie's bedroom.
The thing about horror, is that often it relies too heavily upon the supernatural, or on people with revenge on their minds, to create the atmosphere and to provide the scares. This film doesn't do this, but rather, uses human nature, assisted by the supernatural, to tell the story. There is plenty of foreshadowing throughout the film, with the lorries on the road, and with the story of Church, that helps you to predict what will happen, and even though you know it is inevitable, it won't stop you hoping that, somehow, Jud will get through to Louis, and everything will be left alone.
The whole idea of being able to bring the dead back is one that Louis grasps onto. After Jud shows him the place, its existence haunts him in the form of a cat who was once loving and kind, but now hisses and attacks his children. And, even though he knows the outcome, that if you bring the dead back to life, they will not return how they left, the pain that grief brings is unbearable, and with the option there, no other option seems available.
Louis is the character at the forefront of this movie, although Ellie also gets a lot of screen time. While Rachel and Gage are almost in the background of this small cast of characters, every one of them plays their individual role. The butterfly effect suggests that one action, one small decision, can change the course of everything that is to happen, and this movie, although not outright stating it, shows this. If Jud and Louis had buried Church in the Pet Sematary, if Louis and Rachel had told Ellie that Church was dead, if Rachel had never been left home alone with her sister that dreadful day – the outcome of this story could be completely different. Indeed, if Church stayed dead, and if Louis never learnt of the powers the ground could hold, there might not be a story to tell.
This movie is a fabulous portrayal of horror without the scares, but rather, something that will get under your skin, and leave you feeling unnerved. In particular, the closing scene is one that will stay with you for a long time. In the horror genre, it can seem too easy to kill off adult characters, and sometimes, if a character is too annoying, the viewer might even be waiting for that particular person to die. When two of the main characters are children, though, young children, who are innocent, lovely, and have their whole lives ahead of them, the whole aspect of horror takes on a different tone. It's more difficult and unsettling to watch children in danger, especially with such a subtle thread of supernatural running through the story. This family is living a normal life, in their new home, and yet, there is something wrong, something that they can't quite put their finger on. And, with the feeling of being unsafe hanging around them, trying to sleep at night becomes a much more difficult thing to do.
I watched the 2019 remake of this movie, and for those hardcore Stephen King/Pet Sematary fans out there, yes, I am aware this is a remake, and that there were some significant changes to the story in this film. I haven't read the book, and I haven't seen the original film, but giving my opinion on this film, it is a story that will cause chills to run down your spine, and I certain want to read the book now, to see just how different the ending is, and to read the words that eventually made their way into the imagery of this movie.
And done!
I said in a previous post that it was the week before my 'Spooky Week' and I only had three posts written. It is now Sunday, the day before Day 1, and this is post 4.
This is how unorganised I am.
To be fair to myself, I have been unwell the past couple of days, but hopefully (fingers crossed) I will be able to figure out 3 more posts before they have to go out.
That's all for now...
Bye!
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