.gif)
Pet Sematary (film)
Encyclopedia
Pet Sematary is a 1989 horror film
adaptation
of Stephen King
's novel of the same name
. Directed by Mary Lambert and written by King, the film features Dale Midkiff
as Louis Creed, Denise Crosby
as Rachel Creed, Blaze Berdahl
as Ellie Creed, Miko Hughes
as Gage Creed, and Fred Gwynne
as Jud Crandall. Andrew Hubatsek
was cast for Zelda's role.
A sequel
, Pet Sematary Two, was released which was met with less financial and critical success.
), who tells them about a pet cemetery
and the burial grounds nearby. Louis Creed (Dale Midkiff
), working at the University of Maine
at Orono hospital, is treating a car accident victim named Victor Pascow (Brad Greenquist), who dies on the operating table, but not before suddenly grabbing Louis and whispering a mysterious and cryptic message to him just before expiring. That night, in what is seemingly a dream, Victor visits Louis in his sleep, warning him about the burial ground. Louis wakes up to find his feet covered in dirt. Church, a British Shorthair
cat owned by Louis's daughter Ellie (Blaze Berdahl
), is run over by a truck on the road in front of their house while Rachel, Ellie, and Gage are in Chicago. Jud takes Louis to a burial ground beyond the pet cemetery they visited earlier. He buries the cat underneath a cairn
. Church is brought back to life, but is an evil shell of himself; he attacks Louis and reeks of decomposition
. Jud tells Louis about the grounds. Louis asks if a person was ever buried in the grounds.
Sometime later, Louis's young son, Gage (Miko Hughes
), is tragically run over by a truck on the same road during a picnic and is killed. Louis considers burying Gage in the burial grounds. Jud tries to dissuade him from doing so, telling him about a young soldier from town, Timmy Baterman, who died in service during World War II
. His father, Bill, placed his son's corpse into the Micmac burial ground, only to have it reanimate and terrify the townsfolk. Jud and three of his friends tried to save Bill and burn down the house with the son in it, but Bill was attacked by Timmy, both perishing in the fire. Jud believes that the place made Gage die because he introduced Louis to it. Ellie and Rachel travel to Chicago, but Ellie is reluctant, as she had a bad dream about her father, Gage and Pascow. She begs Louis to go with them, but he declines. Louis heads to the cemetery Gage is buried in, intending to exhume his son's body. He is met at the graveyard by Victor, who tells him the barrier was not meant to be crossed, and that the ground is sour.
In Chicago Ellie has a nightmare, stating that Victor warned her that Louis is going to do something really bad, and that he is trying to help because Louis tried to save his life. Rachel, with a little help from Victor, whose spirit is still inside the house, realizes who her daughter is talking about and calls Jud after Louis does not answer the phone. She asks if he has seen Louis, and then tells him she is returning. He warns her not to, but she has already hung up. Louis digs up Gage's body, taking his son's corpse to the burial ground. Victor's spirit once again tries to stop Louis, but he buries Gage at the Micmac grounds. Louis returns home, exhausted from his activities. Gage later arrives and enters his father's room, removing a scalpel from one of his bags. He heads for Jud's house, and after playing a game of hide and seek with the old man, slices Jud's Achilles tendon
, slashes his mouth, and rips his throat out, while Church watches. Rachel arrives home, hearing something that sounds like her late sister, Zelda (Andrew Hubatsek
), calling her name, then Gage's laughter. She enters Jud's house to find Gage, dressed in one of Jud's old hats and one of his canes. He tells her he brought her something, and shows her Louis's scalpel. Thinking nothing of it, Rachel hugs her son in disbelief, and is stabbed presumably through the eye.
Louis wakes up to find Gage's muddy footprints on the floor, his doctor's bag opened and his scalpel gone. He receives a call from Gage saying, "Come play with me daddy! First I played with Jud, and then I played with mommy. We had an awful good time. Now I want to play with you." Preparing shots of morphine
, Louis heads to Jud's house, running into Church once more. He distracts the cat with a raw steak, then gives him a shot of morphine, killing the cat almost instantaneously. He heads into the house, once more taunted by Gage, and prepares the second shot of morphine. Louis searches the house only to have Rachel's corpse fall from the attic, hung by her neck. Gage leaps from the attic door, biting and stabbing Louis. Finally getting his reanimated son off him, Louis grabs a morphine shot. Gage heads for him again, scalpel in hand, but Louis injects the boy with the shot. Gage walks away muttering, "No fair", until he slumps against a wall, dead. Louis soaks the house in kerosene and sets it on fire, carrying his wife's body out. Victor watches, knowing what he is doing, and tells Louis he is sorry, and not to bury Rachel in the same place. The now-insane Louis replies that he waited too long with Gage, and that it will work with his wife because she just died.
Louis plays solitaire
at home while he waits. At midnight, an undead
Rachel comes through the kitchen door, walking towards her husband. She coos, "Darling..." and the two embrace, kissing. Rachel reaches for a knife on the kitchen table and grabs it slowly. The screen blacks out as Louis screams.
. The film features two songs by the Ramones
, one of Stephen King's favorite bands: "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
" appears in a scene, and "Pet Sematary", a new track written specially for the movie, plays over the credits.
, while it managed a positive 64% rating from audiences. The film grossed $57 million in North America.
of the film in March 2010. It will be produced by Steven Schneider for Paramount Pictures.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
adaptation
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
of Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's novel of the same name
Pet Sematary
Pet Sematary is a 1983 horror novel by Stephen King. It was nominated for a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1984, and was later made into a film of the same name.-Plot:...
. Directed by Mary Lambert and written by King, the film features Dale Midkiff
Dale Midkiff
Dale Alan Midkiff is an American actor.-Early life:Midkiff was born in Chance, Maryland, the son of Joyce and Thomas Midkiff. He attended Edgewood High School near Baltimore. His first acting experience came playing Jack in a production of Jack and the Beanstalk for a local children's theater. His...
as Louis Creed, Denise Crosby
Denise Crosby
Denise Michelle Crosby is an American actress best known for portraying Security Chief Tasha Yar on Star Trek: The Next Generation...
as Rachel Creed, Blaze Berdahl
Blaze Berdahl
Blaze Autumn Berdahl is an American Actress, Singer, Voice-over actor, Announcer, and Narrator. She is best known for her roles as Lenni Frazier in the children's television series Ghostwriter and Ellie Creed in the film Pet Sematary .-Early life:Berdahl was born in New York City, the youngest...
as Ellie Creed, Miko Hughes
Miko Hughes
Miko John Hughes is an American actor best known for his film roles as a child actor as Gage Creed in Pet Sematary , as an autistic boy opposite Bruce Willis in Mercury Rising and as Dylan, Heather Langenkamp's son in Wes Craven's New Nightmare .-Career:Hughes started his acting career in a...
as Gage Creed, and Fred Gwynne
Fred Gwynne
Frederick Hubbard "Fred" Gwynne was an American actor. Gwynne was best known for his roles in the 1960s sitcoms Car 54, Where Are You? and The Munsters, as well as his later roles: Pet Sematary and My Cousin Vinny...
as Jud Crandall. Andrew Hubatsek
Andrew Hubatsek
Andrew Hubatsek is an associate ensemble member of Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble. He is also an actor, who performed in and directed such shows as On the Westward Trail and Y1K, Life in the Year 1000....
was cast for Zelda's role.
A sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
, Pet Sematary Two, was released which was met with less financial and critical success.
Plot
The Creed family moves into a new home, close to a road where high-speed truckers often carelessly drive by. They befriend their neighbor, Jud Crandall (Fred GwynneFred Gwynne
Frederick Hubbard "Fred" Gwynne was an American actor. Gwynne was best known for his roles in the 1960s sitcoms Car 54, Where Are You? and The Munsters, as well as his later roles: Pet Sematary and My Cousin Vinny...
), who tells them about a pet cemetery
Pet cemetery
A pet cemetery is a cemetery for animals.-History:Many human cultures buried animal remains. The Ancient Egyptians mummified and buried cats, which they considered deities....
and the burial grounds nearby. Louis Creed (Dale Midkiff
Dale Midkiff
Dale Alan Midkiff is an American actor.-Early life:Midkiff was born in Chance, Maryland, the son of Joyce and Thomas Midkiff. He attended Edgewood High School near Baltimore. His first acting experience came playing Jack in a production of Jack and the Beanstalk for a local children's theater. His...
), working at the University of Maine
University of Maine
The University of Maine is a public research university located in Orono, Maine, United States. The university was established in 1865 as a land grant college and is referred to as the flagship university of the University of Maine System...
at Orono hospital, is treating a car accident victim named Victor Pascow (Brad Greenquist), who dies on the operating table, but not before suddenly grabbing Louis and whispering a mysterious and cryptic message to him just before expiring. That night, in what is seemingly a dream, Victor visits Louis in his sleep, warning him about the burial ground. Louis wakes up to find his feet covered in dirt. Church, a British Shorthair
British Shorthair
The British Shorthair is a domesticated cat whose features make it a popular breed in cat shows. It has been the most popular breed of cat registered by the UK's Governing Council of the Cat Fancy since 2001, when it overtook the Persian breed....
cat owned by Louis's daughter Ellie (Blaze Berdahl
Blaze Berdahl
Blaze Autumn Berdahl is an American Actress, Singer, Voice-over actor, Announcer, and Narrator. She is best known for her roles as Lenni Frazier in the children's television series Ghostwriter and Ellie Creed in the film Pet Sematary .-Early life:Berdahl was born in New York City, the youngest...
), is run over by a truck on the road in front of their house while Rachel, Ellie, and Gage are in Chicago. Jud takes Louis to a burial ground beyond the pet cemetery they visited earlier. He buries the cat underneath a cairn
Cairn
Cairn is a term used mainly in the English-speaking world for a man-made pile of stones. It comes from the or . Cairns are found all over the world in uplands, on moorland, on mountaintops, near waterways and on sea cliffs, and also in barren desert and tundra areas...
. Church is brought back to life, but is an evil shell of himself; he attacks Louis and reeks of decomposition
Decomposition
Decomposition is the process by which organic material is broken down into simpler forms of matter. The process is essential for recycling the finite matter that occupies physical space in the biome. Bodies of living organisms begin to decompose shortly after death...
. Jud tells Louis about the grounds. Louis asks if a person was ever buried in the grounds.
Sometime later, Louis's young son, Gage (Miko Hughes
Miko Hughes
Miko John Hughes is an American actor best known for his film roles as a child actor as Gage Creed in Pet Sematary , as an autistic boy opposite Bruce Willis in Mercury Rising and as Dylan, Heather Langenkamp's son in Wes Craven's New Nightmare .-Career:Hughes started his acting career in a...
), is tragically run over by a truck on the same road during a picnic and is killed. Louis considers burying Gage in the burial grounds. Jud tries to dissuade him from doing so, telling him about a young soldier from town, Timmy Baterman, who died in service during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. His father, Bill, placed his son's corpse into the Micmac burial ground, only to have it reanimate and terrify the townsfolk. Jud and three of his friends tried to save Bill and burn down the house with the son in it, but Bill was attacked by Timmy, both perishing in the fire. Jud believes that the place made Gage die because he introduced Louis to it. Ellie and Rachel travel to Chicago, but Ellie is reluctant, as she had a bad dream about her father, Gage and Pascow. She begs Louis to go with them, but he declines. Louis heads to the cemetery Gage is buried in, intending to exhume his son's body. He is met at the graveyard by Victor, who tells him the barrier was not meant to be crossed, and that the ground is sour.
In Chicago Ellie has a nightmare, stating that Victor warned her that Louis is going to do something really bad, and that he is trying to help because Louis tried to save his life. Rachel, with a little help from Victor, whose spirit is still inside the house, realizes who her daughter is talking about and calls Jud after Louis does not answer the phone. She asks if he has seen Louis, and then tells him she is returning. He warns her not to, but she has already hung up. Louis digs up Gage's body, taking his son's corpse to the burial ground. Victor's spirit once again tries to stop Louis, but he buries Gage at the Micmac grounds. Louis returns home, exhausted from his activities. Gage later arrives and enters his father's room, removing a scalpel from one of his bags. He heads for Jud's house, and after playing a game of hide and seek with the old man, slices Jud's Achilles tendon
Achilles tendon
The Achilles tendon , also known as the calcaneal tendon or the tendo calcaneus, is a tendon of the posterior leg. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius and soleus muscles to the calcaneus bone.- Anatomy :The Achilles is the tendonous extension of 3 muscles in the lower leg:...
, slashes his mouth, and rips his throat out, while Church watches. Rachel arrives home, hearing something that sounds like her late sister, Zelda (Andrew Hubatsek
Andrew Hubatsek
Andrew Hubatsek is an associate ensemble member of Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble. He is also an actor, who performed in and directed such shows as On the Westward Trail and Y1K, Life in the Year 1000....
), calling her name, then Gage's laughter. She enters Jud's house to find Gage, dressed in one of Jud's old hats and one of his canes. He tells her he brought her something, and shows her Louis's scalpel. Thinking nothing of it, Rachel hugs her son in disbelief, and is stabbed presumably through the eye.
Louis wakes up to find Gage's muddy footprints on the floor, his doctor's bag opened and his scalpel gone. He receives a call from Gage saying, "Come play with me daddy! First I played with Jud, and then I played with mommy. We had an awful good time. Now I want to play with you." Preparing shots of morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
, Louis heads to Jud's house, running into Church once more. He distracts the cat with a raw steak, then gives him a shot of morphine, killing the cat almost instantaneously. He heads into the house, once more taunted by Gage, and prepares the second shot of morphine. Louis searches the house only to have Rachel's corpse fall from the attic, hung by her neck. Gage leaps from the attic door, biting and stabbing Louis. Finally getting his reanimated son off him, Louis grabs a morphine shot. Gage heads for him again, scalpel in hand, but Louis injects the boy with the shot. Gage walks away muttering, "No fair", until he slumps against a wall, dead. Louis soaks the house in kerosene and sets it on fire, carrying his wife's body out. Victor watches, knowing what he is doing, and tells Louis he is sorry, and not to bury Rachel in the same place. The now-insane Louis replies that he waited too long with Gage, and that it will work with his wife because she just died.
Louis plays solitaire
Solitaire
Solitaire is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself or with other people. The solitaire card game Klondike is often known as simply Solitaire....
at home while he waits. At midnight, an undead
Undead
Undead is a collective name for fictional, mythological, or legendary beings that are deceased and yet behave as if alive. Undead may be incorporeal, such as ghosts, or corporeal, such as vampires and zombies...
Rachel comes through the kitchen door, walking towards her husband. She coos, "Darling..." and the two embrace, kissing. Rachel reaches for a knife on the kitchen table and grabs it slowly. The screen blacks out as Louis screams.
Cast
- Dale MidkiffDale MidkiffDale Alan Midkiff is an American actor.-Early life:Midkiff was born in Chance, Maryland, the son of Joyce and Thomas Midkiff. He attended Edgewood High School near Baltimore. His first acting experience came playing Jack in a production of Jack and the Beanstalk for a local children's theater. His...
as Louis Creed - Fred GwynneFred GwynneFrederick Hubbard "Fred" Gwynne was an American actor. Gwynne was best known for his roles in the 1960s sitcoms Car 54, Where Are You? and The Munsters, as well as his later roles: Pet Sematary and My Cousin Vinny...
as Jud Crandall - Denise CrosbyDenise CrosbyDenise Michelle Crosby is an American actress best known for portraying Security Chief Tasha Yar on Star Trek: The Next Generation...
as Rachel Creed - Brad Greenquist as Victor Pascow
- Michael Lombard as Irwin Goldman
- Miko HughesMiko HughesMiko John Hughes is an American actor best known for his film roles as a child actor as Gage Creed in Pet Sematary , as an autistic boy opposite Bruce Willis in Mercury Rising and as Dylan, Heather Langenkamp's son in Wes Craven's New Nightmare .-Career:Hughes started his acting career in a...
as Gage Creed - Blaze BerdahlBlaze BerdahlBlaze Autumn Berdahl is an American Actress, Singer, Voice-over actor, Announcer, and Narrator. She is best known for her roles as Lenni Frazier in the children's television series Ghostwriter and Ellie Creed in the film Pet Sematary .-Early life:Berdahl was born in New York City, the youngest...
as Ellie Creed - Susan BlommaertSusan Blommaert- Biography :Blommaert acted in several episodes of the television series Law & Order . She has worked with Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman in her most recent films.- Filmography :* Forever Lulu...
as Missy Dandridge - Mara Clark as Marcy Charlton
- Kavi RazKavi RazKavi Raz is an Indian-born British actor, writer, director and producer.Born in Punjab, Raz left India at a young age for the United Kingdom, where he grew up. He acquired national prominence as an exceptional hockey player in the Midlands....
as Steve Masterton - Mary Louise WilsonMary Louise WilsonMary Louise Wilson is an American stage, film and television actress.-Stage:Broadway* Hot Spot — 1963 as Sue Ann* Flora, The Red Menace — 1965 as Comrade Ada* Lovers and Other Strangers — 1968 as Bernice...
as Dory Goldman - Andrew HubatsekAndrew HubatsekAndrew Hubatsek is an associate ensemble member of Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble. He is also an actor, who performed in and directed such shows as On the Westward Trail and Y1K, Life in the Year 1000....
as Zelda - Lisa Stathoplos as Jud's mother
- Stephen KingStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
as Minister - Chuck Courtney as Bill Baterman
- Peter Stader as Timmy Baterman
- Beau Berdahl as Ellie Creed II
Music
The film's score was written by Elliot GoldenthalElliot Goldenthal
Elliot Goldenthal is an American composer of contemporary classical music. He was a student of Aaron Copland and John Corigliano, and is best known for his distinctive style and ability to blend various musical styles and techniques in original and inventive ways...
. The film features two songs by the Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
, one of Stephen King's favorite bands: "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
Sheena is a Punk Rocker
"Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" is a song by the punk rock group The Ramones. It first appeared on their third LP, Rocket to Russia, in 1977, and was also included on later pressings of the group's second album, Leave Home...
" appears in a scene, and "Pet Sematary", a new track written specially for the movie, plays over the credits.
Reception
Pet Sematary received mixed reviews, garnering a 50% rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, while it managed a positive 64% rating from audiences. The film grossed $57 million in North America.
Remake
Matthew Greenberg began writing the screenplay for a remakeRemake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of the film in March 2010. It will be produced by Steven Schneider for Paramount Pictures.