I was never a big fan of the original Pet Sematary as its emotional grimness was a bit much for me, especially in its era. The book the original film was based on was probably my least favorite Stephen King novel as well.
Pet Sematary Two has its share of grimness, but there is humor injected that didn’t exist in the original. One of the reasons I feel this one doesn’t carry the same glum feeling is the important character who dies, dies early, as in the first five minutes. You don’t develop the same emotional attachment you did to the folks in the original, who face the circumstances they did. Circumstances that elicited a painful vibe.
This character who dies, an actress/mom leaves behind a husband (Anthony Edwards) and teen son (Edward Furlong). In their grief, they elect to move from LA to the couples original hometown, Ludlow, Maine. This wise decision isn’t affected at all by the fact that it’s the location of the events that so horribly destroyed the Creed family in the original.
The film looks to be your basic “grieving teen faces the adversity of new surroundings” cliche until it hangs a hard one about halfway through with Furlong’s character. Refreshing? Maybe. Weird? Definitely.
Clancy Brown plays the town sheriff. It’s hard to decide if he’s a bigger asshole before or after he’s buried in the infamous burial ground of the living dead. Either way, his performance is absolutely unhinged and a big reason to watch the film. He’s a complete perfect bastard before, and riotous nutjob after his “return”.
Pet Sematary Two wraps up in a much more positive way for those who like unambiguous “up” endings. You do have to endure some graphic violence and cruelty along the way there, however. It’s nowhere near as powerful or apocalyptically edgy as what the original brings. The return of Mary Lambert as director is the reason the film retains a touch of the grit and edginess it may have otherwise lost.
No comments:
Post a Comment