Sometimes dead is better. It’s not just the tagline of Pet Semetary, it’s the way I feel about a lot of remakes and reboots. But Hollywood is doing their damnedest to change that, especially in the horror genre – Halloween and Suspiria are coming out this October, and Pet Semetary is coming out in April, with all three looking excellent.
I will say that of the three, I’m most concerned about Pet Semetary. Halloween is a reboot sequel not an actual remake, and the series has a history of stinkers. Suspiria [the remake] was a gorgeous movie with a lot of great ideas, but lacked a little in execution. Pet Semetary on the other hand has only been made once, and they did a great job on it. The makeup was spectacular, especially on Victor Pascow. I can still hear Fred Gwynne saying “the soil in a man’s heart… is stoniah” when I close my eyes. But, as with many of the late 80’s, early 90’s horror, there was definitely room for improvement.
So, this trailer makes me excited. It looks like there’s going to be a lot of creepy atmosphere, capturing the spookiness of a forest. If anyone could replace Fred Gwynne, it’s John Lithgow. I’m already creeped out by Church the cat. But there’s also some questionable choices, like the difference in makeup quality on Victor (looks like they went for gore not creepiness) and honestly what the hell are those animal masks? I’m concerned they’re rushing the scares and throwing too much at the wall to see what sticks, and it might drag down the good stuff.
So I’ll be keeping an eye on this movie as we get closer to release. Because some remakes were not meant to be made, and the film beyond… is sour. But hopefully in the case of Pet Semetary, the movie we put in is indeed the movie we get back. Because I’d love for this to be great, and this trailer makes me think it just might be.
-George Heftler
