This is the first adaptation of the Stephen King novel, with so much 80s so bad it’s good. Everything Wrong With, Cody Leach Review and Kill Count.
Dr. Louis Creed and his family move into a new house in Maine, which is next to a pet cemetery. When his daughter’s cat is run over by a truck, Louis and their new neighbour, Jud, take it to an ancient Native American burial sight. That night, the cat returns.
It’s funny, but I never thought of this as a bad or cheesy movie until it was pointed out to me. Since it’s become quite a cult classic, and since another adaptation of the book came out 30 years later, it was brought back into the public eye by the likes of CinemaSins, Deadmeat, WhatCulture, and Watchmojo. All of these channels were making videos which included the film and pointed out its faults. Faults I hadn’t really thought about. I just think it’s an entertaining piece of Stephen King 80s-ness.
I could only watch the movie once every few years, mainly because the whole thing with the cat was quite upsetting to me. I’m a cat person, so I don’t like to see dead cats, not matter how fake they are.
Even though I enjoy this movie, I do see the funny side of it, whether these moments were intentional or not. Dale Midkiff’s performance as Louis in particular is pretty laughable. The man really does look like he’s been taking some kind of tranquilizers during filming. I mean he’s a good looking guy and all, but get him a coffee before he falls asleep. There is a moment towards the end where he rolls off the bed and hits his head on the corner of a bedside table, which looks both painful and realistic. Maybe they filmed that scene first?
My favourite character has got to be Jud. If you read my Fatal Attraction review a couple of weeks ago, you’ll already be aware of my love of Fred Gwynn. He’s trying really hard with the Maine accent (which I’ll admit I didn’t know existed and haven’t heard authentically) and he keeps saying “a-ya” which is actually really awesome. That’s why his delivery of the line “sometimes, dead is better” is so good. No offense to John Lithgow (who I love also by the way), but his delivery in the second adaptation isn’t has great as Mr. Munster’s. Sorry Dick. I do plan on watching the new adaptation (since its original source material is a book, I think it’s more accurate to call it another adaptation rather than a remake, just like you would with A Christmas Carol) and I’ll try really hard to keep an open mind.
All the joking and mocking aside, I do think this is a good, fun movie which perfectly captures late 80s horror. The Zelda scene alone is one of the most memorable in the film. I think it looks great and although the dialogue at times can be a little bit bad, Mary Lambert did a great job at adapting the book. Fun fact: Mary Lambert also directed Madonna’s music videos for Like a Virgin, Material Girl, and Like a Prayer, as well as the Disney Channel Original Movie sequel Halloweentown II: Kalabar’s Revenge. I think that’s pretty cool. She directed this movie’s sequel, Pet Sematary Two which came out in 1992 and starred a creepy Edward Furlong and Clancy Brown. I saw it once years ago, but I will give it another watch.
Where to watch: Justwatch
Linsey Loves Horror 