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Pet Sematary - 1989

Horror Diva
Jun 21, 2016
8 min read

Updated: Oct 29, 2022

Pet Sematary - 1989

There is always something ominous when a film starts with the voices of children saying goodbye to their beloved pets as you are taking a tour of a pet graveyard. As you are listening to the opening musical piece you realize instead of sad music, you hear something a little more dark, and eerie. Before you have had a chance to process what you have just seen you are transported in front of a beautiful, quaint little house, everything seems peaceful other than the semi screaming down the road with no regard for anything close to a speed limit. This is how we are introduced to the 1989 film adaptation of the Bestselling Stephen King novel “Pet Sematary”. The one novel that Stephen King himself said scared him. This film has some beautiful scenery as well as some really great special makeup effects.

The story centers around the Creed Family, Louis, Rachel, Ellie, and Gage, along with their cat Church. They could be any family, anywhere. He is a doctor at a local university and she is a loving mother and wife. They have two beautiful children and the family cat Church. They live in a beautiful house in picturesque, rural Maine. But, everyone who is a fan of horror movies knows it can never be that simple, that easy, or that peaceful. The beautiful house they live in is right next to a stretch of road used by semi-trucks and other big rigs and, of course, they have no regard for the speed limit. This leads to some rather tragic consequences later on, but, it would not be a horror movie if that was not the case. The property has a trail that leads to a “Pet Semetary” (ooo, name tie in, I can hear some of you sqeeeing right now), that has been used for generations to lay the pets of the town to rest. This does not sit well with Rachel, she is tormented by her own issues with death and feels that no child should have to deal with this. Mr. Crandall, the elderly widower who lives across the street and manages to save Gage from being a splatter on the pavement when the toddler wanders into the path of a speeding semi, tells them the story of the cemetery and tells Ellie that this is not a place of sadness, but a place of remembering and talking.

Unlike some of his films that are set in fictitious Maine towns. This was a real place and they filmed on location there, as well, as it is only 20 minutes from King’s home in Bangor. So he was on set for most of the filming. Here is a fun fact: The story was inspired by actual events experienced by King and his family when they lived in Orrington, Maine. His daughter’s cat was killed on the road and his daughter’s reaction was the template for Ellie’s reaction. As well as his youngest son wandering into the same road and being rescued by an elderly neighbor, who became the inspiration for Mr. Crandall. There was also a pet cemetery in the woods behind the family home, so he used it in his novel. This film was the first that King himself adapted from the novel. Our favorite furball “Church” was actually 7 cats, each specially trained for their scene. This film has one of the scariest characters ever in the history of film (in my humble opinion.) One of the eeriest things about this film is that the premise of being hit by fast trucks on the road. 10 years after the release of the film, King was walking on the shoulder of Route 5 in Lovell and was struck by a speeding minivan. Though not killed by the accident, he was hospitalized for 3 weeks and underwent 5 surgeries. King ended up buying the van after the death of the owner/driver (via overdose on King’s birthday) and had it destroyed “To make himself feel better.”

Ok, so let’s talk about the great work this cast does on this film. You have a great collection of actors and actresses in this film and, of course, the cameo of the fright master himself. He has actually to date had cameos in 12 of his film adaptations. Can you find them all? This cast works very well together and the “family bond” almost feels genuine. Alright, so onto our first cast member that we are going to talk about is quite possibly the cutest. That, of course, is the adorable toddler, Gage Creed, played by equally adorable Miko Hughes. This was Miko's first film and his part as the adorable toddler Gage landed him many other roles. He had a part in the 1990 Arnold Schwartzenegger comedy “Kindergarten Cop”.

He also got to star opposite everyone’s favorite dream demon in the 1994 smash hit “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. His career is still going strong today. He used his acting skills to land roles on the hit 90’s family sit-com “Full House” to “Roswell” and “Boston Public”. He has shown time and again that he has the range to do horror, comedy, as well as drama. Gage is a delightful toddler, full of life and curiosity, but it that curiosity that has tragic consequences. Miko was only a little over 2 years old when he was cast in this role and even then you could see the beginnings of wonderful talent. It is easy to imagine that he melted the hearts of all those who worked with him on this film. One of his best-known roles aside from “New Nightmare” was starring beside Bruce Willis as an autistic little boy in the 1998 thrill ride “Mercury Rising”. You will able to see how much Miko has grown in his new role in the film “The Untold Story” which releases sometime in 2016.

Our next actor is a television and film icon. I am speaking of the multi-talented Fred Gwynne. His portrayal of the kind, widowed neighbor Jud Crandall was one of his best performances (in my humble opinion). (Being from the beautiful state of Maine, listening to him speak was like a little slice of home for me). Fred was already an established veteran actor by the time he became Mr. Crandall. He spent most of the ’50s and ’60s as a Television actor with roles in “You Are There” (1953) and the wildly popular “Car 54, Where are You?” (1961). The late ’60s and early '70’s saw him doing many TV movies like “Arsenic and Old Lace” (1969) and “Captain Courageous” (1977). His tall slender build and deep, yet gentle voice made him perfect for the slightly inept, but lovable Herman Munster in the hit TV series “The Munsters” (1960’s). One of his last roles was in the 1992 comedy “My Cousin Vinny” with Joe Pesci and Marissa Tomei. His role as the elderly widower who lived across the street from the Creeds endeared him to many horror fans. Sadly, Mr. Gwynne passes away in 1993 at the age of 66 from pancreatic cancer. Though he is gone, he left behind an impressive body of work to remember him by.

Onto one of my favorite TV actresses, but one of my least favorite roles. That is the somewhat cold and distant Rachel Creed, played by the super talented Denise Crosby. Granddaughter of the legendary Bing Crosby, she shows that talent runs down the family tree. She had a few films under her belt before she played the role of Rachel. One of her first roles was in the 1982 Eddie Murphy comedy “48 Hours”. In 1987 and 1988 she would play a role that would endear her to most if not all Trekkies. She played Lt. Tasha Yar in the hit “Star Trek” continuation series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” with LeVar Burton and the screen legend Patrick Stewart. She would return to TNG as the role of Tasha’s daughter in the early ’90s. After her role as Rachel, she stayed in the horror genre with a role in the 1991 horror film “Dolly Dearest”. Most recently you can see her in the Showtime hit series “Ray Donovan” with Liev Schrieber as well as a few episodes of the wildly popular AMC zombie series “The Walking Dead”. Can you find her? Her range for characters is pretty broad but, I really felt that Rachel was a hollow character. She had no real depth. They gave her this great backstory but as she is telling it, it just feels like I am watching a screeching harpy, instead of a lead character explaining herself. This role just didn’t feel like one of her best, and that her heart was not in it. Rachel could have been a very sympathetic character, but instead, she feels like a cold, distant almost add-on character. Like she really wasn’t important to the story but they felt that because she was in the book, she needed to be in the movie. In closing, I have said she is not my favorite character, but Denise has been one of my favorite actresses since I was younger watching her on “Star Trek: TNG”.

Our last cast member is the head of the Creed household, Louis Creed, played by Dale Midkiff. Dale had already played a “Ewing” and “The King” by the time he landed the role of our poor misguided doctor. He had played Jock Ewing in the 1986 Television series “Dallas: The Early Years” and took on the daunting role of bringing Elvis to live in the 1988 film adaptation of Priscilla Presley’s bestselling book “Elvis and Me.” Then came Louis, a loving, if not slightly misguided family man who just wants to have a good life with his family. Though as we all know, good intentions pave the road to hell. After his role as Louis, he had a few roles in a few TV movies “Blackmail: (1991), “Toothless” (1997) as well as a role in the 1993-94 series “Time Trax”. His acting has shifted from feature and TV movies to roles on television series like “Dexter” (2007), “Lie to Me” (2009), and Castle (2014). With Castle being his most recent. Louis is a bit of a shallow character. I would have loved to see him be a bit deeper, more sympathetic, but sadly that was not the case. Where the children were animated and enjoyable to watch, it felt like there was no chemistry whatsoever between the adults. That made the film not near as enjoyable and less sad when things finally come down.

This film is a great introduction to the world of Stephen King. It is wonderful storytelling, as well as great makeup and effects. There is no real nudity or sexuality. Though there is a pretty high death count for such a small cast and the gore that is in the film does disqualify from being a PFF. This movie is on my “Must See Stephen King Binge List” along with "Christine", "The Stand", "Children of the Corn", and "Rose Red”. What are your favorite King films? Feel free to share in the comments.