Holy Moly – This Pet Sematary Trailer Goes There
Goodness. Gracious. I am a Stephen King devotee and a Pet Sematary fanatic and I was still not prepared for what dropped on us today.
King’s resurrection warning is my favorite of his extraordinary collection of works. There is a lot to grab onto in this story and it looks like the creative team behind the upcoming adaptation dove in head first. I have never been so pleased with a trailer for a project where I so greatly value the source material.
There is a realism and isolating quality to the 1989 original that I really enjoyed and is honored in this trailer. I’m glad to see that style revisited, but then things get so crazy. I wasn’t sure that the practical effects of the original film could be improved upon, but what’s here is really promising.
As fans are commenting, there is a lot of story shown here. If you want to go in completely blind, I recommend holding off on seeing the trailer. However, King published the story in 1983 and we should all be familiar. I think showing what directors Kevin Kolsch and David Widmyer have to offer was a smart call here. I’m blown away by the VFX.
That said, let’s dig into this a little bit. There is a mysterious plot of land that the town’s creepy children worship with horrific animal masks. It’s an eerie setting that signals there are weird things going on here and people are not keeping cool about it.
Fred Gwynne (The Munsters) as Jud Crandall was perfect in my eyes, but I can definitely get on board with John Lithgow. He’s got the right mix of caring and sage wisdom about the town’s dark secrets. I have always really loved this character and how honestly he deals with a horrific situation. Most people in life would be a Louis (Jason Clarke) and we need more Juds in the world.
The Creed’s cat has become an iconic symbol of warning for this story. Obviously, this cat has been through some stuff and it looks striking lurking around with matted and muddy fur. I don’t know what they had to do to that cat on set, but it looks amazing.
Here is where things can get really spoiler-y. Ellie Creed (Jete Laurence) has a tragic accident but goes home changed. Really changed. Like bones nearly poking out of her skin changed. The determination and fear in her parents’ eyes give me hope that there will be the right balance of recklessness and remorse.
Color me impressed. All in all, this looks like a slam dunk and another success in the resurrection of Stephen King films. They don’t come back the same and in the case of Pet Sematary, it’s better.
Pet Sematary crawls into theaters April 5.
