Pet Sematary Remake

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Marty Coslaw

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May 19, 2018
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I was hoping to like this remake; however, given the fact that there has only been one movie whose remake I have liked, that was a very unrealstic hope. I am not putting anyone involved in this project down, it's just that I loved everything about the original movie: the cast, the setting, that house...oh, that house!
Did you see Unearthed and Untold? It's a full-length Making Of, with really cool details about the house, and plenty of other behind-the-scenes stuff.
 

Marty Coslaw

Low-BDNF Gork
May 19, 2018
177
720
37
DC
I was disappointed with the new movie. I was disappointed with a few key things:
1. Louise and Jud's relationship was very developed in the book but not at all in the new movie. In the book and in the 89 movie, they captured the father-like portrayal of Jud. The new movie depicts jud as a lonely hermit who is mildly welcomed as a neighbor.
2. I'm fine with the kid switch but the directing the audience to Gage in movie is a moot point when we know it's Ellie from the spoiler-y trailer.
3. Gage is totally a non-character in the new movie. Has no purpose other than that last shots cheap scare.
4. The ending was okay but rushed and ineffective.
5. I applaud their balls to include Zelda after the effective version in 89, but they were afraid to do anything with her than tease a few cheap scares.
6. Pascow was pointless entirely.

However, overall it's an OKAY movie. Not a memorable one.
So agree with you about Judd. He was so unremarkable in his interaction with Louis and his own personality that he served as nothing but a plot device. Pascow was given a similar treatment. You're also right about Gage/Ellie, though at the time I was actually impressed that they had done something I hadn't expected, even if it was a sort of fake-out.

The unifying aspect here, I think, is that the film gives a cursory treatment to the meatiest parts of the story: the burial ground itself and its history, Pascow's connection to Louis, Judd's relationship with Louis, the trauma of losing a child (and the guilt of feeling you could have prevented it), and most of all, the darn wendigo. The whole thing feels distanced. It would be like if Marty McFly had just watched a video of 1950's suburbia instead of being transported there--no immersion. I have to admit, though, the twist at the end was pretty good.
 

Doc Creed

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Nov 18, 2015
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So agree with you about Judd. He was so unremarkable in his interaction with Louis and his own personality that he served as nothing but a plot device. Pascow was given a similar treatment. You're also right about Gage/Ellie, though at the time I was actually impressed that they had done something I hadn't expected, even if it was a sort of fake-out.

The unifying aspect here, I think, is that the film gives a cursory treatment to the meatiest parts of the story: the burial ground itself and its history, Pascow's connection to Louis, Judd's relationship with Louis, the trauma of losing a child (and the guilt of feeling you could have prevented it), and most of all, the darn wendigo. The whole thing feels distanced. It would be like if Marty McFly had just watched a video of 1950's suburbia instead of being transported there--no immersion. I have to admit, though, the twist at the end was pretty good.
:shake::clap:
 

Hill lover35

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Jan 8, 2017
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And while I loved the Ramones version of the song Pet Sematary, (did the Ramones spell it Cemetery or Sematary?) I really do like the new cover. I think we've got the old school meeting new and a nice tribute to the original artists.


and the original:


yeh the new song is amazing

I think the ramones whent with sematary
 

jujuhound

Member
Nov 16, 2017
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does any one have this on the dvd? I guess they have included an alternative ending and was just wondering what it was?

Ellie drags a still-alive Rachel to the burial ground. Louis still confronts and fights Ellie but she convinces him to help bury Rachel. Thus Louis is never stabbed, killed and reburied as we see in the regular ending. In the end, the reanimated Rachel and Ellie are shown in the house with Gage and Louis still alive. The music is more somber.
 
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jujuhound

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Nov 16, 2017
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So agree with you about Judd. He was so unremarkable in his interaction with Louis and his own personality that he served as nothing but a plot device. Pascow was given a similar treatment. You're also right about Gage/Ellie, though at the time I was actually impressed that they had done something
The unifying aspect here, I think, is that the film gives a cursory treatment to the meatiest parts of the story: the burial ground itself and its history, Pascow's connection to Louis, Judd's relationship with Louis, the trauma of losing a child (and the guilt of feeling you could have prevented it), and most of all, the darn wendigo. The whole thing feels distanced. It would be like if Marty McFly had just watched a video of 1950's suburbia instead of being transported there--no immersion. I have to admit, though, the twist at the end was pretty good.

Good points. Same with Rachel's parents and their relationship with Louis. I need to add that leaving the Timmy Baterman story out was a wasted opportunity to establish how terrible of an idea it was to bury a person. On a positive note, a bonus feature on the physical disc has Lithgow in character as Jud narrating the Baterman story to nobody in particular.

Lastly......
A deleted scene on the disc has Jud revealing to Louis that Norma died before the events of the movie and that he buried her up there with predictable results, though Jud was only scarred and not killed.
 

Doc Creed

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Good points. Same with Rachel's parents and their relationship with Louis. I need to add that leaving the Timmy Baterman story out was a wasted opportunity to establish how terrible of an idea it was to bury a person. On a positive note, a bonus feature on the physical disc has Lithgow in character as Jud narrating the Baterman story to nobody in particular.

Lastly......
A deleted scene on the disc has Jud revealing to Louis that Norma died before the events of the movie and that he buried her up there with predictable results, though Jud was only scarred and not killed.
The more I hear about this movie the worse it gets. They just took a huge dump on the book, in my opinion. I'm not saying the film can't be enjoyable, especially to new blood and non-King fans, but it is miles away from what they promised. Meh, can't win 'em all. I never thought I'd look so favorably on Mary Lambert's version. Ultimately, the novel remains unchanged and that's how I'd like to preserve it in my mind.
 

jujuhound

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Nov 16, 2017
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The more I hear about this movie the worse it gets. They just took a huge dump on the book, in my opinion. I'm not saying the film can't be enjoyable, especially to new blood and non-King fans, but it is miles away from what they promised. Meh, can't win 'em all. I never thought I'd look so favorably on Mary Lambert's version. Ultimately, the novel remains unchanged and that's how I'd like to preserve it in my mind.

Funny enough the actor playing Louis (Jason Clarke) tried reading some of his lines verbatim from the book only to get rebuffed.

 

Doc Creed

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jujuhound

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...aaaaaand, yet another example, LOL. Thanks. smh :big_smile:

Not gonna lie. I enjoyed the movie for what it was, though I fully agree it does not do any real justice to the book. I think I gave up on getting spot-on King adaptations (complete with the feeling of dread and horror) after being let down twice by Salem's Lot. I enjoy both versions of the SL miniseries but still dream of seeing it done right someday.

Considering she is almost the same age as John Lithgow, a smart move would have been to hire Kathy Bates to play Norma Crandall. It'd have been nice to see her portrayed once.
 

cat in a bag

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Aug 28, 2010
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We watched this last weekend and I loved it. Yes, there was the one big change but that little girl who played Ellie CREEPED ME RIGHT OUT! She was awesome! I thought Jason Clarke was awesome too, at depicting the descent into madness, the grief and letting the burial ground's power take hold.

I did think the relationship between Louis and Jud was too casual. But overall I really thought this new version was pretty scary.
 

Hill lover35

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Ellie drags a still-alive Rachel to the burial ground. Louis still confronts and fights Ellie but she convinces him to help bury Rachel. Thus Louis is never stabbed, killed and reburied as we see in the regular ending. In the end, the reanimated Rachel and Ellie are shown in the house with Gage and Louis still alive. The music is more somber.

HMM interesting. i think i like the movie ending better
thanks
 

Hill lover35

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Jan 8, 2017
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We watched this last weekend and I loved it. Yes, there was the one big change but that little girl who played Ellie CREEPED ME RIGHT OUT! She was awesome! I thought Jason Clarke was awesome too, at depicting the descent into madness, the grief and letting the burial ground's power take hold.

I did think the relationship between Louis and Jud was too casual. But overall I really thought this new version was pretty scary.

yeh it was a bit forced, but that was like with the familly as well. I liked gage in the first movie. he did actual baby things and was not a prop like this gage. i liked the remake. they are both the same story just told differntley
 

Gerald

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Sep 8, 2011
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I quite liked the remake, but I wondered about one shot: when Rachel is returning to Ludlow and is in the car, she looks in the rear view mirror at Gage. Is it just a shot of Gage, or is there more to it? I had the feeling there was something next to Gage, but couldn't see well what it was.

Maybe I didn't have such high expectations, but the film still gripped me. I kind of liked some of the changes, mainly
that the accident with the truck happened because of the cat returning and walking on the road
On the other hand, the Micmac burial ground didn't look anything special like in the original film.
Also there were a lot of shots of the children with animal masks in the trailer that were not in the film. And it is never quite explained why Ellie sees one of them by the window of the house early on. At least I though it was one of the children. I paused it, but it's very hard to see - it kind of looks like an adult too.

But compared to something like Carrie, that did nothing new, I thought it was a nice variation of what happened in the book and the original film. And the girl who played Ellie was terrific - how can you even expect a child that age to play something like that, but somehow she manages it.
 
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Hill lover35

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I quite liked the remake, but I wondered about one shot: when Rachel is returning to Ludlow and is in the car, she looks in the rear view mirror at Gage. Is it just a shot of Gage, or is there more to it? I had the feeling there was something next to Gage, but couldn't see well what it was.

Maybe I didn't have such high expectations, but the film still gripped me. I kind of liked some of the changes, mainly
that the accident with the truck happened because of the cat returning and walking on the road
On the other hand, the Micmac burial ground didn't look anything special like in the original film.
Also there were a lot of shots of the children with animal masks in the trailer that were not in the film. And it is never quite explained why Ellie sees one of them by the window of the house early on. At least I though it was one of the children. I paused it, but it's very hard to see - it kind of looks like an adult too.

But compared to something like Carrie, that did nothing new, I thought it was a nice variation of what happened in the book and the original film. And the girl who played Ellie was terrific - how can you even expect a child that age to play something like that, but somehow she manages it.

I liked it. I read the book before I saw the new movie, then I saw the new movie and then the first movie. I like the book the best as it had me felling all sort of different things, but it’s hard to compare the two movies. They each tell the same story but very different. Church in the new movie was amazing
 

Gerald

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Sep 8, 2011
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One thing I wonder about is, would a doctor keep his scalpels at his home? Wouldn't he just leave them at the place where he works, rather than take them home each day? Especially with young children around at home.

And isn't a scalpel something mainly a surgeon uses? I don't think he was a surgeon. He was the director of the campus health service of the University of Maine.
 
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Lina

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Jun 24, 2009
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Was I the only one who hated this movie? Honestly, I have been so disappointed. I really like the good old Pet Sematary much better, here I did not like anything. I didn't like actors, hated that they changed that one big thing... what for? I remember crying so hard when
Gage died in the book and in the original movie
, and here this altered scene did not bring any emotions, that's why my general impression about the movie is even worse.