Pet Sematary: Bloodlines has some cool kills and suspenseful thrills, but ultimately this made for streaming movie never fully delivers.
Pet Sematary is one of Stephen King’s best works. Both films, 1989 and 2019, did it justice on the big screen but never fully explored the legend of the burial grounds. In the book, there is a quick chapter that does so, and Pet Sematary: Bloodlines chose to dive into it.
As with any sequel, prequel, or remake, it is going to be compared to the original. Something to keep in mind is that this film was made for a streaming service, not for a big screen. Still, it is hard not to put all of the versions side by side when judging them. Bloodlines is not as good as original, or even the recent remake, but nothing ever will be so those are pretty high standards to have.
Note: This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Pet Sematary: Bloodlines would not exist without the labor of the writers and actors in both unions.
Digging more into this part of the history of the burial grounds (no pun intended) is interesting. It is nice to learn more about that area, and the town of Ludlow, which in turn allows us to understand even more about the Pet Sematary film(s).
Easily the best part of the movie is the kills. There are some creative ones, which is always applauded in a horror film. Leading up to them, viewers are treated to suspense and edge of your seat moments. Again, exactly what you want in this genre.
Another classic horror trope that Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is sure to use is the jump scares. While a lot of them work, and are warranted, it does start to feel like an overused way to make the audience react. Especially the final one.
Another issue is the effects, which don’t always work. There are some key moments of skip peeling away, we won’t go into details because of spoilers, but they don’t look real and upsetting, instead they are clearly fake and look a bit off. This takes the audience out of these key scenes of the movie.
The fact that Jud doesn’t protect them with every fiber of his being in Pet Sematary, after seeing what he goes through in Bloodlines, is a little hard to swallow, but the filmmakers do their best to explain the pull and control that the evil that lurks there has on humans.
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is not all bad, but it isn’t all good either. It is difficult to enter into the world of such a well loved film and pull it off without any complaints from the fans. It is even harder when your film is not made for the cinema.
So is this movie an entertaining watch for at home, during spooky season? Absolutely. It dives more into the lore of the burial grounds that are destined to do so much more damage than is seen in this film. Just don’t expect it to be perfect.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
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About Pet Sematary: Bloodlines
In 1969, a young Jud Crandall dreams of leaving his hometown of Ludlow, Maine behind, but soon discovers sinister secrets buried within. Jud is forced to confront a dark family history that will forever keep him connected to Ludlow.
Stream Pet Sematary: Bloodlines October 6, exclusively on Paramount+.
