There's an interesting duality in approaches to the newest wave of Stephen King adaptations. There's the slow-burn, densely atmospheric and psychological horror of Castle Rock and Gerald's Game, and then there's the kinetic, frenzied, and fabulously scary horror of IT and the latest version of Pet Sematary. Both work well in their own ways, and pay homage to different aspects of King's aesthetic.
Here, much of the story is the same as the original 1989 film with a few minor twists. I must confess to not yet having read the novel; from what I know of it, though, and much like King's work in general, it can be read in many ways from pure horror to sociohistorical dark satire to deep psychoanalytic exploration. This film -- much like the recent adaptation of a certain evil clown's story -- doesn't really present us with a specific "purpose" wherein it might inhabit one of these approaches. Rather it simply presents a solid scary horror movie, one that disturbs as it surprises.
After moving from Boston to the northernmost fringes of rural Maine, Dr. Louis Creed and his wife Rachel settle into their new homestead with their two children Ellie and Gage. Even their cat Church seems to enjoy the new digs; until, that is, he is crunched by a vehicle on the road, down which semi-trucks tend to drive recklessly. Without telling his impressionable daughter, Louis goes off to bury the beast in a rustic pet cemetary down in the woods nearby. His neighbor and new friend Jud joins him, and suddenly leads Louis much farther into the woods, through a swamp and to a rocky outcropping, where he instructs Louis to bury Church.
As you might imagine, we quickly learn that this is an old Native American burial ground, and things interred here tend to come back from the dead. First, Church returns, though his temperament is notably more hostile than before. Then, when tragedy strikes again on that same road, Louis buries his beloved daughter (not his toddler son, as in the previous film) in the hopes that she'll come back fresher (weird, but accurate) and more like herself. His hopes blind him to her deterioration, and as her sadistic bloodthirst intensifies, Louis must decide the cost he's willing to pay for family.
It's all rich material, and this film rolls with all its punches, delivering highly effective, quick-paced thrills designed to make you jump. In an era of high-class horror that often completely denies its audience of this reaction, it's fun to have a well-crafted roller coaster ride of genuine scares. Moments are twisted into more gruesome scenarios: the undead Ellie cuddled up with her father in bed, Rachel's memories of her deceased sister coming back to haunt her, and of course the nature of evil in the woods.
To this last point, I found it fascinating that this film suggests a greater mythology than the original picture. In that, the Micmac tribe abandoned their burial grounds when the earth turned bad (whatever that means). In this, though, an unnamed tribe abandoned their hallowed land when a Wendigo appeared. Of course this seems to make a bit more sense given the geographical location and themes of shapeshifting and cannibalism. But whereas the first film featured Gage cannibalizing his victims, Ellie does no such thing here; instead, she takes the guise of Jud's deceased wife at one point.
Logic seems misplaced here. Why incorporate (or introduce, if it's not in the novel) the Wendigo as a terrifying icon of evil and then not fulfill it? It could have appeared during the climax, a la the demon monster thing at the end of the Evil Dead remake. It could have even appeared in passing in the swamp or in the shadows of the woods, more so than a possible brief phantasm in the fog. Instead, the film could have taken a leaf from the original and simply omitted this, exploring in depth the psychological torments of the cost of life and what we weigh in its balance.
Really, though, I only really got upset during the final ten minutes or so, when the film completely derails. Ellie kills Rachel, knocks out Louis, then drags Rachel to the cemetary to bury her. Almost instantly (much sooner than the film's prior logic had dictated) Rachel returns and kills Louis. It seems they then bury Louis before -- again, almost instantly -- the trio return for poor toddler Gage. Since when do the undead in Pet Sematary seek to increase their number? And why would Ellie not kill Louis and Rachel at the same time when she has a much better opportunity? Then add the wishy-washy cover of the title song, and it's all a big letdown from what otherwise was a solid scary movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment