Pet Sematary: Bloodlines

Summary

“Haven’t you heard the news?… My Timmy’s back.”

Stephen King’s Pet Sematary is a classic horror novel which was made into a very effective, although critically underevaluated film. It was also made into a fairly well received remake in 2019. The remake was made for less than $25 million and did over $110 million worldwide, so a prequel film was greenlit. With a budget of roughly half of the remake, the film was made as a Paramount+ original film. I commend Paramount for giving their original picture an actual 4K physical release.

Pet Sematary was a standalone novel, so the prequel would need to draw on whatever backstory it could borrow from it. Calling this film a “Stephen King adaptation” is pretty loose (not as loose as in the case of The Lawnmower Man, but pretty close.) The novel does have a small story, roughly two pages, where the character Jud tells about a time years earlier where a dead boy had been buried by a grieving father and the town had to take care of the issue. It’s a very brief story in the book, and while the story is memorable, it is not one that would immediately cry out for a full feature film treatment. Director and cowriter Lindsey Anderson Beer did her best to flesh out Jeff Buhler’s script into an effectively frightening horror film. The picture was not well received critically, but that is not unusual for horror films in general, so I decided to check it out last night. 

In 1969, in Ludlow, Maine, Bill Baterman (David Duchovny) drags a body past the deadfall left to keep people away into the tribal burial area of the Mi’Kmaq tribe. His dog follows him. Bill buries his son Timmy (Jack Mulhern) along with his dog tags. Timmy’s arm reaches out of the grave and grabs the dog. Judson Crandall (Jackson White) is set to leave town with his girlfriend Norma (Natalie Alyn Lind) to join the peace corps. His parents, Dan and Kathy (Henry Thomas and Samantha Mathis,) are sad to see him go. Jud bumps into his friend Tim’s dad outside a grocery store. Jud helps Bill with his groceries, which consist of a lot of meat and beer. Bill claims that Tim has come back with an honorable discharge and medals for bravery. At dinner time, Jud tells his father who is opposed to the war about Tim’s return. Dan explains that he is happy that the son came home in one piece and that he probably did a lot to earn those medals while his father was worried sick about him. There is tension between them on the topic. Dan and his wife have pulled strings to keep Jud out of the draft and he resents that he can’t serve. In the town, Mayor Vincent talks with Marjorie Washburn (Pam Grier.) He tells her that a body sized hole was spotted at the site. Jud walks up to them interrupting their discussion. On the way out of town the next day, Jud’s car slams into Bill’s dog. The dog “survives”, but Jud and Norma note the dog looks extremely filthy and its temperament is different. They walk the dog back to Timmy’s house. There are a number of dead animals around the property. From behind a screen door, Timmy asks Jud about his leaving town. Jud explains that he and Norma are joining the peace corps. Timmy chastises Jud for his parents having paid a doctor for a report to keep him out of the war. Suddenly, Timmy’s dog viciously attacks Norma’s arm. Judd yells for Timmy to call off the dog. After getting the dog off of Norma’s arm, Jud takes her to the hospital. Meanwhile, Manny (Forrest Goodluck) is in a cornfield smoking weed with his sister Donna (Isabella LaBlanc.) Manny sees a sunflower that seems to be bleeding. When he investigates it, Manny trips and his hand lands on a spike. The spike goes through his hand. Manny bumps into Jud at the hospital. They used to be close friends with each other and Timmy. Jud explains that Timmy has changed and describes the incident with the dog. Afterward, Jud visits Timmy’s house to talk to him about earlier, but Bill, holding a shotgun, won’t allow Jud near Timmy. The plot expands from there as the recently revived Timmy and his revived dog become a big issue for the kind folks of Ludlow.

There are issues that the film faces that would be hard to battle regardless of the writing or direction. First off, the most stirring aspect of the original Pet Sematary was the story of a family dealing with tremendous grief, and the emotional pathos of that story sticks with viewers (or readers.) The most horrifying section of the novel has nothing to do with the reanimated dead, but on the very realistic event of a child being run over by a truck. This emotional pathos is impossible to attain in Bloodlines. Secondarily, the film serves as a prequel, so a certain amount of tension is lost for one of the characters since they serve as a primary character in the novel. This film also takes some pretty serious liberties with the story that was presented by Jud originally in the book, but that was necessary for this film to exist at all.

The biggest issue the film faces is that the characters are not given any time to be developed into anything more than sketches of characters. Because there is no time devoted to creating personalities for those which the evil spirited revived dead attack, the film fails to become truly compelling. On top of that, the movie relies purely on audio induced jump scares to try to unnerve the audience. The film is not actually frightening, and the jump scares fail to move the needle for the viewer. Proper tension never seems to mount in the picture even as the body count rises and the town inhabitants must face off against the ancient evil plaguing them. I also have to say that there is one kill in the picture that makes absolutely no sense physically and will stick out like a sore thumb to viewers. You will know it when you see it.

The section of the film that takes place in the 17th century is actually pretty interesting and enjoyable. I like the mythology building in that sequence. If the studio had put their resources into creating a folk horror picture set in that time period with the ideas of Bloodlines, I have a feeling that there could have been an interesting horror movie experience that could have even enhanced the viewing experience of Pet Sematary. 

As it stands, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is probably not quite as abysmal as the critics said it was, but it is just not very good. The direction is not at fault in terms of visuals, because the digital cinematography by Benjamin Kirk Nielsen gets the job done. The acting in the film is not great, nor is it terrible (aside from a few moments that really are pretty bad, but I don’t feel like pointing fingers at any particular performances.) The problem with the acting in the film is really in the writing itself. It is hard to bring lines to life that have so little life in them. I do want to say real quickly that I really enjoyed seeing David Duchovny back onscreen, even if he was not given the best material to work with. I would love to see him in more things.

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, despite a few good moments and ideas, ended up being extremely forgettable overall.

Video

Presented in Native 4K in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines looks great in Paramount’s UHD presentation. From what I can tell, the film looks like it was shot on digital film using Arri Alexa LF cameras in 4.5K RAW format. The 4K transfer comes from the 4K digital intermediate made of the film. It reasons that this 4K UHD release is essentially reference quality. Pet Sematary: Bloodlines was shot by cinematographer Benjamin Kirk Nielsen. Like many horror films, the color is slightly anemic and highlights grayer tones aside from the very vividly red blood in the picture. It looks appropriately gloomy. The resolution of the picture is very crisp and sharp. At the end of the day, this is essentially a reference quality transfer.

Audio

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines has been given a full blown Atmos track for its 4K release. While the movie itself is of questionable quality, the sound design and the Atmos track sounded fantastic in my movie room. Low ends are used effectively throughout the running time of the picture. All speakers are engaged frequently to create a good surround environment. While the film has its flaws, its sound design is very well done overall.

Supplements:

• Origins 
• Fresh Blood
• Death’s Design
• Method to the Madness
• War Comes Home

Overall Scores:

Video: 4.5

Audio: 4.5

Special Features: 3

Overall – 3/5

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines fails to connect with viewers due to underwritten characters and poorly developed tension. It is not nearly as good as it could have been. Bloodlines is sadly entirely forgettable and a pale shadow of the original Pet Sematary. There is not enough meat on the bones to make a feast, but for horrorstarved fans it may serve as an adequate appetizer. I think that the cast and crew did what they could to bring the script to life, and I really enjoyed seeing David Duchovny back onscreen, but the script was underwritten. That said, fans of the film will be extremely pleased with the strong 4K presentation from Paramount. Kudos also to Paramount for releasing one of their Paramount+ original films on the 4K format with about forty five minutes of special features and a strong Atmos track. Those considering a blind buy should definitely rent the film prior to purchasing it. Fans will definitely be happy with the 4K.

The film can be purchased at www.moviezyng.com.