When I saw this in the theater in 89, it scared the hell out
of me! The Excorcist is the only other movie I've ever seen
that's as scary! When the father gave Gage an injection in
the neck, and then Gage fell down, and said (no fair), how did
they make that look so real? Gage was only about 2 years old!
If this movie doesn't send chills down your spine, nothing will!

For a Stephen King film, this one is absolutely terrifying. At the heart of the movie is a nice, upper middle class family: Louis, the physician father, his wife, and their two small children. When they move into a new house in rural Maine, things seem too good to be true...and they are! After an elderly local tells Louis about a cursed Indian burial ground with the powers of resurrection that isn't far from the family's home, it isn't long before things start dying and refusing to stay dead! My ratings are as follows:
1. MONSTERS/VILLAINS: The resurrected dead, which includes toddlers and household pets, are really creepy and freaked me out. They always manage to come back evil, which is cool. There is also a physically deformed minor character who is downright scary in her own right.
2. GORE: The level of gore here is pretty decent. There's several great "gore" scenes, one involving a bloodied pedestrian who was run over by a car and the other involving a kid who gets splattered by a Mack truck, though you don't see much of the actual "splattering." Like I said, it's decent.
3. CHICKS: Er...this one isn't especially about hot women. There are't any nude shots or sex scenes, which is rare for a horror film, but I will let it slide as this movie is so wonderfully scary. The actress who plays Louis' wife is attractive, but I've seen hotter. Sorry.
4. STORYLINE: very, very good. I think Stephen King was somewhat original with this one and I applaud him for that. The movie is based on a novel he wrote of the same name and it was one of his best, in my opinion.
5. MAKE-UP/SPECIAL EFFECTS: Decent. This movie came out in 80s, so it isn't loaded with a ton of CGIs and what not, but it's still good. The dead look dead and they're convincing, so it works for me.
"Pet Sematary" has scared me since I was a little kid and it wasn't until I reached adulthood that I was able to watch it and still (sort of) sleep at night. Overall grade: A-.

A stephen King book made a movie are usually bad to mediocare at best. THis moive falls into the mediocare category of that list. There is no fear or dred that is given to audenice in this movie what-so-ever. It seems that the characters just go through the motions until the end of the movie. Everything that the book gave out is completely gone from in the movie adaptation.

I have always loved this movie. I agree with some of the bad reviews that the book was better. True, the book was amazing, but that doesn't mean the movie wasn't enjoyable. I don't know why, but I laughed during this movie. Certain little things. It wasn't the best acting, annoying little girl, Herman Munster gets killed, etc. This movie, having first seen it at about 9, has never scared me. I just really enjoyed it. You should see it. Do it now.

Stephen King's movie adaptation "Pet Semetary" is a unique horror movie with some very good qualities. However, that being said, this movie is also an eye roller at times as well.

The movie starts out with what appears to be a perfect family moving to a ridiculous location on a highway that has constant 18-wheel trucks driving through at 70 miles per hour...not exactly the best location for a cozy home for two small children and a cat. However, there are stupid people in this world and Louis, played by Dale Midkiff, is probably the stupidest character I have seen in a long time with regard to horror movies.

The plot basically involves this "perfect" family and their adapting to their new home which has some interesting and dark history behind it that centers on an old Micmac indian burial ground and a "pet semetary"...the former is an evil place with sour soil from all the corpses placed their over so many years and the latter is a "place of rest and speaking" according to Jud, played brilliantly by Fred Gwynne.

The movie begins to pick up speed when Ellie's cat is run over by a truck one night and Jud decides to introduce Louis to the power of the ole Micmac indian burial ground which is a very creepy part as the two hike through and to what seems like a very evil place. The score of the movie here really adds to the creepy feeling and mood the audience receives through this part.

Jud's character is clearly the most interesting in my opinion because he knows the history behind "pet semetary" and the old Micmac indian burial ground which is the location of this ancient evil. Louis's question to Jud, "Has anyone ever buried a person up there?" causes Jud to almost go mad at just hearing such a question. Obviously, this takes this movie to what is going to happen next and I will not spoil it for you, but suffice it to say, this movie is filled with dark subplots, e.g. Rachael's creepy sister story, the history of the evil burial ground and Missy's depressing health situation which ends in her suicide.

Overall, this is pretty good horror movie, but it goes south towards the ending as the manifestation of this evil comes across ridiculously and those of you who have seen the film know what I am talking about. Also, Dale Midkiff's character, Louis is so stupid to turn his back on his 3 year old son while on a picnic near "that damn road" as Jud calls it. Dale Midkiff is not a very good actor and his performance detracts from the effectiveness of this horror flick.

Nevertheless, this is a very dark and creepy horror flick that deserves respect in the horror genre and earns a place on my horror movie DVD shelf.

"Pet Semetary" is a must own for any serious horror movie fan and is one of the better Stephen King adaptations. I highly recommend this movie, but my criticism comes from my disappointment as it is clear this movie had tremendous promise in the beginning, but fails to follow through and for that reason cannot be considered a great horror movie, although it is quite good.