Available on Blu-ray October 2nd from Paramount Home Video!

The Creed family have just moved into their dream home. Everything is perfect…except for the semi-trucks that barrel down their narrow road and the Indian burial ground behind their house! Stephen King’s tale of horror was brought to the big screen back in 1989 and performed well at the box office. The cast includes Dale Midkiff, Denise Crosby and Herman Munster himself, Fred Gwynn. Now, when I first saw this on the big screen, I was in high school and just finished reading the novel. I wasn’t known as a “reader” back in the 80’s, but King had me hooked on his every word. I couldn’t put it down. So, needless to say, I was really looking forward to seeing this movie, as it was about to open at the theatre I worked at. When opening day came, my friend Steve, the projectionist, offered to screen the film just for me before we opened the doors to the public. I took him up on his offer and watched Pet Sematary all alone, in the darkened 800 seat theatre. I really enjoyed it. Of course, it wasn’t nearly as good as the book, but few films are, right? That weekend we sold out every show and had lines stretching around the block. It was exciting! Those were the good ‘ol days as a teenager working at the movies.

Hey kid, make some scary faces!

Over the years I have re-watched the flick and still remember that crazy busy weekend at the Crest theatre in Upstate, NY. Of course, looking back on this film today on Blu-ray, I realize that the movie is just, well…silly. Downright goofy, really. I mean, there’s a toddler who is making angry faces and growling as he holds a scalpel, poised for attack! Of course, I knew what I was getting into as I popped the disc in the player and hit the play button. Now, I like cheesy, and Pet Sematary certainly is cheesy. I’m pretty sure the filmmakers intended to make a scary film…but they didn’t. It’s just not scary, but perfect for cheesy movie night with your buddies…a few beers before-hand couldn’t hurt either. The flick has some nice gory scenes, but other than that, it really has nothing else going for it, with the exception of the late, great Fred Gwynne as Jud Crandal; he chews up and spits out every scene that he’s in!

So, if you are a fan of the film, or horror movies released in the great 1980’s, such as myself, this will surely be catnip for you! I know, I know, This review is coming off as wishy-washy, but there are just some great memories associated with this for me. I know it’s not great, but I gotta say, that’s part of the charm of Pet Sematary. Does this review even make sense? Well judge for yourself when Pet Sematary is released for the first time in a nice looking Blu-ray package from Paramount Home Video.

The late, great Fred Gwynne

How’s the video and audio quality?

Paramount hasn’t disappointed me yet with their catalogue title offerings. The picture is sharp and clean with a light layer of film-like grain. The colors really pop too. Red and green are the stars here and there’s just the right amount of black level for the darker scenes. This is the best I’ve seen the film look since it played theatrically back in 1989. The soundtrack has been remastered into DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, and quite honestly, sounds great. Trucks roaring by my head, meows, zombie moans, fire, screams, the chilling music, etc; Pet Sematary has never sounded this good! I especially loved the cricket noise that flooded my speakers; I actually thought for a moment that I was sitting in the middle of the country. Not really, but it sounded pretty convincing! The sound mixers deserve a round of a-paws! (get it?)

There’s no question, this cat is pissed!

The special features listed below have been resurrected from the DVD release drom a few years ago, but are still interesting, especially the audio commentary from director, Mary Lambert…

• Commentary by Director Mary Lambert
• Stephen King Territory
• The Characters
• Filming the Horror