Pet Sematary: A tale of the Old Gods/Spirits which live in the New England Forests, Gods which predated the Amerindians and forced the local Tribes to flee the area. Infused with Pagan imagery from the beginning as a group of children in animal masks parade to the local animal cemetery - Pet Sematary - to bury a deceased dog. The forest is eerily portrayed by day as Autumnal sunshine penetrates the tree canopy but at night the dark forest exudes primeval terror, even before any of the haunted sites are approached. There is another more mundane horror though, that of trucks and cars which threaten to snuff out life at any moment.
A Surgeon, Louis Creed (Jason Clarke) and his family have moved to rural Maine and taken a job in a University Hospital. but he soon faces horror as a student struck by a car is brought in with his brains hanging out. The student dies but Louis has visions of him coming back to life and that night, in a dram is led out into the forest by the student, but when e wakes his feet are covered with mud. His wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz) has her own traumas and guilt over causing the death of her disabled sister, she now has visions of that event. Eight year old daughter Ellie (Jeté Laurence) meets local man Jud (John Lithgow) in the Pet Sematary, he warns her about dangers in the forest. When Ellies cat is killed by a truck. Jud brings Louis deep into the woods to inter it in an old burial ground from which animals have come back, the cat returns but is different, wilder. When Ellie is killed in a road accident, Louis is of course tempted to bury her in the same spot. No spoilers here, all of this is revealed in the trailers.
A tale of revenants and an evil older than time itself which has preyed on the minds of the Creed family since they first moved to the woods. Lithgow is convincing as the knowledgeable, conflicted local who leads the family onto the road to damnation. Jeté Laurence is superb as both the living and dark reanimated Ellie. If the film has flaws then it may be due to having two directors, Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer, as at times it can't seem to decide whether it is a tale of dark comedy or existential terror. But this is a worthy addition to the King Canon with some truly horrific scenes, not for the squeamish. 8.5/10.