REVIEW: Pet Sematary rises above all grave expectations to dig up fresh chills from Stephen King’s classic

Pet Sematary is a three-way collision between the whoa, the wow and the WTF?!, effortlessly inducing fear, poking fun and scarring the memory. Here, kitty kitty!

The current golden era for high-concept, hellishly impacting horror we are living through continues with Pet Sematary.

This surprisingly excellent contemporary shocker is based on the book by Stephen King. Very loosely based, I should add.

It also stands as an infinitely superior screen rendition to the cheesy 80s flick of the same name.

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Pet Sematary is a surprisingly excellent contemporary shock film. Picture: AP

Pet Sematary is a superior screen rendition to the cheesy 80s flick of the same name. Picture: AP

While several scripting liberties have been taken with King’s terrifying tale, they are all for a greater, galling good.

A few key characters from the original text are gone. Same goes for an infamous incident or two.

As for additions to King’s foundation blueprint, they are plentiful, but it in no way sketchy. Many might even see the extra material as welcome improvements.

Like the current horror hit Us, Pet Sematary’s optimum shock value is achieved with minimum pre-awareness on the part of the viewer.

All you need to know is that a city family called the Creeds has moved up-country to a spread abutting two problematic features peculiar to the region.

One is a narrow road which seems to act as a Grand Prix circuit for speeding supertankers at all hours of the day and night.

The other? Just your average, everyday ancient animal burial ground.

The movie’s optimum shock value is achieved with minimum pre-awareness on the part of the viewer.

It has a quality cast who each step up impressively in noticeably different ways. Picture: AP

When the Creeds’ adorable house cat carks it while crossing the aforementioned road, then reappears days later as if nothing has happened, dad Louis (Jason Clarke), mum Rachel (Amy Seimetz) and the kids (Jeté Laurence, Hugo and Lucas Lavoie) learn a little more about reincarnation than anyone should ever know.

A kindly neighbour named Jud (John Lithgow), who lives nearby and has called the area his home all his life, may also be privy to the same bank of macabre insider intel.

What follows could be construed as a literal case of “what you don’t know, won’t kill you.”

On top of an eerily efficient screenplay, Pet Sematary benefits from some shrewdly modest direction, and a quality cast who each step up impressively in noticeably different ways (particularly the child actors, who are amazing on occasion here).

A three-way collision between the whoa!, the wow! and the WTF?, Pet Sematary effortlessly induces fear, pokes fun and scars the memory. You dig?

PET SEMATARY (MA15+)

Rating: Four stars (4 out of 5)

Directors: Kevin Kölsch, Dennis Widmyer

Starring: Jason Clarke, Amy Seimetz, John Lithgow, Jeté Laurence, Hugo Lavoie, Lucas Lavoie.

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