Pet Sematary II (1992)

Pet Sematary II

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

(Really Liked It)

Netflix Synopsis: Having moved to a different town to start a new life, 13-year-old Jeff and his new friend Drew discover a strange Indian burial ground. After burying Drew's dog in the cemetery, they realize they've unleashed a deadly evil that can't be stopped.

The Peeps: Mary Lambert (director); Richard Outton (writer); Edward Furlong, Anthony Edwards, Clancy Brown

Quick Run Down: Atmospheric, Fast Paced, Surprisingly Grisly, Good

Worth The Watch?:  Yeah!

Pet Sematary II brings us to Ludlow, Maine, again, after Jeff (the first ever emo-kid Edward Furlong) and his father, Chase (Anthony Edwards with hair!) move there following the tragic death of Jeff's mother.  Once they arrive, Jeff makes friend with Drew, whose dog dies and they decide to bury it in the Indian burial ground, Pet Sematary, where legend has it, the dead come back to life.  They do in fact do that, but it seems that the dead bring Death with them when they come 'round the second time!

Pet Sematary II works for several different reasons.  First, there is a lot going on in the script, but it manages to not be too busy.  There's an angry stepfather angle, a boy that's lost his mother angle, a bully angle, and a scary angle.  All of these are nicely woven into the script by Outten to expand and intensify what is a thin, basic plot, a point the original Pet suffered from.  In this second one, when one angle plays through, there's another one to fall back on, helping the film move quickly and usher us into a grisly last 30/40 minutes.  Second, Lambert has stepped up her game this time behind the camera.  You've got some energetic camera movement, some killer production design, and good lighting, all working together to create a nice ambience and background.  The main actors in this sequel are lacking, but Sherriff Gus (Clancy Brown) is intimidating and unpredictable and by the film's end, he's tracking carnage all through the movie.  He's not the lead, but he practically carries the film in certain parts, and you can tell that Lambert began to rely on him more and more.  He's a lot of fun to watch and gives the movie a lot of the sinister quality it ultimately exudes.  The final thing that makes Pet II work is its grisly nature.  In the first film, there were some special effects, but they don't even come close to the 2nd.  This one has some cringe worthy moments that are both suggested and shown, and they bump up the degree of the film's effect.  King apparently had nothing to do with this production (he's not listed as any kind of affiliate, co-writer, producer, etc.) which is probably because, once he saw the nature of the violence in the film, he decided not to be involved.  He's noted as saying (in his book Bag Of Bones, I think) that the horror genre was moving further away from heroes and tone and praising more of the Monster and the pain the Monster could inflict.  I could easily see him having this opinion of Pet II, as it is surprisingly violent and gives the Monster the opportunity to almost get away with everything.  Whatever the reason, with King not being a part of the production, it feels like Lambert just said, "Screw it.  Let's do some really fucked up stuff in this film."  And she did, from rabbit gutting to face gnawing with a running dirt bike tire to power drills through the shoulder and melting faces.  Grisly, indeed, but it really sets the film a step above the rest.  I don't just say that because of the violence, either.  I love it when a horror movie embraces an R rating and runs it, really gives the audience what they are looking for.  After all, we're all adults, and we don't go to R rated horror movies to see mushy relationship and subtle fear.  We want some churning stuff that doesn't exploit but isn't scared to work with dark themes and capture a certain profile of evil.  Pet Sematary II doesn't quite got THAT far, but it tries and that's all I'm  - we're - asking for.  And, personally, I think it does it pretty successfully.

So, if you wanna see an early 90's horror film that turns out to be much more of a gem than you would expect, check out Pet Sematary II.  It's grisly, creepy, atmospheric, fun, and I don't think you'll be disappointed.  It's on Netflix!!