‘Raise some hell’
Pet Sematary II is a 1992 supernatural horror film directed by Mary Lambert (Mega Python vs. Gatoroid; The Attic) from a screenplay by Richard Outten. It is the sequel to the 1989 film Pet Sematary, also directed by Lambert and is stylized as Pet Sematary Two.
The film stars Edward Furlong (The Zombie King; Arachnoquake; Brainscan), Anthony Edwards (Zodiac; The Forgotten) and Clancy Brown (Little Evil; John Dies at the End; Cowboys & Aliens).
Opening plot:
Following the accidental death of his mother Renee during production of her latest film, thirteen-year-old Jeff Matthews and his veterinarian-father Chase move to the Maine town of Ludlow. Jeff learns about the Creed family, and about the cursed Indian burial ground.
His friend Drew’s dog, Zowie, is fatally shot by Gus Gilbert – Drew’s stepfather, who also happens to be the town sheriff – for chasing Gus’s pet rabbits. It doesn’t help that Gus was in love with Renee 20 years ago; ever since she turned him down to marry Chase, Gus has been venting his ire on everything and everybody around him.
Jeff and Drew bury Zowie at the Indian cemetery, in order to bring the dog back to life. It works, with some side effects: Zowie is uncharacteristically fierce; the dog’s eyes have an unnatural glow to them, even in daylight…
Buy: Amazon.co.uk
Reviews:
“Ms. Lambert made her reputation directing Madonna’s music videos, and the new film has the garish theatrical look and pumpingly precise rhythms of an extravagantly produced heavy-metal video. Most of many shock scenes are above average in impact and suspense, with the scenes of the resurrected, red-eyed Zowie going for people’s throats especially gruesome.” Stephen Holden, The New York Times
“Filled with sadistic story turns, mean spirited humor, and almost gratuitous animal cruelty, Pet Sematary Two is an ugly, unappealing, and unnecessary follow-up to the ’89 melodrama that fails to pinpoint the appeal of the sematary yet again.” Felix Vasquez, Cinema Crazed
“Director Mary Lambert (reprising her duties from the 1989 release) again errs by setting much of the action around the cemetery in daylight, although the pacing is significantly better than the first pic. Makeup and special effects are topnotch.” Variety
“What made the first film work is not so much its theme but the way that Stephen King approached it, particularly during the latter half where he gave it a driving sense of cosmic fear, of a great and unutterable desecration about to be committed and of the supernatural stepping in to aid in stopping it. Pet Semetary II lacks any similar sense of drive and seems too pedestrian and obvious in its setting up of characters and situations.” Richard Scheib, Moria
” …it’s better stupid entertainment than the first Pet Sematary. The difference is that in the three years since she directed the original, Mary Lambert has sharpened her skills, and although Stephen King’s name is nowhere on this sequel, his characteristic braiding of Freudian and Christian themes is present…” Jay Carr, The Boston Globe
“The two films are so different in tone it’s actually difficult to believe they were both directed by the same person: however, with Stephen King having nothing to do with the sequel it just goes to show the person with the pen is often more important than the person behind the camera.” That was a Bit Mental
“Pet Sematary Two tells a very different story from the first film while still incorporating the elements that made the original great. Its part bonkers, part creepy but always interesting. Its also a bold movie, one that attempts to fully realize itself and its ideas around every turn. It doesnt hide behind the first but embraces it and creates something new and genuinely disturbing.” Alexandra West, ComingSoon.net
“While it contains more dark humor than the first, there’s also more gore than the original and I think these two things go hand in hand. There are more squeamish, visceral, hard to look at moments–which the ’89 film already had its share of. These elements of the movie–particularly the death scenes–seem absurd, and they are, but I think that absurdity is a bonus for the narrative, not a hindrance.” Nat Brehmer, Wicked Horror
” …rather than being classically morbid, this horror tale is grossly sickening and nihilistic in its statement about man’s inhumanity to animals – not to mention man himself.” John Stanley, Creature Features
Cast and characters:
- Edward Furlong as Jeff Matthews
- Anthony Edwards as Chase Matthews
- Clancy Brown as Gus Gilbert
- Jared Rushton as Clyde Parker
- Jason McGuire as Drew Gilbert
- Darlanne Fluegel as Renee Hallow/Matthews
- Lisa Waltz as Amanda Gilbert
- Sarah Trigger as Marjorie Hargrove
