Cementerio viviente: Los orígenes

My wife and I watched Pet Sematary: Bloodline (2023) on Paramount+ last night. The plot unfolds in Ludlow, Maine, during the 1960s, as a young man returns home from the war, triggering a series of killings. Some teenagers are eager to leave town, but their every attempt is mysteriously thwarted. Could the murders and the inability to escape be connected?

This movie is both written and directed by Lindsey Anderson Beer, marking her directorial debut, and features a cast including Henry Thomas (E. T.), David Duchovny (The X-Files), Pam Grier (Coffy), Natalie Alyn Lind (Gotham), Jackson White (Tell Me Lies) and Forrest Goodluck (The Revenant).

The promising cast and well-selected settings initially raised my expectations for this film. However, while the cinematography is impressive, it leans a bit too clean and could have been grittier and darker. The kills are the best part of the film, offering a satisfying blend of creativity and gruesome moments, with the "I think I'm too high" scene being a particular favorite. However, the acting and writing in the movie are disappointingly inconsistent. I found it challenging to connect with the main characters and felt the story might have been better told from the perspective of David Duchovny and his son. Additionally, the flashback scenes were awful.

In conclusion, Pet Sematary: Bloodline doesn't quite live up to our expectations for a revitalized Pet Sematary universe. I would give it a 4/10 and recommend skipping it.

Great cast, I just wish Samantha Mathis had more of a role. A few good, creepy moments. Unfortunately, by the third act of the movie, some of the scenes/scenarios became completely absurd. There were the typical tropes of people doing incredibly stupid things-but it's a horror movie, so that's expected. Yelling at the TV doesn't help. I tried. The idiots died anyway. I found myself rolling my eyes more than anything else. The undead could seemingly teleport and do superman type of stuff. Sometimes people say a movie might have been better had they edited out 20-30 minutes. Not this movie. This was very tightly edited and could have used a bit more exposition. Just being familiar with the Pet Sematary story helped fill-in some of the blanks. Really wanted to like this. Given the caliber of the cast, I think a lot of people were rooting for this movie. Glad I saw it, just wouldn't watch it again.

This is the weirdest directing I've ever seen in a movie, special mention to the editing part that made everything even more confusing and boring.

Basic TV movies are more entertaining than this and... based on Stephen King's amazing novel? How can someone ruin a beautiful horror story like this?

There were about 20 minutes left and all I could think was "what in the H am I watching?!".

This to be avoided, just know there is no "horror" in this movie and no direction whatsoever. Feels like someone had the money to play "let's direct a movie and then go eat pizza because I don't even care..."

Quick review: I had really hoped I was going to enjoy 'Pet Sematary: Bloodlines', however very early on in the film I knew I was going to struggle with it. The reason? I could not find a single character who was likeable or charismatic enough to care about. Without that being there it is so hard to stay invested and care about the outcome of the film.

There are a lot of cheap jump-scares in this film. People and trucks just appear out of nowhere and we get a loud jolt of music with them. Otherwise though, the film really doesn't have a way to scare you. I was a bit let down by this one. I didn't expect a masterpiece, but I expected more than we got. 4/10.

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines (2023)

Henry Thomas, David Duchovny, Samantha Mathis, Pam Grier... What a waste of a good cast. Jackson White was also good as a young Jud, kind of reminded me of a young Matt Dillon.

But none of them can save this prequel. It adds almost nothing to the original story and it just drags slowly and aimlessly. It tells the story of Timmy, who came back from the war - the story Jud tells briefly in the original movie - but everything seems to be a bit off and it's pretty pointless.

Better watch the original classic or even the remake which actually wasn't bad.

4/10 Skip it.