Pet Sematary: Bloodlines

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.

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.

Plot

In 1969 a young Jud Crandall and his childhood friends band together to confront an ancient evil that has gripped their hometown of Ludlow.

Cast

Mostly mediocre, we do however get Henry "ET" Thomas, David Duchovny, Samantha Mathis (Who is used so little she may as well not be there), Pam Grier and Natalie Alyn Lind who keeps popping up in everything I watch and she's always a joy to watch.

Verdict

Bloodlines tells the story that Jud Crandall told in the original Pet Semetary, so you already know how it ends. Not sure it's a tale that needed putting to screen but they make the most of it.

Though loaded with veterans most of the younger cast are really quite poor, combine that with very bland writing and it makes for a very underwhelming watch!

Pet Semetary hasn't exactly been the best series, sure the original was amazing but with a forgettable sequel and an awful remake I wasn't exactly excited to see this pop up. However I'll give it this, it's better than the trailer makes it out to be.

It's a middle of the road movie with enough going for it to keep you drowning in its glaring flaws.

Rants

Now we've seen Jud's story sadly it makes his likelihood to show someone the semetary even less likely. Why would he do it? What motivation would he have being that he lived through these horrors and ultimately as per the original movie caused his ultimately demise.

Breakdown

Solid veteran cast Natalie Alyn Lind is great Just about enough King charm Mostly poor young cast You know what's going to happen Rather bland in places.

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.

This film attempts to tell the historical excerpt story from King's Pet Sematary novel, and hits across the face with it like a wet fish. For starters, it was so completely unconvincing of the timeline, I refused to believe this was telling the story it thinks it is. It also fails to bring a single bit of atmosphere or eerie King style nuance from the story itself. The characters were all flat, wooden, boring, or caricturally miscast and some were all of the above. Haven't really seen anything interesting from Dave D since Californication come to think of it, so not sure this was all the director's fault.. but still. It did tell the story at least, but I was dragged with it and never really got on board.