Pet Sematary (2019)

"They don't come back the same."

~ Judd Crandall

Judd Crandall's prophetic warning is true, whether one is talking about the reanimation of pets, people, or old movies.

Pet Sematary, based on the Stephen King thriller of the same name, was unsettling to viewers in 1989. It examined dark questions about loss and motivation in a raw, in-your-face way that was both repulsive and attractive to consider.

What is the real stuff that makes us alive, and how permanent is death? 

Faced with the dilemma, what would you do if you knew you had the ability to embrace and talk with your dead loved one again? 

Where is our rock bottom? That place each of us would have to be to carry out an act that is legally, socially, and culturally corrupt?

The 2019 film version asks the same questions as the original, albeit in a slightly different way and with a different intensity. But the questions raised sound hollow in this incarnation. We've heard and contemplated them before, so we're a bit desensitized to the horror.

There are several really good things about this modern version of King's flick. John Lithgow is terrific as Judd Crandall, and Jete Laurence shows real chops portraying what is essentially two characters. The film looks slick, effectively builds suspense, and has moments that make you legit gasp. 

But as we've learned from watching remakes of classic films over the past several years, "they don't come back the same." 

Indeed.