Pet Sematary: Bloodline is a straight-to-streaming on Paramount+ horror film based on the book, Pet Sematary by Stephen King.
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is the directorial debut of Lindsey Anderson Beer. It stars Jackson White, Forrest Goodluck, Jack Mulhern, Henry Thomas, Natalie Alyn Lind, Isabella Star LaBlanc, Samantha Mathis, Pam Grier and David Duchovny.
It is a prequel based on the 2019 theatrical reboot of the same name and a continuation of the lore on that timeline. Set in 1969, 50 years before the events of the previous film, the plot follows a young Jud Crandall as he discovers his hometown of Ludlow, Maine harbors a sinister secret. So for those of you basing this on the 1989 original film adaption, I hate to break it to you but you will be sadly let down. The story shows the slight changes in timelines. Case in point, the character Timmy returns from Vietnam instead of WWII. Although his actions are the sasome other variations make little sense that I’ll explain later. That being said, I figured I’d give you a bit of context because a lot of reviews and reactions are basing their opinions on that, which sorta leaves this film at a disadvantage.
Nonetheless, those opinions are not far from truthful and really not much can be said to this make the film better but it’s not completely unbearable. This adaption, however, is not for fans of the ’89 flick and not just because the edits & cuts make it feel very incohesive. The plot & setting work very well. But what was missing was character development, especially since those surrounding Jud, Timmy and even to some extent Nora are added in to give the film depth but end up taking some of that development away. Timmy’s dad as played by David Duchovny is a great actor but a good portion of his minimized screen time did little to shed light on his motivations. His entire presence felt flat. Not to mention his scenes in the 3rd act, which could have been elaboratd a lot better. Those that have read the King story know that he buried his dead son in order to bring him back but those going solely off from the both the 1989 & 2019 adaptions have to gather this conclusion on their own. And let’s face it, viewers today aren’t known for having the longest attention span.
Tye acting in this film fell short, leaving the actors to do the best with what they had. Certain scenes would cut off with jump scares or directly into other scenes. The gore we do see is great considering the budget. The scene that made me squirm was the foot-washing scene. There weren’t many other changes from the source material. In fact, the one thing I admire about the reboot is its inclusion of things left out in 1989. While there was great attention to detail to those things, the reboot came at the loss of changing other things like Ellie dying and not Gage. What is it about creepy little girls? *cough cough* Children of the Corn.
Still just like Duchovny, Pam Grier felt completely wasted. She was more like a glorified extra than anything else. She and the rest of the townsfolk know what’s going on but the sense of dread and urgency felt fake. There was no feeling of foreboding despite the film trying to give us some unsettling moments here and ther. Still, there is no fear to add to the film’s lack of tension and atmosphere. Having to do a lot with little is no excuse. A prime example of doing this the right way is The Last Voyage of the Demeter. The tension and atmosphere felt real despite achieving so with literally the shortest chapter in the book.
Instead of focusing on Jud, the movie should have focused on Bill’s loss and refusal to accept the death of his son in war. And while it would have been the perfect opportunity to do what Castle Rock did and then draw on the evil in the town to bring the story together, what we got was a lackluster heap of mushy acting. The story leaned solely on Jud Crandall running around aimlessly and feeling like a plot device. The book does make mention of Timmy terrorizing the town, whispering folks’ secrets, and being a pure creep, which he does in this film. But I think there was such a missed opportunity here. Instead Bill’s grief is completely glossed over unlike Louis’ pain, which led him to bury his kid in the original adaptation.
On another note, there is possibility for a future franchise, in which writer/director Lindsey Anderson Beer has discussed wanting to expand this story. But it would fair well to lean more on the aforementioned themes such that which we the viewers can’t explain or control that in turn lead the characters to commit horrible acts out real and relatable emotions. Things such as grieving the loss of a child or rage and evil instead of tired horror tropes and jump scares.
That being said, Bloodlines isn’t completely terrible and for the most part, I stayed invested but it’s definitely not without sin.
My vote:
I give it 2.5 thumbs (or creepy dogs) out of 4 up!
Until Next Time Kiddies,
Shalom
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