Pet Sematary never was one of my favorite movies but I suppose to some of the other Stephen King adaptations, it’s one of the better releases.
Pet Sematary (1989)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Horror
Paramount | R – 102 min. – $22.98 | October 2, 2012
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Mary Lambert
Writer(s): Stephen King (novel); Stephen King (screenplay)
Cast: Dale Midkiff, Fred Gwynne, Denise Crosby, Brad Greenquist, Michael Lombard
Theatrical Release Date: April 21, 1989
DISC INFO:
Features: Commentary, Featurettes
Number of Discs: 1
Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0), Spanish (Dolby Digital 1.0), Portuguese (Dolby Digital 1.0)
Video: 1080p/Widescreen 1.78
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
Disc Size: 30.2 GB
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Region(s): A
THE MOVIE – 2.5/5
Plot Synopsis: After moving to an idyllic home in the countryside, life seems perfect for the Creed family… but not for long. Louis (DALE MIDKOFF) and Rachel Creed (DENISE CROSBY) and their two young children settle in to a house that sits next door to a pet cemetery – built on an ancient Indian burial ground. Their mysterious new neighbor, Jud Crandall (FRED GWYNNE), hides the cemetery’s darkest secret… until a family tragedy brings the secret to life. Now, an unthinkable evil is about to be resurrected.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.25/5
The Blu-ray release comes with a lenticular slip cover. All features are in standard definition.
Audio Commentary – Director Mary Lambert provides a low key but somewhat informative track giving insights into what drew her to the project and how certain scenes were shot. As solo tracks go, it’s not bad as she seems to fill the time well.
Stephen King Territory (13:09) – This is an interview with King talking about the origin for the novel.
The Characters (12:51) merely takes us through each of the main characters via interviews by the cast and crew.
Filming the Horror (10:26) delves into the making of the movie with some behind-the-scenes photos and footage.
VIDEO – 3.0/5
Pet Sematary rises from the dead finding its way onto Blu-ray with a 1080p high-def transfer. This isn’t an especially impressive transfer as it seemed to come from a master made for the DVD and upgraded for Blu-ray. The picture is heavy in noise and grain while detail levels aren’t very sharp compared with others from the era. The color scheme seems to be good, however. It’s probably a moderate upgrade over the DVD version.
AUDIO – 3.5/5
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio supplied isn’t anything amazing but serviceable and suitable for the source material. Dialogue levels sound good but most everything else has a flat vibe rather than engrossing or immersive. Given the film’s age, I’m not quite sure how much more Paramount could have done.
OVERALL – 3.0/5
Overall, Pet Sematary never was one of my favorite movies but I suppose to some of the other Stephen King adaptations, it’s one of the better releases. The Blu-ray itself has a few OK features, as well as average video/audio transfers. If you can nab this at a good price (around $10), then it might be worth picking up.
The Movieman
Published: 10/08/2012