- Starring
- Jackson White, Forrest Goodluck, Jack Mulhern
- Writers
- Lindsey Anderson Beer, Jeff Buhler
- Director
- Lindsey Anderson Beer
- Rating
- R (United States)
- Running Time
- 87 minutes
- Release Date
- October 6th, 2023 (Paramount Plus)
Overall Score
Rating Summary
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is a prequel to the 2019 Pet Sematary remake that takes place in 1969 and follows a young Jud Crandall (White) who drams of leaving his small town of Ludlow, Maine behind, but soon discovers sinister secrets buried within and is forced to confront a dark family history that will forever keep him united with Ludlow. Banding together with his childhood friend Manny (Goodluck), they then must fight an ancient evil that has gripped Ludlow since its founding and stop it from destroying everything in its path.
The 2019 remake made some decent money when it was first released 4 years ago but hardly anyone has discussed or thought about that film since. While not awful, it was a very middle-of-the road horror remake that failed to successfully update the classic Stephen King story for modern times. It’s a mystery why this film was made in the first place because it didn’t seem like anyone was asking for a follow-up or prequel exclusively made for streaming. Very inoffensive and easy to get through, it arguably might be a little more entertaining that the 2019 remake. A lot of that is due to its short length, clocking in at just under 90-minutes, and its fast pace that thankfully never slows down. Meanwhile, it also contains some pretty impressive practical gore work that gets way nastier and gorier than expected. Some of the kills are decent and made even better by that gore, but outside of those, pretty much everything about this prequel is lackluster or lazy at best.
White does perfectly fine for what he’s given as Crandall. He’s an okay lead who does exactly what’s required of him, and it helps that he strongly resembles a young John Lithgow who played the character in the remake. The rest of the performances from the cast’s more seasoned actors such as Pam Grier, David Duchovny, and Henry Thomas are solid as well, but most of the other performances range from quite bad to totally unconvincing despite the fact that some are played by talented young actors.
It doesn’t help that this prequel isn’t scary in the slightest and never once gets under one’s skin despite its best attempts and frequent jump scares which become tiring really quick. It also just feels so utterly pointless while truly adding anything of value or intrigue to the preestablished story, world, lore, or characters that some may not have already known or ever cared to know. Its digital effects are also pretty bad, is way too dimly lit during the nighttime sequences thus making it difficult to discern certain scenes, and it’s very clear that it was always intended to be a streaming release from its budget and overall small scope and scale.
At the end of the day, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines isn’t terrible or remotely close to being the worst horror film of the year but is absolutely unnecessary and instantly forgettable. While some may appreciate how the film attempts to take this franchise in a slightly different direction, it more or less feels like more of the same and never once comes close to matching the terrifying and deeply unsettling heights of the original. Maybe being a streaming release helped bump the score up a little as opposed to if it was a regular theatrical release, but nevertheless, the film is still more than likely be forgotten about just as fast as the 2019 remake and will likely never be brought up again.
still courtesy of Paramount+
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