Summary
Director Lindsey Anderson Beer creates a bone-chilling prequel to Stephen King’s twisted supernatural thriller. This adds more depth to the original story and ties the characters to Ludlow, Maine even more.
The lure of small-town myths is what makes Stephen King’s stories captivating. Every character is connected to the grounds they walk on. Their families have lived in the particular town for decades and have never found the heart to leave. In Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, streaming on Paramount+, the characters find out just how haunted the small town of Ludlow, Maine, is. Pet Sematary is regarded as one of King’s best novels because of the commentary on life after death and how grief always stays with you. It comes in waves, and trying to bring someone back to life unnaturally has consequences.
Instead of using the source material in 2019’s Pet Sematary, they chose to remake the film from 1989. And that is the main issue with horror films being remade. What director Lindsey Anderson Beer does with this prequel is add much-needed depth to the lore of Ludlow, Maine that elevates the source material.
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines review and plot summary
The film is set in 1969, and Jud Crandall (Jackson White) is at the center of this story. He was the old neighbor in Pet Sematary who warned the Creed family about the highway that ran past their house. The score booms loudly in the beginning as Anderson Beer places Bill Baterman (David Duchovny) in the cemetery at night while dragging a body with his dog Hendrix by his side.
The moon was full. And the body he buried came alive and took the dog with him. Jud was ready to go to the Peace Corps with his girlfriend Norma (Natalie Alyn Lind) when a bird crashed into their windshield. They notice Hendrix in front of the nose of the car, and the dog looks filthy.
They return Hendrix to his owners, the Batermans, only to find that Timmy Baterman (Jack Mulhern) had returned from Vietnam. At first, they think something is off because of his PTSD, but it isn’t until Hendrix takes a bite out of Norma’s arm that Jud sees Timmy differently.
READ: Pet Sematary: Bloodlines – A prequel to the original or a remake?
Weird things begin to happen between Timmy and the people in Ludlow. Sheriff Marjorie Washburn (Pam Grier) had a gut feeling that Bill Baterman did something to his son to make him lose control the way he has. She believes that the curse of Ludlow on the sacred lands has affected Timmy. Jud and his best friend Manny (Forrest Goodluck) come together to figure out why the land is so different and why their parents are secretive about the lore. Jud had never heard stories from his father Dan (Henry Thomas), and it was because he was trying to protect him.
Timmy goes after everyone, and it isn’t until it’s too late that his father realizes the mistake he had made to bring his son back. Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is a prequel that addresses the sins of the father who disturbed the peace. Anderson Beer integrated flashbacks seamlessly to show the history of the town. Whether it was showing Timmy, Manny, and Jud’s childhood friendship or the settlers who overtook the Mi’kmaq Chief’s land, these were vital pieces to the story.
Is Pet Sematary: Bloodlines better than Pet Sematary (2019)?
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is miles better than Pet Sematary (2019) because it addresses the lore of the land. There could have been more depth added to Jud Crandall in Pet Sematary, but instead, they kept him as a secondary character who planted the seed of the animal cemetery. It never went beyond that. It’s the psychology behind a doctor trying to make sense of the supernatural after witnessing death and its finality.
In Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, Anderson Beer leans into the supernatural elements a bit more to make the connection to the legacy of Ludlow and the founding fathers. It becomes a simpler piece that doesn’t overstate faith in the afterlife. Grief is explored differently in both films, but Bloodlines adds the community aspect to it. They are stuck in Ludlow because of the sins of the father and they feel trapped in this generational cycle.
There is only so much you can tell of the undead, especially if it’s just for animals to return. Pet Sematary crossed that boundary when Dr. Louis Creed wanted to bring back his daughter. Narratively it’s a more chilling story because, from a doctor’s standpoint, he believes it is impossible. But from a father’s perspective, he would want nothing more than to bring his daughter back. In Pet Sematary: Bloodlines it’s the passing of the torch that no legacy family wanted to do until it was necessary.
What did you think of Pet Sematary: Bloodlines? Comment below.
