WARNING: This Review Contains Spoilers
Let me take you on another journey into the dark mind of possibly my favourite author, Stephen King. We have ventured down this road before when looking at the adaptations of his coming-of-age tale, Carrie, but today we will enter into the story of the Creed family. Written in 1983, Pet Sematary tackles a fear that I am sure we all have in common – death. It was originally adapted for the big screen in 1989 and remade 30 years later. Tell me, if you lost your child in a tragic accident, would you do anything within your power to get them back?
Gage & Ellie
For me, Gage’s character brings with him both the saddest and most terrifying parts of the story in the original film. Unfortunately, he is hit by a truck at a very young age and in his grief Louis decides to bury him on the Indian burial ground behind their house (against all warnings of course, and it didn’t go well with the cat did it?) Now for the scary bit. Just like Church, Gage comes back to life but not as the cute little kid he was before. Instead a dark spirit has arisen inside the child and exercises its will on his family as well as their neighbour, Jud Crandall. I don’t know about those of you reading this, but to me there’s something deeply disturbing about a toddler being the main instigator of the killings (his childish laughter being almost blood-curdling doesn’t help).
However, this is the first twist to take place in the 2019 remake. I believe this decision was made due to audiences being uncomfortable with the death of such a young child but instead of Gage meeting a fatal end and becoming our antagonist, it is his older sister Ellie. Truthfully, the story goes the same way even with this change (apart from the ending but that’s a story for a little later on) so I do not think this really made any difference other than taking away some of the fear factor.
Ellie’s Dreams and Pascow
Throughout the original film, Ellie Creed seems to have dreams that border on premonitions. From the moment that Church’s body is discovered to her mother’s death, she seems to always know that something bad is happening. As a part of this, she seems to act as an early warning system but it seems no one listens until it is too late.
The same goes for the ghost of Pascow, a young man brought into Louis’ campus surgery after being involved in a traffic collision and unfortunately loses his life. He warns Louis from the outset that ‘the barrier should not be broken’ and this is the first of many warnings of his that are ignored. Also, dependent upon which version you’re watching will depended on who, outside of Louis himself, is able to see Pascow. In the original, he appears to Ellie in her dreams whereas in the remake Gage seems to actually be able to see a manifestation of him. Neither situation can their mother see him but she seems to be able to hear him and it is this – along with her children’s mention of his name – that makes her return home from her parents’ house.
Third Times the Charm
As mentioned before, Louis heeds no warnings when it comes to burying bodies in the Indian burial ground.
Before Church is hit by the truck, Louis is told by the ghost of Pascow that no one should pass from “where the dead to talk, to where the dead walk”. However, to preserve his daughter’s feelings, Jud and he bury Church and wait for him to return to the land of the living. It is only after this that Jud tells him that his own dog did not come back quite right (well, hindsight is always 20/20). As you can guess, Church is not the same cat he was before but only seems to attack Louis. In the remake however, he also scratches Ellie. Truthfully, this should be a huge warning sign that it should not be tried again but hey, grief makes you do funny things right?
Louis goes back not once, but twice to bury someone in the Indian burial ground. As we have already discussed the first is one of his children, the second his wife, Rachel. She has been a victim of her son’s (or daughter’s depending on which version you’ve chosen to watch) new found darkness so really that warning sign should be flashing like crazy that this is not a good idea – but unfortunately, in the original, Louis does it anyway. Turning the tale on its head once again, it is actually Ellie that buries her mother in the remake.
Dead is Better
Something I have referenced in a previous article, is that you would naturally assume that any deaths featured in a 21st century film would be worse than those in the original. Once again, like Sorority Row, I am happy to say this is not the case.
Jud’s death in both films is very similar, it is just where it happens and to what extent that has changed. When you see it in either film, be prepared to grab your ankle in sympathy. Now here’s where it changes. In the remake, using the same scalpel as the one to slice his Achilles tendon on the stairs, Ellie stabs Jud to death whereas in the original a small growling Gage bites a chunk out of his throat, after inflicting the same ankle injury from under the bed and leaves him to bleed to death. The 2019 film does make a slight homage to the original film with the death as you wait with baited breath for Ellie to attack in the same way as Gage but instead Jud moves the bed to reveal no one lying in wait.
Fatal Finales
Once again, as we discussed previously it is Ellie that buries her mother in the remake instead of Louis but this is not the only place the endings differ.
In the original film, Louis is able to bring himself to kill Gage to end his murderous cycle but unfortunately this is not a happy ending. In his grief, he decides to bury Rachel as well and it seems the destruction begins again as before the screen fades to black, we see her re-enter the house but the film closes with a crunching sound and what seems to be Louis screaming. From my memory this is how the book ends.
Now for a very different ending. Unlike with Gage in the original film, Louis finds himself unable to kill his daughter at first but when he eventually tries to take a fatal swing with a shovel – he is killed by Rachel. Both she and Ellie decide to bury him in the Indian burial ground, just as he did with them. By the end of the film, the only character left alive is baby Gage but how long does this last? As the film ends the reanimated versions of Louis, Rachel and Ellie approach the car that Gage had been stowed in and just before the credits roll we hear the click of the door being unlocked.
In Conclusion
This is probably getting a little boring for most of you that have read any previous articles of the ‘To Remake or Not To Remake’ section but I am afraid that I am siding with the original. For me, it is simply because I find it much darker than its 2019 counterpart (who isn’t scared of a toddler reeking this kind of havoc?).
