I just watched the 1989 film again for the umpteenth time, but the book will always hold a special place in my heart. The newer film just doesn't have that same feeling.
That is so fascinating! I never heard anyone mention the evil/weakness of Jud and Louis. When you think about it, it makes for such a great story that something evil would pickup and point out the darkness within and ignore any good the person may have. I simply love it.
I have recently discovered your channel and I am having a blast watching your videos. I read Pet Sematary the first and only time when I was 13, in between a bunch of other books that were probably not appropriate for someone who's 13, but that book in particular changed me as a person. It triggered a life-long fascination with the monsters we create to make sense of things we find incomprehensible, like grief. I also side-eyed adorable toddlers for a while. 🤭 Excellent analysis. I'd never picked up on the darkness in Judd. I did not love the 89 movie, I feel like a stronger cast (minus Judd and the creepy cat) could have been spectacular.
The 2019 movie has an alternate ending - that I prefer way more - where disturbingly Rachel is pretty much buried alive on the burial ground and the movie ends with a crying Gage surrounded by his insane father and undead sister and mother.
Part of the book's effectiveness was its ability to plant thoughts in your imagination through suggestion. There's one line that's so vague, and yet packed with so much suggestion, it gave me goosebumps: "What you buy is what you own, and sooner or later what you own will come back to you."
Just out of High School (No, I won't say what year!) I read The Shining. That book scared the bejesus out of me! And I am one tough cookie when it comes to horror! Since I loved that book so much I decided to read all King's books in order and, throughout my reading had heard that there was a book King had written that was so 'horrific' he refused to publish it. Lo and behold, when I was in college I picked up Pet Sematary as soon as it was released. I have to say I was completely disappointed in the book. The only thing I found even close to horrific was the thorough exercise in grief. The book is nowhere close to being as outright scary as The Shining, or 'Salem's Lot - or Ghost Story by Peter Straub, all of which I love! So yes, the hype monster got me, and I came away with a 'meh' feeling. The only thing I actually liked about the book was the ending: "Hello, Darling', it said. One of the greatest last sentences - ever! That being said, I saw the movie just because King wrote the screenplay, but ended up disliking it as well - especially since they changed my favorite part - the ending! So no, I haven't watched the new version and likely will not. Just for clarity, here are my top 5 favorite King novels, so you know I don't hate his writing: 1. The Stand (have not watched the 'mini-series', yet) 2. The Dead Zone (love the movie, for Christopher Walken's performance, alone) 3. The Shining (hate both filmed versions - for different reasons) 4. 'Salem's Lot (loved the 1979 mini series) 5. Different Seasons (especially The Body and Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption) - (LOVE both Stand By Me AND The Shawshank Redemption) Unfortunately, once I hit 'IT' I actually labored through it and decided I couldn't do King anymore. Not only did I ask: how many 'kids experience horror that revisits them as adults' are out there? Not to mention his repetitive use of 'new words' - how many times does he use the word 'roil' in IT? Waaaay too many! When he never used it in any prior works, that I can recall - or found re-reading any of my favorites. But, I have broken my vow now and again and read Misery when it came out, which brought me back into the fold, because it was that good! But then he lost me again immediately with The Tommyknockers. Ugh! Was THAT ever hard to get through! Anyway, since then I had read The Dark Half, Cell, Doctor Sleep (soooo disappointing! I had to go back and read The Shining, immediately to get the taste out of my brain) and The Institute - all because the critics kept praising King as 'The master' for every book. They pulled me in, and in each and every case disappointed me. So I have since moved to other horror authors such as the classics: Lovecraft, Poe, Jackson, and contemporaries such as Grady Hendrix, Paul Tremblay, Stephen Graham Jones and Christopher Buehlman, that I have really liked. But I do have to give a special shout-out to The Fisherman by John Langan. If there was ever a successor to H.P. Lovecraft for cosmic horror, look no further than this book, that came out of nowhere for me. Anyway, I could go on and on (haven't you, already? you ask), but I will stop and, as a lifelong reader, myself, declare absolutely that I am a fan. I always enjoy your videos, even if I disagree with you on anything, because of your thoughtful presentation, as well as opening my eyes to either reconsider how I felt about a book, or to bring me to books I had never considered reading. No one can understate how much I really do appreciate all the work you do to bring us closer to the written word, since I feel it isn't as important as it once was. We need more people like you out there! Keep up the good work!
I'm sad you didn't like Doctor Sleep! It isn't as good as The Shining but I really liked it. But thanks for sharing your King journey! He has published an insane amount of books but they aren't all winners that's for sure lol. And I agree about The Fisherman! And those authors you mentioned I really like as well, I have only read two books by Lovecraft but definitely want to read more. And thank you so much for your kind words! I really appreciate that 😊😊
@@WhytheBookWins I agree! I am disappointed in myself, as well! I was very much looking forward to Doctor Sleep, too. I simply was not a fan of what King did to Dan(ny), even though King's main characters always have demons; Dan just seemed, after all he'd been through, that he had succumbed to his demons, rather than become a stronger person for the experience - especially for his mom, the horror she went through! Plus, it just felt it was more a sequel to Kubrick's movie than the book, which really gave me an added bad reaction to it. I think The Fisherman was my favorite book last year. I like books that sneak up on me, and this came right after I had read a couple of Lovecraft stories, so my mind/imagination fell right into it and was swept t along with the tide (pun intended). I admit, I never made any connection between The Fisherman and Pet Sematary, but, as you spoke I totally got it! Very perceptive you are, Ms. Laura! Thank you for always reading my 'dissertations'...I appreciate the open, constructive comments/communication. I will try to do better by being more positive, as well as keeping my word-count down... 😁
Back then when I was a wee lad and watched this movie with my friends, Zelda was probably the thing we found the most messed up. Interestingly, King has this "scary relative guarded by a child alone dies" theme going - see as an example Gramma. I do wonder if something happened to him to lead to this.
So glad you picked this one. This is definitely King’s most disturbing novel (outside of “The Stand” basically becoming real with the COVID pandemic in 2020) & isn’t for the faint of heart. I find the ‘89 film kinda bad in comparison to the book, but little Miko Hughes is precious as Gage & is sort of creepy but had they made him up the way the book describes undead Gage (a crudely reassembled face by uncaring hands to paraphrase King’s description), he would’ve been even scarier. The 2019 movie got the vibes down a bit better, but isn’t perfect. So agree with the book winning due to how well King tackles the themes of death and grief; the fact he used real life incidents with his family makes it even scarier
@@WhytheBookWins of course 😄 there are so many more King books & movie out there for you. On a non-King horror, you should check out “Psycho”; book and movie are virtually the same story, but Norman is way different from Anthony Perkins in the Hitchcock film
Growing up, my mom was an avid reader of almost all genres. When I was 18 yrs. old, she telephoned and asked, "Are you reading anything?" To which I responded, "Um ..." She said she had a book that I just had to read, and that book was Pet Sematary. I have since read a ton of novels, and to this day Pet Sematary was the only one that both terrified and depressed me. Zelda, oh my! And Gage's death, that depressed me for days. In terms of the films: loved the '89 version (although, admittedly, I need to rewatch it, as some things just don't age like wine), but I really disliked the 2019 effort. Loving your channel, by the way.
I consider the 2019 version's ending is more of a commentary on the end of the Nuclear Family. As for suggestions: - Ghost Story by Peter Straub. I know the 1981 film removed a lot, but I still enjoy it. - The Girl With All The Gifts by Mike Carey, who also wrote the movie adaption.
The 2019 film actually had about 3 alternate endings; Laura used the theatrical one, but one of the other endings is Louis still living with Gage and undead Rachel and Ellie with a morbid expression that he and his son are consigned to living with reanimated ghouls as an unconventional Nuclear Family And yes I would enjoy a look at Ghost Story
Oh interesting! I'll need to check out the alt ending online. And I saw Ghost Story as a kid and it freaked me out! I would love to return to it though.
The book is better than all the adaptations all day long. The book spends more time on the creepiness of the burial grounds and soured land, with it being infected by a wendigo evil spirit.
I'm cool with most changes made in the 2019 movie, but their ending is just terrible. Taking the decision to bury Rachel out of Louis' hands removes the most unsettling aspect of King's ending: Showing us the extremely dark places where grief can take us. Instead, we get a messy twist ending that requires some serious suspension of disbelief (How did a little girl carry an adult's body though the woods so quickly? How did Rachel come back to life so quickly?) and has nothing to say other than "three zombies are scarier than one" (I think your unhealthy family cycles reading cuts this movie way too much slack). And thank you for the book recommendation! Another one for my shamefully high to-read pile.
Ok, video’s over! I like King’s writing, but Pet Sematary was way too sad for my taste. The horror is mostly how grief infects you like a brain virus and that’s more bleak than horrifying to me. I also had trouble connecting with Louis as a p.o.v protagonist. ( e.g. The part at the beginning of the book where he thinks about hitting his wife and Ellie because they’re annoying him) I just find it hard to understand his motivations, so it doesn’t impact so much when his thinking is askew from the influence of the burial grounds. In that case I think the 2019 movie should’ve gone the full tilt and switched protagonists to Rachel. Her whole history with her sister and the neglectful parents she still defends, and a husband that’s keeping dark secrets would make for a very interesting lens I think. As it stands the change to Ellie as the zombie child seems to be more about the acting capabilities of an older kid than any story reasons.
very nice review and comparison. I'm sorry for the King, but to me, the lesson is not really "to accept what god decided for us" but instead "SAFETY FIRST, don't go to live in a dangerous road, you already knew it!!" Poor King's cat and poor daughter u_u
14:57 something about this reminds me of people who try to dig into people's twitter history or ten yr old accounts to find some dirt they can use to discredit them and make them out to be the worse person imaginable, lol funny it's trait that demons do as well xD when people are evil they want to focus on the evil
This is one is one of the few King books I have read (before getting too creeped out). I love horror. I had seen the movie then read the book. The book definitely wins. Great channel!
What a great video analysis and overview! I need to re-visit this book, I read it at like age 11 and didn't get it. But I think I could now :) I agree the 89 movie doesn't make Church or Gage look menacing at all, more campy. But it's an ok adaption of the book. The movie removing the Wendigo reference made it unclear as to what was re-animating the dead.
I'm glad you covered this. It's one of my favorite King books. I actually saw the original first at the age of 6 or 7 (and it traumatized me lol). It was the first movie adaptation of King's that I first saw then it became the first of his books I read. I really hated the 2019 version except for the Wendigo aspect being more established, and that it used Ellie to mess with Jud. I agree, book wins, but between 89 and 19, I think 89 wins
@@WhytheBookWins ooohhh!!! I didn't know that. Now it makes sense that the host on Stephen Kings Book Club begins all his videos with "Hello Constant Reader." It's neat because he essentially retells king's stories in the form of a true crime podcast.
There was an alternate ending in the 2019 version, this was a lot like the Books ending. I much prefer the alternate ending. I was not fond of the 2019 theatrical ending. I feel that took away some of the important themes
The Outsider is kinda/sorta a sequel (in spirit) to Pet Cemetary. It's a series not a movie & it's really, really good. Similar themes explored. Great acting, creepy vibe that builds. Very SK.
You done an awesome job and I can tell that you've read this book with strong memory. There can never be an adaptation that is as good as the book. The 1989 adaptation is the closest to the book. It is a classic and one of my favorite adaptations of King's work. In the book there's only one thing that I found troubling. When Hanratti the Bull is buried in the Micmac grounds it says that Zack McGowan and his sons buries the bull up there. Judd leaves Louis a letter and it explains it. But towards the end of the book King says that it was Lester Morgan who buried the bull up there. It may be a mistake by King or he could just blame it all on Judd and say that he had a bad memory.😅
I hate Stephen King but I really like The Dead Zone both the book and movie. I give a slight edge to the movie. Christopher Walken is great in that film. Really great. No joke!
