Cementerio de animales: El origen

Plot

In 1969 a young Jud Crandall and his childhood friends band together to confront an ancient evil that has gripped their hometown of Ludlow.

Cast

Mostly mediocre, we do however get Henry "ET" Thomas, David Duchovny, Samantha Mathis (Who is used so little she may as well not be there), Pam Grier and Natalie Alyn Lind who keeps popping up in everything I watch and she's always a joy to watch.

Verdict

Bloodlines tells the story that Jud Crandall told in the original Pet Semetary, so you already know how it ends. Not sure it's a tale that needed putting to screen but they make the most of it.

Though loaded with veterans most of the younger cast are really quite poor, combine that with very bland writing and it makes for a very underwhelming watch!

Pet Semetary hasn't exactly been the best series, sure the original was amazing but with a forgettable sequel and an awful remake I wasn't exactly excited to see this pop up. However I'll give it this, it's better than the trailer makes it out to be.

It's a middle of the road movie with enough going for it to keep you drowning in its glaring flaws.

Rants

Now we've seen Jud's story sadly it makes his likelihood to show someone the semetary even less likely. Why would he do it? What motivation would he have being that he lived through these horrors and ultimately as per the original movie caused his ultimately demise.

Breakdown

Solid veteran cast Natalie Alyn Lind is great Just about enough King charm Mostly poor young cast You know what's going to happen Rather bland in places.

Great cast, I just wish Samantha Mathis had more of a role. A few good, creepy moments. Unfortunately, by the third act of the movie, some of the scenes/scenarios became completely absurd. There were the typical tropes of people doing incredibly stupid things-but it's a horror movie, so that's expected. Yelling at the TV doesn't help. I tried. The idiots died anyway. I found myself rolling my eyes more than anything else. The undead could seemingly teleport and do superman type of stuff. Sometimes people say a movie might have been better had they edited out 20-30 minutes. Not this movie. This was very tightly edited and could have used a bit more exposition. Just being familiar with the Pet Sematary story helped fill-in some of the blanks. Really wanted to like this. Given the caliber of the cast, I think a lot of people were rooting for this movie. Glad I saw it, just wouldn't watch it again.

This film attempts to tell the historical excerpt story from King's Pet Sematary novel, and hits across the face with it like a wet fish. For starters, it was so completely unconvincing of the timeline, I refused to believe this was telling the story it thinks it is. It also fails to bring a single bit of atmosphere or eerie King style nuance from the story itself. The characters were all flat, wooden, boring, or caricturally miscast and some were all of the above. Haven't really seen anything interesting from Dave D since Californication come to think of it, so not sure this was all the director's fault.. but still. It did tell the story at least, but I was dragged with it and never really got on board.

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines managed to impress me, despite its lacklustre reception among the general public and its direct-to-tv or streaming release.

Make no mistake however, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines maintains an honest Stephen King vibe reminiscent of 80s-90s classics like "Stand by Me," "IT," or even a slight ambiance of the original Pet Sematary.

Adapting a story with established foundations is always a challenge, requiring a delicate balance of relevance, novelty, and faithfulness to the source material. In this regard, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines hits the mark rather admirably.

While not a masterpiece, the film deserves recognition for several reasons. The cinematography feels both vintage and fresh. Additionally, the cast includes well-known but somewhat forgotten actors like David Duchovny (X-Files, Californication) and Henry Thomas, (E. T, Legends of the Fall) evoking a sense of nostalgia reminiscent of films from that era.

The acting is solid overall, with Natalie Alyn Lind impressing me immensely and Jackson White delivering commendable performances. Although White's portrayal didn't captivate me as much, he still stood out as unique and likable character.

However, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines does fall short in some key areas. The kills are relatively tame, the suspense feels subdued, and the characters, while possessing personality, lack significant depth. Additionally, the ending feels rushed and somewhat cheap, detracting some chemistry and memorability from the overall viewing experience.

Despite these flaws, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines exceeded my expectations. While it may not offer many surprises due to its familiar story and lack of surprises, it still holds up as a solid stand-alone film. Surprisingly, I wouldn't hesitate to re-watch the film, as it provided me with a thoroughly entertaining experience.

6/10.

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines (2023)

Henry Thomas, David Duchovny, Samantha Mathis, Pam Grier... What a waste of a good cast. Jackson White was also good as a young Jud, kind of reminded me of a young Matt Dillon.

But none of them can save this prequel. It adds almost nothing to the original story and it just drags slowly and aimlessly. It tells the story of Timmy, who came back from the war - the story Jud tells briefly in the original movie - but everything seems to be a bit off and it's pretty pointless.

Better watch the original classic or even the remake which actually wasn't bad.

4/10 Skip it.