Pet Sematary

Pet Sematary (1989) follows a doctor's family who move to Maine. At the end of a path behind the house is an animal cemetery made by children, and beyond it is older ground that returns whatever is buried in it. He tries it first with the cat. The source is Stephen King's novel and King wrote the screenplay himself. He also appears briefly in the film as the minister at a funeral. The novel has a history of its own. King found it too dark after writing it and did not want to publish it, keeping it in a drawer for a long time; it eventually appeared because of a contractual obligation. Mary Lambert directed. She had come from music video and was one of very few women directing a major horror film at the time. At King's insistence it was shot in Maine. The film's most famous image is the sister lying in bed, and the actor playing her, Andrew Hubatsek, was a man; the choice was made for physical effect and has been argued about for years. It runs 103 minutes. Good for: Stephen King adaptations, horror about grief, and eighties practical effects. Less good for: the death of a child is at the centre of it and the film shows it in detail. Some of the performances are weak and the tone tips into unintended comedy in places.