Pet Sematary
A grieving rural doctor discovers that resurrecting the dead offers hope only by turning family love into nightmare.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Graphic
- foreboding
- dread-filled
- mournful
- halloween
- late night horror marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film atmospheric and occasionally effective but weakened by blunt shocks, clichés, and an exploitative slasher sensibility.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Louis Creed repeatedly uses the burial ground because he cannot accept the deaths of loved ones, turning grief into reckless supernatural action.
The Creed family's home, children, pets, and marriage become the central spaces where the burial ground's consequences unfold.
The ancient Micmac cemetery is treated as a feared local secret with alleged powers to reanimate the dead.
Funerals, coffins, graves, injured bodies, and reanimated corpses provide the film's primary shock images and motifs.
Films like Pet Sematary, and why
The Shining
shared supernatural horror, grief-driven resurrection, and escalating family dread
The Wicker Man
shared rural setting, mournful atmosphere, and folk horror surrounding an ancient supernatural force
The Return of the Living Dead
shared undead horror, domestic vulnerability, and disturbing transformations involving the dead
Movie Details
- Director
- Mary Lambert
- Release Date
- 1989-04-21
- Runtime
- 103 min
- Rating
- 6.7 / 10 (2475)
Cast
- Dale Midkiff
- Fred Gwynne
- Denise Crosby
- Brad Greenquist
- Michael Lombard
- Miko Hughes
- Blaze Berdahl
- Susan Blommaert
- Mara Clark
- Kavi Raz
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Paramount+ Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Plex
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Pet Sematary about?
- A grieving rural doctor discovers that resurrecting the dead offers hope only by turning family love into nightmare.
- What is Pet Sematary like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Pet Sematary as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Pet Sematary violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Pet Sematary as graphic.
- What did critics think of Pet Sematary?
- Critics broadly found the film atmospheric and occasionally effective but weakened by blunt shocks, clichés, and an exploitative slasher sensibility.
- Which films are like Pet Sematary?
- Films with a similar feel include The Shining, The Wicker Man, and The Return of the Living Dead.
- How long is Pet Sematary?
- Pet Sematary runs 103 minutes.
- Where can I watch Pet Sematary?
- In United States, Pet Sematary streams on Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, Paramount+ Amazon Channel.
