Two boys think it somehow would be a good idea to bring the dead back to life after discovering the handily live next-door to an ancient Indian burial ground. First thing they start with is their dead dog, but not only does that go horribly wrong but it's not long before other dead people start appearing, unsurprisingly the ones they wish had stayed dead.
by Kim Newman |
Published on
Release Date:
01 Jan 1992
Running Time:
102 minutes
Certificate:
18
Original Title:
Pet Sematary Two
Stephen King was persuaded to accept a sequel clause when he sold the Pet Sematary film rights by an assurance this would never happen. They lied. In ominous Maine, 'alienated Edward Furlong — the lad from Terminator 2 — and Jason McGuire use a haunted Indian Burial Ground to revive a) a dog who becomes a glow-eyed hellhound, b) abusive stepfather Clancy Brown, who becomes a grinning, stumbling, sadistic zombie, and c) deep-fried mom Darlanne Fluegel, whose morticians' wax face melts off in a fire. Anthony Edwards, as Furlong's veterinarian dad, stands about wondering if his career vanished with most of his hair.
Less pompous than Pet Sematary, this has moments of trashy vigour but is scuppered by a consistently wretched script, Mary Lambert's knee-jerk direction and the usual redundant sequel air of utter pointlessness.
With flashes of what might have been throughout, it's frustrating that Pet Semetary Two fails to deliver. You feel it could so easily have acknowledged and played with its B-movie status yet somehow it's left trying to be something it could never be, one of Stephen King's masterpieces.
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