Pet Sematary, is a 1983 Stephen King novel dealing with death, the supernatural and reanimation. The man himself actually went on to write the screenplay for the 1989 film adaptation. The sequel Pet Sematary Two, was released three years later but was only loosely based on the source material, and King had no involvement with the script.
In 2019, another adaptation of King’s novel was released, for which a prequel has now been announced. The prequel will be made available via Paramount’s streaming service. I can’t help but think that it would have made more sense to have first released the prequel before moving on to the remake.
All three films have received fairly poor reviews, but we’ll have to wait and see what the critics say about the fourth. Which of the three is your favourite film adaptation?
In the original film, we see the Creed family move from Chicago to a town in Maine. Their neighbour, Jud, played by Fred Gwynne (Herman Munster), befriends them and shows them the pet cemetery (spelled sematary) behind their new home.
The father, Louis is later warned by Victor, a fatally wounded jogger, about the pet sematary. Victor returns as a ghost to reiterate his warning about burying anything there; Jud, however believes otherwise. He convinces Louis to bury their now dead family cat, Church, in the pet sematary to avoid telling the children the terrible news. Church returns looking all scraggly and with a vicious personality.
Louis takes things too far upon the unfortunate and tragic death of his young son, Gage and this is when the real horror begins. It’s only human nature that when you tell people not to do something, they’ll certainly be compelled to do just that.
There’s a South Park episode (“Marjorine” Season 9 – Episode 9) which parodies the ridiculousness of Pet Sematary when Butters’ parents believe him to be dead. This film is just screaming for a mashup tattoo between King’s characters and South Park.
Some other Pet Sematary themed tattoo ideas are a split face piece of either Church or Gage, with one of them when they were alive and the other as their reanimated self. The ghost of Victor or Jud’s burning house could also be some interesting design choices.
Rather than burying your loved ones and your memories of them in a metaphorical Pet Sematary, tattoo them on your body instead. In tattoo form they will remain as you remember them, and there to cherish forever.
The Tattooed Archivist 