I’m not sure how, but the “Pet Sematary” franchise keeps rising from the dead (cheap and obvious pun intended). The latest installment is “Pet Sematary: Bloodlines”, a Paramount+ original movie directed and co-written by Lindsey Anderson Beer. Ever so loosely based on Stephen King’s 1983 novel, “Bloodlines” serves as a prequel to the underwhelming 2019 series reboot. But much like its predecessor, this mostly lifeless effort fails to justify its existence.
For those unfamiliar with the premise, deep in the forest near the small town of Ludlow, Maine there exists ancient tribal burial grounds with a very malevolent power. It can bring the dead and buried back to life although not in the same state as they were before death. With “Bloodlines” Beer and her co-writer Jeff Buhler step back in time to tell a story set in 1969 where members from the founding families of Ludlow have managed to keep the existence of the sinister burial grounds secret.
Fresh out of high school, Jud Crandall (Jackson White) and his girlfriend Norma (Natalie Alyn Lind) are ready to leave behind their hometown of Ludlow and head to Michigan where they plan to join the Peace Corps. Now astute Pet Sematary fans (assuming passionate Pet Sematary fans exist) will remember Fred Gwynne playing an older Jud in the original 1989 movie while John Lithgow played him in the remake three decades later. It’s a cool idea for a story but it never really goes beyond that.
Meanwhile a Ludlow local Bill Baterman (David Duchovny) gets the tragic news that his son Timmy (Jack Mulhern) has been killed fighting in Vietnam. In one of the movie’s many wild moves, Timmy’s body is transported back to Ludlow where his heartbroken father secretly buries him in the demonic patch of earth, somehow without the townsfolk knowing. Needless to say Timmy is resurrected but with a uncontrollable appetite for human blood. And just like that the curse of the not-so-sleepy New England town is once again unleashed.
Jud notices something different about his old friend Timmy since he “returned” from the war (that’s the story his father is telling). But as the truth is revealed through one violent and extremely gory attack after another, Jud and his classmate Manny (Forrest Goodluck) are forced to face off against a reanimated and seemingly possessed Timmy. Along the way they learn of the founding families and the curse they’ve tried to keep hidden for generations.
In addition to Duchovny, the film also stars Henry Thomas (“E.T.”) as Jud’s cryptic father Dan. And it features and subsequently wastes the great Pam Grier. All three would have made for more compelling protagonists than their younger counterparts yet all get back-burnered, especially Grier who barely gets any screen time. I don’t know, maybe it’s for the better. Even the more prominent characters ring hollow and fail to register dramatically or emotionally.
At this juncture in Pet Sematary history the similarities with King’s original work seem only surface level. Beer does muster a few unexpectedly gory moments which horror fans should enjoy. And the film deserves credit for at least attempting to do something new with the franchise’s mythology. But it’s hard to get onboard when everything else in “Bloodlines” feels so shallow and pointless. And despite its efforts, nothing in this latest entry adds the kind of new energy this franchise desperately needs. “Pet Sematary: Bloodlines” is now streaming on Paramount+.
VERDICT – 2 STARS
Keith & the Movies 