Author Stephen King is such a prolific and popular writer that it seems there is a new film or TV adaptation of one of his works coming out at least once a year. With the success of adaptations, remakes, and inspired works like It, Castle Rock, and Pet Sematary, it seems like Stephen King is having a bit of a moment as of late.
While Stephen King has produced more memorable horror stories that are worthy of adaptation than most people can count, it’s easy to understand why there are a few select King properties that are being remade. Pet Sematary is undoubtedly one of the classics, and this year’s take on it is one of the best Stephen King horror adaptations ever made, period. The film-makers clearly put a lot of love and care into creating this new and exciting iteration of this classic tale, but that attention to detail also means that there are a lot of details that were missed. Let’s take a look a few! Watch out for spoilers throughout.
It’s In The Eyes
Film making is a very visual medium, so any film-maker who knows what they’re doing will give some visual clues towards the story that audiences may not consciously pick up on, but that will subconsciously make that story even more believable.
In the case of Pet Sematary, the evil of the Wendigo possession is all in the eyes. When Ellie is resurrected, she has a pretty distinct droop in one of her eyes which seems to indicate that there is something not quite right about her, but the back-from-the-dead Church has a less noticeable but similar partially-shut eye.
Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
Everyone loves a good Easter egg, but damn. So, this most recent film adaptation of Pet Sematary is not the only first. There was another Pet Sematary movie made in 1989. In the earlier version, the man driving the gas truck that hits Gage (Gage is the Creed child who dies in the novel and the earlier film) is listening to the song Sheena Is A Punk Rocker by The Ramones.
In this updated version of Pet Sematary, the driver winds up hitting Ellie because he’s distracted by his phone ringing. Who happens to be calling? Sheena.
Zelda’s Unnamed Illness
In the Pet Sematary novel as well as the film, the whole subplot of Rachel’s sick sister Zelda dying is almost as scary as the main story itself. While the book clearly establishes what it is that made Zelda so ill, the movie never actually specifies what her disease is.
Zelda was actually suffering from a severe and untreated case of spinal meningitis, a disease that wouldn’t cause nearly that level of suffering if it had been treated successfully. It’s possible that the film-makers decided to omit the specific illness because those symptoms would be so rare for somebody with the sickness who was being treated.
Derry, Maine
It’s actually kind of hilarious to realize that one of the most well-known towns in Maine is probably the fictional town of Derry, but since it is the location of so many of Stephen King’s stories, it’s a name that plenty of people have heard again and again.
Although Pet Sematary doesn’t take place in Derry, the film decided to pay a little nod to the famous horror town by including a road sign saying “Derry - 20 mi.” in a brief car scene with the characters. It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, but a great nod nonetheless.
There Wasn’t Just One Church
The Creed family is the central focus of the story of Pet Sematary, but as you might guess from the very title of the piece, pets play a vital role in the story as well. Winston Churchill (abbreviated to Church) is the Creed’s family cat, and the first member of the family to experience the death and resurrection that the mysterious burial ground offers.
Church really had to act his little feline behind off for the movie, which is presumably why the production didn’t just use one cat. In fact, five cats wound up playing Church throughout the movie.
Church Is A Pretty Exotic Beast
In the United States, one of the most popular breeds of cat is the American shorthair, but there are other breeds that are somewhat popular in America and around the world.
While Church could have been any type of cat breed, the film-makers understandably decided to choose a squad of Maine Coon cats to play Church in this adaptation of Pet Sematary. It was a clear homage to the setting of the movie, but finding almost half a dozen identical Maine Coon cats was quite a challenge!
Cujo
Stephen King is probably the most prolific horror writer of all time, and the popularity of his works is so great that everyone in the world will probably have some passing familiarity with at least a few of his stories. Since there have been so many different adaptations of Stephen King stories (plus the fact that nearly everything he writes takes place in the same location), it’s always fun to insert a few references to his other tales.
So, it’s easy to miss, but at Ellie’s birthday party, Jud can be overheard talking about a rabid Saint Bernard. Most savvy viewers would recognize the reference immediately: it’s Cujo!
The Beginning Spoils The End
The end of Pet Sematary concludes with a pretty dark but still somewhat mysterious cliffhanger, wherein Gage is the only surviving member of the Creed family, but it seems like his survival isn’t going to last for very long. However, as most people who have seen the movie would realize, the very beginning of the film shows the aftermath of the entire Creed family massacre.
If you’ve only watched it once, you probably didn’t catch it, but the beginning scene is slightly different from the grisly action we see at the very end of the film. At the start, there is a small bloody hand print on the car window, which would imply that Gage has already been killed.
The Wendigo Myth Matters
The film doesn’t go into much detail about the myth of the Wendigo and what it means. In terms of the actual story, the only real relevance of the Wendigo is that it can reanimate the dead but also appears to be possessing them, so the resurrected Church, Ellie, and Rachel that we see are just parts of the Wendigo itself.
However, the legend has some metaphorical relevance to this story in particular. It’s a creature that can only survive on human flesh, but eating it makes it bigger, and therefore increases it’s appetite. So, then, it makes sense that the Wendigo takes root in Church, then draws Ellie into the road and overtakes her small body, then Ellie kills Rachel, and then they both finally overtake Louis.
This Film Even Shocked Readers Of The Book
So, if you’re one of the many who probably saw this movie without having read the book first, then you likely didn’t notice that the movie made a shocking adjustment from the novel. In the novel, it’s Gage who is hit and killed by the truck, whereas in this film adaptation it’s Ellie.
There are a few reasons why this change worked so well. Firstly, it adds an element of surprise, even for those who already knew the story (a rare thing for film adaptations). Secondly, while losing Gage would be a tragic blow, having the older child in the family be the one to die allowed for the actors to really play around with the scary Ellie elements a lot more.
