Pet Sematary is one of the most popular horror novels by Stephen King. It follows the Creed family, including Louis, Rachel, and their two children, Ellie and Gage, moving into the small town of Ludlow, Maine. The story has many twists and turns that start after the family's cat, Church, dies and is resurrected by a strange cemetery known as Pet Sematary.
The novel has been adapted into two films. It was first adapted by Mary Lambert in 1989 and again in 2019 by Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer. While all three versions have the same premise, there are some significant differences in the way the story plays out in each of them.
So, let's look at the biggest differences in the 2019 Pet Sematary from the original 1989 movie and Stephen King's book.
Time Period
The novel makes it clear that the story of Pet Sematary is happening over an entire year as the Creed family goes through all four seasons. The 1989 film also shows the passage of time to some extent through Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations. However, in the 2019 film, all the events seem to be happening too quickly in a month or two.
Why it Matters
Since the Creed family has moved to a whole new place, it is important for the characters to get used to their new home. Compared to the other two versions, the 2019 film does not do a very good job of allowing the audience to see the growth of the main characters in their new environment. Instead, various creepy events start happening with the Creed family all at once as soon as they move to Ludlow. Overall, the novel does the best job of describing the entire time period.
Moving Houses
All versions of Pet Sematary show the Creed family moving to the rural town of Ludlow, Maine. It happens when Dr. Louis Creed gets a job at the University of Maine, so he decides to move to Maine with his wife, Rachel, two children, Ellie and Gage, and Ellie's cat, Church. A key difference is that in the book and the original movie, the family is moving from Chicago, while the 2019 film shows them moving from Boston.
Why it Matters
While the reboot has made a very small change in depicting that the Creed family is moving from Boston instead of Chicago, it shows that the family has moved from a faraway area, and they are completely out of their comfort zone in Ludlow.
Moreover, the book and the 1989 film focus on how the move is supposed to be a fresh start for the family, but the 2019 film gives a significantly better explanation. It shows that Louis decided to move his entire family because he wanted to spend more time with them and have a stable job at the university instead of spending long hours in the ER. While this certainly sounds like an ideal situation, Louis did not know that the move would eventually destroy his entire family.
Norma Crandall's Death
A major change in both the original 1989 movie and the 2019 remake is that Norma Crandall is dead long before the films even begin. The novel describes Norma's fight with severe arthritis in great detail. These details also provide much-needed insight into the Crandall household and play an integral role in the plot.
Why it Matters
The movies do not explain much about why Jud chooses to "help" Louis Creed by bringing the cat, Church, back to life through the cemetery, except that he felt bad for Ellie Creed. However, the book provides the context for his actions, where Louis, being an ER doctor, saves Norma's life from a heart attack with his quick actions.
So, Jud tries to repay him by taking him to the Pet Sematary and resurrecting Church. Instead of explaining Jud's actions and incorporating Norma's struggles, both movies have simply trimmed Norma's role down to that of a dead wife.
Pascow
Three versions of Pet Sematary have led to the creation of three different versions of Victor Pascow. The only thing that is similar in the three versions is the way in which Louis first meets Pascow. It happens as a result of an accident in which Pascow, a student at the university, is struck by a car and brought to the infirmary in critical condition. Just after Pascow dies, he quickly wakes up and calls Louis by his name, even though this is the first time he has met him. The original film uses Pascow as somewhat of a comic relief, but the 2019 film has multiple serious appearances by Pascow.
Why it Matters
The 2019 film is certainly a great improvement in the way the adaptations have handled the character of Victor Pascow. The original 1989 film had a serious and spooky tone, but Pascow's character added some comic relief, which seemed unnatural in the film. The film showed Pascow failing to warn Louis for some reason or another. On the other hand, in the 2019 film, Pascow's ghost appears to him multiple times, and he successfully warns him about the impending dangers, even though Louis does not heed these warnings.
Funerals
The book makes it clear that the Pet Sematary has the power to resurrect everyone buried in the mysterious ground. This theme is followed in both movies, but the exact power and influence of the cemetery over the locals are different in the three versions.
Stephen King makes it clear in his novel that the cemetery has the power to influence people to act strangely. The 2019 film is closer to this idea, as it has a scene where a group of children are marching towards the cemetery with their dead pets. However, the original 1989 film alludes to the fact that people are afraid of the cemetery, and there are no funerals held there.
Why it Matters
The novel and the 1989 movie make Pet Sematary look much more mysterious than the 2019 film. The preceding versions indicate that burying pets in the cemetery is quite uncommon, but the 2019 film makes it look like a common ritual due to the funeral march of children. Despite seeing such a strange funeral march, Louis does not think twice before burying Church in Pet Sematary.
Jud's Role
Jud is an integral character in all three versions of Pet Sematary. King, in his novel, mentions that Jud is 83 years old but seems to be much younger than his age to Louis. The 1989 movie portrays Jud as a lifelong bachelor, as there is no mention of his wife, Norma, in the film.
Moreover, the original movie introduces Jud to the Creed family when he saves Gage from getting hit by a truck. The 2019 film, however, introduces Jud when he meets Ellie inside the cemetery. The audience can see more of Jud Crandall in the 2019 film's prequel, Pet Sematary Bloodlines.
Why it Matters
The novel and the 1989 movie immediately establish Jud as a caring and sympathetic character who grows fond of the Creed family. However, the 2019 film initially tries to make Jud look like a mysterious or even dangerous man. Ultimately, Jud has the same intentions in all three versions, and that is to help the Creed family by resurrecting the Church, but even his good intentions lead to the destruction of the family.
Zelda's Death
relaThe novel and the two movies show Rachel's sister, Zelda, suffering from severe spinal meningitis that ends up twisting her body. Zelda choked to death in the book and the 1989 movie, but the 2019 film depicts a much more violent death when Zelda falls down a dumb waiter.
Another key difference is that Zelda's death only gives Rachel a phobia of death in the novel and the original movie. However, the 2019 movie makes it look like Zelda is haunting the Creed family, which blurs the line whether Rachel is traumatized or is actually being haunted by her sister's ghost.
Why it Matters
Zelda's death and its impact on Rachel are a vital part of all three versions of Pet Sematary. Nevertheless, the 2019 film makes this subplot much more interesting by depicting Zelda's death in a more violent way and making her appear throughout the film. It enhances the overall scary element of the film and also gives Rachel a much more engaging storyline.
Church
A significant change in the 2019 Pet Sematary is that Church is not neutered like in the novel and the original movie, where Louis gets the cat neutered to their close proximity to a dangerous road. This is an important detail, as neutering would have made the Church mellow, and changes in its personality after the resurrection would have been more prominent.
Another major change is that Louis kills Church again in the book and the 1989 movie with a lethal injection. However, in the 2019 film, Louis is not able to kill the cat, so he simply drives Church out to the middle of nowhere.
Why it Matters
Louis' decision to abandon the Church instead of killing it for good changes the entire storyline. Church eventually comes back, and as soon as Ellie spots him at her birthday party, she runs towards him, but a truck ends up killing her.
Ellie Dies While Gage Lives
The most noticeable change between the three versions is that the novel and the 1989 film show the toddler Gage getting killed by a truck when he wanders to the highway while his parents are distracted. However, in the 2019 film, Gage is very close to being hit by a truck before Louis catches him, but the cargo from the truck comes loose and ends up killing Ellie. Stephen King
Why it Matters
Killing Ellie instead of Gage is a significant change. It changes the story's "villain" as it is the resurrected Ellie who starts to hurt and kill her own family towards the end of the film. Jud is also killed by Ellie, and not Gage, in the 2019 film.
Timmy Batterman's Resurrection
Timmy Batterman is an important part of the novel and the original movie. His character is a cautionary tale to elaborate on the dangers of the Pet Sematary and why no one should be using it to resurrect their loved ones.
According to the novel and the 1989 movie, Timmy Batterman died in WWII, but when his father resurrected him through the cemetery, he came back like a zombie. Jud, in his younger years, stopped him by burning down the house. However, the 2019 film completely ignores the tale of Timmy Batterman.
Why it Matters
The 2019 version of Pet Sematary missed a significant opportunity by excluding Timmy Batterman from the film. He is featured in the latest prequel film, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, so mentioning Timmy in the film would have created a much better connection between the movies and also made the audience more curious to learn about the origins and history of the malevolent cemetery.
Louis and Jud's Relation
In the novel, Jud becomes a father figure to Louis. They share a very close bond that does not translate well in either of the two films. The 1989 movie does try to touch upon this close relationship, but Jeff Buhler, the screenwriter of the 2019 film, excluded this aspect from the film due to time constraints.
Why it Matters
The difference in the depiction of the relationship between Louis and Jud shows that the adaptations typically do have to sacrifice one element or another to tell the primary story. People who have read the Pet Sematary novels are likely to get more attached to Jud as he's closer to the Creed family. On the other hand, the film versions are not very successful in bringing any serious emotion towards the character of Jud, or even when he is killed by Gage in the 1989 movie and Ellie in the 2019 film.
Ending
The novel has an ambiguous ending, in which Rachel returns late at night after getting resurrected and puts her hand on Louis' shoulder. The 1989 movie makes it clear that Rachel attacks Louis with a knife at the very end of the film.
However, the 2019 film completely changes the ending by depicting Rachel killing Louis and burying him in the cemetery. At the end of the 2019 film, Rachel, Ellie, Church, and Louis are all resurrected versions of themselves, and they approach the car in which Gage, the only surviving member of the Creed family, is sitting.
Why it Matters
Since Ellie is the one who dies and gets resurrected in the 2019 Pet Sematary, the entire third act of the movie is quite different from the original film and the ending of the novel. Unlike the other two versions, the 2019 film has an elaborate ending that makes it clear that the burial ground destroys the entire Creed family. Since toddler Gage is the only surviving person at the end of the film, and he is clearly going to get hurt by his resurrected family, the ending of the 2019 movie is darker and gloomier than the other versions. Yet, Stephen King himself is a fan of these big changes in the 2019 film.
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