"Pet Graveyard" is a Hollywood horror film that has received a lot of attention this year, adapted from Stephen King's novel, and after the release of the old 1989 movie, it received unanimous praise. This time, Paramount restarted the popular IP, which aroused the expectations of many movie fans.
If you have seen the novel and the 1989 version of the film, I am afraid that you will be disappointed this time. After the release of the new version of "Pet Graveyard", the response was mediocre, and the box office did not meet expectations. Most fans in the mainland also believe that the new version has many problems, in addition to the more profound core of the novel, the film is lackluster in both the creation of a horror atmosphere and the shaping of characters, and the film has become a tasteless chicken rib.
In addition to making appropriate modifications to the relationship between the characters in the novel and the old version of the movie, "Pet Graveyard" is almost a traditional American horror film, relying on a startling soundtrack and a sudden flash of scenes to create a thriller, the degree of horror is difficult to enter the mind, flashing, and forgetting. The whole film is not a big problem in the story, but the motivation of the characters is relatively vague, the result is first, you can guess the general development when you see half of it, and the director's lack of execution and creativity makes the film too conservative, and there is indeed not much brilliant place.
The film tells the strange experience of the family of Louis, a doctor whose family moved to the countryside. This more isolated town hides a mysterious force, and among the ethnic minority detention areas, there is a place called "animal cemetery" where locals bury their dead pets. This magical place can bring dead animals back to life and reunite pets with their owners.
Guided by his neighbors, Louis resurrected the cat who had been killed by the crash in the house. The originally happy things gradually spiral out of control, and the resurrected cat becomes manic and aggressive, making people fearful and losing their former meekness.
Louis had to abandon the cat, which led to a series of tragedies. The daughter was killed under the wheel because she was looking for a cat. Louis, who lost his beloved daughter, buried his daughter's body in an "animal cemetery" in an attempt to replicate the resurrection of his pet cat.
The next day, the dead daughter did return home, Louis was surprised and delighted, and he gradually realized that the daughter was no longer what she used to be, and his heart seemed to live in the devil. This resurrection is not a miracle, but a curse. His wife, his infant son, was involved in this horrific "resurrection", and the Louis family was dragged into the abyss of hell because of the resurrection of their daughter.
After dissecting the new version of "Pet Graveyard", it was found that the film obviously borrowed from the "haunted house" used in Hollywood horror movies, as well as classic elements such as "bad boys". The ghostly "pet cemetery" makes Louis's new home always seem dangerous, and with the deepening of Louis's sleepwalking symptoms, there is always a potential connection between Louis's home and the "animal cemetery". Coupled with the resurrection of the "ghost" cat wandering in the home, so that the original warm home stained with a touch of evil color.
The home becomes a "haunted house", and the enclosed space can inspire many horror elements and provide a steady stream of frightening foreshadowing. As one of the important scenes of "Pet Graveyard", most of the shock in the first half of the film is placed at home.
At the climax of the second half of the film, the resurrected daughter obviously borrows from the "ghost child" theme that has emerged in Hollywood in recent years. The contrast and hidden threat of the gentle little girl mutate the bloodthirsty demon make the little daughter's every appearance with a horror atmosphere, and the emotional scene between the daughter and the father is also the focus of the film's theme. As a doctor, Louis often feels lost and blamed for the death of his patients. Louis, who has witnessed too many deaths but cannot let go, after losing his daughter, has made a decision to break the cycle of life and death, and the natural cycle of behavior can be seen from his attitude towards patients from the beginning.
In Louis's conversation with his wife, he also found that he questioned religious comfort, advocating rationality, he only focused on life and death, and without religious troubles, he would do "resurrection" against heaven. The theme of "Pet Graveyard" is the human view of "life and death". The film includes a side story of Louis's wife's memories of her sister. My sister died at an early age because of myelitis. As a sister, she can live the rest of her life in peace, but her sister suffers from illness, which makes her always feel guilty and worried about her sister's death.
Although it is difficult to let go of death, Louis's wife is unusually repulsive to the resurrection of the "dead", and the creation of such a side story is to contrast with Louis's demons and introduce another point of view into the film's "life and death" discussion. Therefore, the development of Louis's wife's side story is actually very important for the film, and it also creates a good thriller scene, which is one of the few and more successful narrative highlights of the film.
From the resurrection of pets to the resurrection of loved ones, "Pet Graveyard" deepens the horror and ethical depth. Greedy life, fear of death, inability to treat death correctly, and even a vain attempt to reverse the laws of nature will inevitably encounter new ethical and practical dilemmas. Human life is actually learning how to face death, and as we grow older, we need to look down on life and death, rather than greed.
From ancient times to the present, too many people, even emperors and saints, have fallen into a cycle of terror because they cannot face death, causing countless tragedies. "Pet Graveyard" expresses the shadows and traumas from the family or personal past, and gradually escalates and pressures through the entanglement of crisis situations, allowing characters to choose between reason and emotion.
This makes "Pet Graveyard" not just a simple horror film, but also has a clear classical allegory and indoctrination theme. But because it is handled too commercially, the film loses its theme that is worth digging into, and weakens the shocking power of Stephen King's novel.
Of course, aside from novels and old movies, the 2019 version of "Pet Graveyard" is lackluster, but this scary place can still bring impact, and the display of "animal cemetery" is quite novel, still up to the level of commercial films, and it is a good choice to kill time.