Pet Sematary 2 (Mary Lambert, 1992, USA)

Arriving in 1992, a year which brought a considerable downturn in Stephen King's cinematic reputation (see: The Lawnmower Man, Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice, Sleepwalkers), Pet Sematary 2 perhaps was seen as having the most potential of any of these projects. Bringing back Mary Lambert into the director's chair and pairing her with the star of the biggest movie of 1992 - Edward Furlong - could have been something to talk about. For whatever reason, the resulting film does not succeed on any level. It does, however, provide some insane imagery.

Moving the production from Maine to Georgia (though still set in Maine), Pet Sematary 2 dispenses with the cast of the original film (odd considering the daughter in the original film would have been the lone survivor...). Instead, we are treated to Edward Furlong as Jeff Matthews, a teenage boy with a veterinarian father who has just lost his actress mother in a freak accident. The other main character is Drew (Jason McGuire), the stepson of the town's abusive sheriff, played by Clancy Brown. Clancy Brown is one of the few elements that make the film worth watching, as his performance is so over-the-top that it is almost purely comedic.

While it is clear that Lambert intended the film to be a horror-comedy, the film never goes fully into horror-comedy as it should, resulting in a very weird film (some of the scenes will be burned into the audience's memory forever). It is too bad that the film did not succeed, as there is much to mine for sequel material in King's original novel. One other thing the film has going for it is the excellent grungey soundtrack, with tracks from bands like L7 and the Jesus and Mary Chain, as well as other credits track from The Ramones.

4/10