I've been waiting quite awhile to review Pet Sematary 2 and I figured there wouldn't be a better time than after my interview with Jason McGuire who plays "Drew Gilbert" in the film. Jason gave us some fun info from behind the scenes. View his interview here.
           It was inevitable a sequel would be made to Stephen King's Pet Sematary which was released three years earlier in 1989. Stephen King adaptions are notorious for spawning sequels, usually many sequels, so when Pet Sematary 2 was announced I wasn't surprised. I was excited to see where the story would be taken after the Creeds were dead and the story seemed to be at an end. Obviously, the story was just beginning.

           We find ourselves back in Ludlow, Maine where the original atrocities occurred. (If they would've set the plot in a different city with a different Pet Sematary which held resurrection powers, I would've drown myself in my jumbo Coca-Cola after burning the theater down.) The Sematary is alive and well (pardon the pun) and still churning out mentally disturbed, almost-dead animals and of course, the occasional human. Before seeing the Sematary, we get a quick glimpse of the old Creed residence which was a raging ball of fire at the end of the previous film. I sometimes wonder if the filmmakers might have forgotten this crucial aspect because the house looks more like it's suffering from old age more than a previous inferno. The Sematary, on the other hand, is almost an exact replica of the original. Even the Indian burial ground amazed me in it's stunning resemblance to the original. Well done.

           The acting is sub-par if you ask me. Most Stephen King adaptions are but some of the chosen actors are downright embarrassing. I guess I can't be too hard on the acting, most of the ones I'm referring to are the parts that are one step above being considered an extra. Just their mouth opening warrants a slap. The main characters do quite a good job besides Edward Furlong. This part was far too complex for his lack of experience. Yes, he just finished filming Terminator 2 and was quite good, but that part didn't require him to slowly start loosing his mind and go all shit brained. Sorry Edward, you could probably pull it off now (if you'd get off the damn narcotics) but it was a bit off in 1992. Jason McGuire did an excellent job as Dew Gilbert, the "flabby-ass" outcast who befriends Furlong. For his age, I was fully impressed.

           The resurrected dog "Zowie" was an amazingly trained animal. I still can't figure out how they got him to limp, as if in excruciating pain, while looking scary as hell at the same time. And some of the faces that dog made are just twisted. Here is his "I just got laid out in the forest by a bitch with three legs and an infected tit" look. (See shit-eating grin here) And here is his "leave me alone! the bitch gave me herpes!" look. (See desperate anger here) Zowie... you're a stud.

           Overall, this is a typical sequel to a Stephen King adaption. It has goods and it had bads. I've always liked it but it might be because I'm a whore for anything even remotely related to Stephen King. If you enjoyed the first Pet Sematary, I recommend picking up a copy of the second.
           Someone get Zowie some itch cream!