Ryan Young has an article at examiner.com that discusses the Pet Sematary Blu-ray treatment, as well as offering his personal insights on the movie.
Concerning the film itself, I think it is safe to say that Mr. Young is not a fan. He suggests that the film at certain points the film nearly crosses over into "comedic territory." He finds the acting campy (other than Fred Gwynne) and states he does not think it "feels" like a movie.
I thought it was a good movie. I didn't approach it looking for Star Wars -- it was just a fun horror movie. Now what's disappointing is to approach Star Wars (say, Episode 1) expecting Star Wars and come away with. . . whatever that was. Anyway, the acting in Pet Sematary seems just fine to me. In fact, I thought it was pretty good. I note that because I've heard others complain about the acting. Oh well -- to each his own -- I liked it.
I think in terms of story, Young is right when he concludes, " the film is haunting in several areas, it doesn't quite live up to the terror the book so adequately provided."
The Blu-ray does not offer any new special features. I find that disappointing. I already have the collectors edition with all of the special features that are just transferred over to the Blu-ray.
So what does the Blu-ray offer? Young notes two things that he enhance the movie in the Blu-ray format. First the visual 1010p, though "not perfect" has brightened the picture and added clarity to particularly dark scenes. "Unquestionably," Young says, "the film has never looked better, but it could still use further enhancement."
Second, he is excited about the audio soundtrack. Young writes, "from Church's screeching first re-appearance since his burial and the rush of the freight trucks barrelling down the road. The audio is nicely displaced among all the speakers of a surround system, with specific clarity never before heard."
Young concludes that perhaps Pet Sematary wasn't a film that really needed to be brought to Blu-ray, but benefits from it none-the-less. Kind of a funny thought, right? Telling a movie, "You don't deserve to look that good. . . but boy howdy, you sure do look good these days!"
Young's full article "Stephen King's 'Pet Sematary' benefits from a Blu-ray upgrade" can be found HERE.
To be fair, I can’t quite understand where Young is coming from either. Pet Semetary strikes me as one of those films that transcends its flaws and maybe succeeds because of them. It’s a film I’d lump alongside the Exorcist, and for one reason. Both are films (one reasonably good, the other classic) that I would watch once, and then never see again. This has happened to me with the Excorcist…Sorry.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally Reverend, below is a link for a Christianity Today article titled “Meaning to the Madness: Halloween's a-comin', so it's cosmic horror vs. sacred terror on the big screen.”
It has an interesting take on horror, on film and page, utilizing two of the genre’s best, Lovecraft and Arthur Machen.
That’s not the best part, the best part is: King gets a mention.
Here’s a sample with interesting observation of Stan Kubrick’s the Shining: "King's work is an interesting mix of "cosmic horror" and "holy terror." The tensions between the two are what make his work so rich—but it gives modern horror directors fits, and they often miss the point. Stanley Kubrick's wrestling with adapting The Shining illustrates the point. In Kubrick's version, the father (Jack Nicholson) is turned into a psycho killer driven to ultimate despair by the demons of the hotel."
I hope that’s enough to whet the appetite. Feel free to make whatever use of this article you want, hell, make a blog entry on it, although don’t listen to me.
Here’s the link, just copy and enter in search engine for more:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/october-web-only/meaning-to-madness.html?start=3
Enjoy.
ChrisC
That picture reminds me, I laughed so hard last week when South Park used Jud Crandall again in the latest episode. How many times have they used him now? At least 4 times from what I've seen. Fred Gwynne's acting must've left an impression on the SP people
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