Pet Sematary (1989) Analysis & Recap: Goodnight Gage

So last time I told you a story about my deeply traumatic and life -altering experience at Six Flags that my dad forced me to partake in. And since it's Father's Day weekend, let me tell you another story, one that's even more life -altering. So about 10 years ago, my dad and I, we met up for lunch. And, you know, we're just catching up. It had been a while since we had hung out. And he's like, hey, so how's your girlfriend doing? And she and I had just broken up relatively recently. So I was like, oh, you know, that that shit's cooked, son.

He's like, I bet you talking to anybody new. And I was like, no, not really. Why do you have someone for me? And he's like, you know what? Maybe I do. And he hopped on his phone, pulled up to Facebook profiles. Yes, that's right. Facebook. And he showed me two young women. And I was like, hmm, okay. Of the two, I pointed out the one that I thought was more attractive. What's up with that one right there? And he's like, all right, I'm going to hit her up. I'm going to send her a message on Facebook.

And then I'll tell her that you're going to reach out. And I'm like, okay, sure. Like, I don't think anything's going to come from that. But he's like, nah, trust me. Like, you two have so much in common. I'm like, all right, bet. So the next morning at like 6 a .m., he messaged me like, hey, you know, I sent her a message and she says she's receptive to your reach now. So go ahead and do that. So I was like, all right. And dog, let me tell you, the message that I crafted and sent to this woman was so corny, so cringy.

I am embarrassed and ashamed to even tell you what it is. OK, like it is not reflective of. what I think is a relatively cool personality that I have, but she rolled with it. So we talked for a couple of weeks. Eventually we made plans to meet up for dinner one day and that day rolls around and I sent her a message like, hey, are we still good for tonight? Blah, blah, blah. Silence. A couple more hours go by. I'm like, hey, just checking in. Haven't heard from you. Just want to make sure we're still good.

Silence. So I'm like, damn, that's crazy. She straight up ghosted me, bro. And I was like, dad, the fuck? You set me up for failure, son. But I'm also like a normal human being. So I didn't like blow her phone up or anything like that. I was like, OK, she wasn't feeling it for whatever reason. She doesn't owe me an explanation. It would have been nice to receive one. But hey, you know, you do your thing. And three months. Later, I get a text out of the blue from her just saying so about that dinner dot dot dot.

And I literally looked at my phone and laughed, bro. I was like, ain't no way that she's trying to spin the block on me right now. Hell nah. I just said something like, hey, you know, no worries. All good. But I'm good on that kind of deal. And that was that. And then like a week later, my dad and I, we meet up to go play pool with my cousin as well. And I was like, hey, you remember that girl that you tried to hook me up with? She hit me up out of the blue talking about that dinner. He's like, well, what'd you say?

I'm like, what did I say? I said, hell no. Which mean what'd I say? He was like, well, you know, it might be worth it to give her a chance. I was like, why on earth would I do that? She had her chance and she blew it. He's like, okay, that's the choice you want to make. But if it was me. I'd hear her out. I was like, no. But then I thought about it a little bit. I was like, maybe I should try to be a mature person. I'm like 25 at this point or almost 25. And I was like, all right, let me not hold a grudge.

People go through different things, whatever. So I hit her back up and I was like, hey, how about we start over? Let's meet up for dinner at this place at this time. She's like, all right, bet. Now, this time I hit her up to confirm that we're still on and she actually responds and says, yes, she'll be there. But I still am feeling a little reticent. So I didn't really try my hardest. Like I picked like a very medium kind of restaurant. I showed up wearing like chinos and converse, like a beanie, like hella casual.

And I considered going Dutch, but I didn't go that far. But we get there. And remember, my dad said we had so much in common. And as we're eating dinner, it is so awkward, bro. Like the conversation is not flowing at all. We don't seem to have anything in common. I was like, OK, this is a total fail. We wrap up dinner and for whatever reason, I'm just like, all right, let's just try one more thing. There is a bar down the street. Let's go check it out. And she's like, OK, again, I don't know why she said yes either, because we.

Had nothing in common. This date was so bad. But for whatever reason, at this bar, something changed. And maybe we were both just like so tense because of the whole way that we started this interaction with the ghosting and shit. But at this bar, we were so relaxed. We were chill. I mean, I guess alcohol helps. We're like laughing. We're playing games. And then we start to find like common ground. She's like, hey, I bet you I can tell you the exact number of steps it would take me to get to that bathroom over there.

And I was like, no, you can't. She was like 42. And then she proceeded to like walk over and it was like 42 steps. And I was like, oh, my God, is she a psychic? What is this? This is crazy. And we stayed out until like 2 a .m. when the bars closed and we stayed in the parking lot talking until like 3 a .m. After that, just like having a good time. like she dared me that i wouldn't be able to like climb the ladder around the back part of one of these restaurants to get on top of the roof and i was like are you kidding me you don't think i'm athletic watch this and i scaled that shit son and she was like oh wow that's crazy and then six months later i proposed and now we have four kids so yeah thanks dad good work on that um that assist I guess that makes up for making me traumatized and fearful of heights for the rest of my life.

But it's OK, because now I have the love of my life. So happy Father's Day. And now we've got a fictional father to talk about. I'm Brandon O. This is Terrorific, and we're chopping up 1989's Pet Sematary. Welcome back to the place where it's perpetually spooky season. This episode is brought to you by DFW Landscaping Services, your experts for complete outdoor solutions in the Dallas -Fort Worth Metroplex. From routine mowing to full front and backyard transformations, they keep your curb appeal sharp and your weekends free.

Their team specializes in custom hardscapes, vibrant flower and tree beds, and total lawn care tailored to the North Texas climate. They believe in being built for Texas and designed for living. Reach out to Matt and Cody today for a free quote at 469 -389 -0333. or visit them online at LandscapingServicesDFW .com. Once again, that's 469 -389 -0333. Let's build something great together. But this season is all about breaking down the horror film adaptations of the works of my favorite author, Stephen King.

So be sure you're following the show on IG. That handle is at Terrific Podcast. Because every Thursday leading up to a new episode, I post a clue to what movie that episode will cover. And if you guess correctly, I will shout you out in that next episode. This week's clue was a photo of Winston Churchill. Now, personally, I must have been asleep in history class because I had no idea what this dude looked like until I googled him. And then at that point, I was like, maybe I'm in the minority here.

So I asked some friends if they recognized him. And most didn't. Only one person did. Someone even thought it was Alfred Hitchcock. And he wasn't alone because once I posted it on IG, several more Hitchcocks rolled in. However, there were apparently a decent number of people who were paying attention in history class and have since retained recognition of these historical figures. So let's kick off our shout out list with Chelsea. She is the co -host of the podcast It Came From The Maritimes, along with her brother Evan, where they talk about Atlantic Canada folklore, including stories of supernatural specters and cryptid sightings.

Then we had Maggie, who's been in this shout out list before, co -host of the horror movie recap podcast Skipper Scream, along with her sister Cassie, where they asked the question, is the scream worth the stream? And after that, we had a few first timers. So Jackie Quinn, she's a dope creator of comic books and illustrated fiction. Rick from The Whole Damn Enchilada, which is a podcast slash YouTube channel that covers everything related to horror movies. including new releases, classics, unboxings, etc. And of course, if you have been listening to this season, I'm sure you can guess whose name I'm about to say next.

We have Missy, co -host of the podcast Grimly, along with Meg, and they cover the creepy and unexplained from true crime to urban legends and haunted histories, all while cracking jokes and throwing a middle finger to the patriarchy. and the person currently occupying the White House, which I support 100%. Them throwing the middle finger, that is. Not the person in the White House. Wow, let me definitely clarify that. That would have been awkward. And I know I'm only with you for about an hour every two weeks, so if you're ever feeling lonely and these other podcasts sound interesting to you, Be sure to check out the show notes for this episode because I'll include all their handles to their socials, links to some of their recent projects, including collaborations that they have done with me, like an episode with Skipper Scream, we talked about the movie Match, and an episode with Grimly where we talked about Grave Encounters.

And last but not least, and I'm sorry, I know you're getting antsy waiting for us to get into Pet Cemetery after that long -ass cold open and now this long -ass roll call, but... I got to shout this person out because they have been trying to get an organic earned shout out this entire time. OK, it's been like 10 weeks now and they got one for Mother's Day out of pity. But this time it was earned. So shout out to my mother for correctly identifying Winston Churchill. and making the connection to pet cemetery i texted her on wednesday before i made the post i was like you ready for your guest tomorrow and she was like i'm just gonna guess pet cemetery for the rest of the season and i should have made this the season finale movie just so she could guess for 10 more weeks just to show how committed she really is but i don't want to be that much of a of a troll so Congratulations mom, you got your shout out, you earned it, good work.

And now, let's get into it. Pet Sematary was directed by Mary Lambert, who prior to this was known for directing some of Madonna's top music videos including Like a Prayer and Material Girl, but her other horror directorial credits include 1992's Pet Sematary 2, 2005's Urban Legends, Bloody Mary, and 2007's The Attic. Pet Sematary's screenplay was written by Stephen King himself, adapted from the 1983 novel of the same name. The cast includes Dale Midkiff as Louis Creed, Fred Gwynn as Judd Crandall, Denise Crosby as Rachel Goldman Creed, Miko Hughes as Gage Creed, Blaze Berdahl as Ellie Creed, that's a badass name, Blaze, for a little girl too, respect parents, and Brad Greenquist as Victor Pascal.

The film rights to Pet Sematary were originally sold to George A. Romero in 1984 for $10K, but he had to pull out due to a conflict with another project. At this time, appetite for another Stephen King adaptation was pretty low after the run of so many of his adaptations in the late 70s to mid -80s, including Carrie, Cujo, Firestarter, Cat's Eye, Christine, and The Shining. But the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike caused Paramount Studios to reconsider because they were facing a possible shortage of new productions for 1989 release dates.

Pet Sematary had a budget of approximately $11 .5 million and grossed about $57 .5 million worldwide, but most of that worldwide box office haul came domestically. The film holds an average rating of 3 .2 on Letterboxd and I rated it a 3 .5 myself. The acting is a little tough at times, maybe a lot of times, but I really enjoyed how creepy the third act was. The film opens with a moving shot of a creepy ass cemetery with a bunch of grave markers for deceased pets. Next, we see a house without a fenced yard.

Listed as being recently sold, located right next to a road as an 18 -wheeler comes flying by. A station wagon pulls up to this house and that's when we are introduced to our main family, the Creeds. They consist of parents, Louis and Rachel, kids Ellie and Gage, plus their cat, Winston Churchill. The family has just moved to Maine from Chicago because Louis is a doctor and he's gotten a new job as like the head doctor or whatever at the local college. The family begins exploring the property and Ellie notices a tire swing hanging from one of the branches of the tall tree in the yard and she promptly hops on it and as she swings she notices that there's a path leading into the woods behind the house.

But the rope snaps, causing Ellie to fall to the ground and she's crying in pain. While her parents tend to her, her little brother Gage, who's about two years old and Ellie's about five, he wanders off unattended and ends up pretty close to the road as a truck is rapidly approaching. But luckily he gets scooped up at the last second by Judd Crandall, the Creed's new neighbor who lives across the street. Later that night, after the kids are asleep, Louis walks across the road to Judd's house where he is sitting on his porch and they crack open a couple of beers.

Another big rig comes speeding by and Judd tells Louis that the road is hella dangerous and that it and the trucks are the main reason the path into the woods exists. That path leads to a pet cemetery. Judd says dogs and cats are constantly getting smacked and Lewis mentions Ellie's cat, Winston Churchill aka Church for short, and Judd says that he should get him fixed because fixed cats tend to wander less and if he does wander, eventually he's going to get hit by a truck. But in my opinion, instead of the nut chopping suggestion or at least in addition to it, Maybe Judge should have thrown out the idea of putting a fence around the yard as well.

But the next day he takes the family on a little hike to the cemetery which gets Ellie thinking about death and how Church will inevitably die. Which is pretty heavy shit to think about for a five year old. And Judd is the one talking to her about all this trying to say that hey you know death isn't so bad and blah blah blah. I'm like bro if that were my kid and some random ass neighbor that we just met 24 hours ago was trying to talk to my child about something as serious as death. I'd be like bro you gotta chill out a little bit.

Let us her parents handle this in the manner we see fit but. Hey, you know, to each their own, I guess. The following morning, Lewis gets ready for his first day at his new gig, and he takes Church with him to drop off to get neutered on the way. And boy, oh boy, does this first day start off with a bang. A group of people come barreling in, carrying a man who was hit by a truck while he was jogging. and lewis is like oh shit like looking at this dude his skull is fractured he is totally cooked lewis does what he can while the rest of the staff preps to have the man transported to a different hospital that has like a better equipped trauma center or whatever but the patient seemingly dies however the dude then pops up and creepily says the soil of a man's heart is stonier lewis One, what the fuck does that even mean?

And two, Lewis is like, how the fuck do you know my name? And this dude says, I'll come to you before dying for real. And he does indeed come to Lewis as a ghost later that night, telling him to follow him. He says he wants to help because Lewis tried to save him. He beats him down the path to the pet cemetery. And I got to be honest, I would not do that shit, whether this is like reality or a waking dream or whatever. There's no way in hell I'm following a ghost man whose head in his fractured skull is like all exposed and flapping around and having me follow him into the woods at night to a cemetery.

That's what they do in Maine. Big pass, my boy, big pass. But Louis is made of stronger stuff than me, I guess, because he does indeed journey into the cemetery and the ghost dude warns him that there is an area beyond the cemetery that Louis should not venture into, no matter how badly he feels like he must, because that's where the dead walk and the ground is sour. dog this is like the horror movie equivalent of being born with a silver spoon this dude is getting so many warnings to not do some fuck shit and i'm sure you already know that he is going to do some fuck shit but at this moment he's like okay i'm kind of over this whole ghostly conversation so he just lays down on the ground in the middle of the cemetery and eventually awakens in his bed And he thinks it was all a dream until he pulls the covers back and reveals his dirty ass muddy feet.

But the muddy feet actually may not be the dirtiest thing in his bed right now because this fool went to sleep wearing his scrubs, dawg. Like, you already were faced with like a crisis earlier with this dude with his broken head coming in. Who knows what other shit you came into contact with. And then you come home. Lay down in your bed next to your wife wearing these scrubs. That is disgusting. And I would be pissed if I was Rachel, bro. Like, what the fuck are you doing, Louis? Thanksgiving rolls around and Rachel takes the kids to fly back to Chicago to spend it with her parents.

And Louis stays behind. He gets a phone call from Judd who tells him there's a dead cat in his yard and he thinks it may be church. lewis heads over and confirms that it is indeed church and he's like all frozen and frosted and stuck to the ground and shit lewis wonders how or if he'll break the news to ellie but judd tells him there's a better way and leads him to the area behind the pet cemetery that is one blocked off it's almost like a dam of fallen trees and branches And it basically screams, hey, don't go this way.

And then two, this is the exact area that the ghost dude warned Louis not to venture into. But once Louis and Judd climb over this dam, they go deeper into the forest and they hear some creepy ass sounds that sound like animals, like bird calls and stuff. But also something sounds wrong about them. And this is a fucking trek, bro. It's low key impressive that old ass Judd could navigate all this uneven terrain. He's like climbing these trees, climbing rocks, climbing steep hills. Bro has to be pushing like 75.

And he's just like, Lewis is the one that's struggling. They eventually arrive in a clearing that has some stones laid out in this wide circular pattern with intersecting lines and Judd says that it's an old Mi 'kmaq Native American burial ground. Lewis asks him why he brought him here to bury church and all he says is that he has his reasons. Judd says Lewis must dig the hole himself and bury church himself because each buries their own. Lewis' first strike with the pickaxe into the ground causes sparks to fly.

So there's a bunch of rocks or stones in this soil apparently. And it takes hours to get the job done. By the time he's finished, night has fallen. And Judd and Lewis head back home. As Lewis approaches his house, the phone begins to ring and he rushes to catch it but just misses it. And Judd warns him to keep what they did tonight a secret. He says typically women are the ones who are good at keeping secrets, but any woman with any good sense would say that she's never seen into a man's heart. And he says to Lewis, the soil of a man's heart is stonier, Lewis, like the soil up there in the old Micmac burial ground.

Lewis of course recognizes this statement as being the same as the jogger told him as he was dying which means that the jogger has seen into the future. And I think at this moment Lewis first begins to think hmm did I just fuck up? Yes buddy you certainly did. I think one of the recurring themes of this film has to do with lying and how lying can exacerbate a bad situation and the more you lie to try to protect other people's feelings in your mind or you know cover up things that you've done the worse it makes things there are so many opportunities in this film for lewis to just be honest and just own up to what he's done or what he plans to do that could prevent so much pain and suffering But he really commits to the bit.

Louis assumes that the call he just missed was from Rachel, so he calls her parents' house to get back in touch with them. And when Ellie is put on the phone, she asks about Church, like, right away. And he says he's fine, but hasn't seen him this evening. So this is him laying the groundwork for his lie about Church running away or getting lost. The next morning, Louis is raking leaves in the yard and goes to return the rake to the cellar or garage or whatever it is where he is greeted by a screeching church now with glowing yellow eyes and bro nearly shits himself which honestly is understandable.

But you know what's not understandable? Seeing a zombie cat and not immediately like torching it bro this motherfucker's eyes are like neon yellow dude like that is so unnatural and there has been no being or thing in the history of thingdom that has been a kind or benevolent being with glowing yellow eyes that hisses and screeches at you bro But Louis sets a bowl of food out for Church and picks him up when he comes to eat it so he can examine him, and he sees signs that Church has chewed his way out of the bag Louis buried him in.

Church then proceeds to claw the fuck out of Louis' face. As if the glowing yellow eyes weren't enough of a red flag, now we have actual violence. Louis then goes on to ask Judd, like, yo, what the fuck is happening? He can't wrap his head around, you know, a zombie cat. And he's trying to convince himself that he just unintentionally buried Church while he was still alive. And Judd mentions that, you know, you sure about that, buddy? Because Church's neck was broken. His body was all frozen to the ground and had to be peeled off.

Live things, that doesn't happen to them. And Judd then goes on to tell a story about how he encountered a dude as a kid who was half Mic Mac. And he told him about his beloved dog, Spot, how he had died and got caught in some barbed wire that led to an infection. And so this dude said, hey, why don't you try burying him in this special burial ground? And Judd did. And then Spot came back when Judd's mom was hanging laundry one day on the clothesline outside. and man's was still all bloody with the barbed wire wounds on him and he was aggressive growling out of character and it scared judd's mom to the point that she was like hey yo judd come get your dog that is savage bro imagine telling like your eight -year -old to come fend off this aggressive ass dog but spot died again that night and i was unclear if they like put him down or maybe just succumb to whatever wounds maybe reopened up or whatever.

But regardless, Judd buried him in the regular pet cemetery where he remained. But Judd tells Lewis that he wanted him to bury Church in the Micmac burial ground because he felt like Ellie is too young to truly understand death. bro the lack of boundaries is crazy like you've known this dude for like a few weeks or a month or whatever he's not your child's grandparents he's not your parents why are you allowing him to make these kind of decisions and impart these responsibilities upon himself to teach your children or make the decision for when it's time for your children to learn what death is and shit like lewis bro slacking but they've been having this conversation over beers at the kitchen table so when lewis asks if anyone has ever buried a person up there judd gets startled and knocks over his beer bottle as he says of course not real convincing there bro but rachel and the kids return home as lewis goes to the airport to pick him up and ellie asks if church is okay because she had a dream That he got hit by a truck and that Lewis and Judd buried him in the pet cemetery.

You know Stephen King loves his clairvoyant children. And of course Lewis lies again saying that Trish is fine. We're then introduced to a very minor character whose presence in this film only seems to be so that her death can... lead to a conversation between the other main characters so the family nanny named missy had been complaining about stomach pain in her like two scenes and we then see her write a suicide note saying she's sure that she has cancer and cannot face the pain before she hangs herself And as always, if you or anyone you know is struggling with thoughts of self -harm or suicide, please call or text 988 ASAP.

You are not alone and you do not have to suffer in silence. And actually, I take it back. Missy's death seems to have two purposes. One, to spark the conversations between the main characters. But secondly, so that Stephen King can make his own cameo because at her funeral, he plays the role of the minister. presiding over her burial. Later that night Ellie asks Louis if he thinks Missy went to heaven and he says yes while Rachel eavesdrops in tears from the kitchen. Rachel was notably absent from Missy's funeral because apparently she really struggles with dealing with death.

Rachel later comes to talk to Louis about why death frightens her so much. And she tells him the story about how her sister Zelda died from spinal meningitis when Rachel was about eight. But as she deteriorated, she was hidden away in the back bedroom like some shameful, dirty secret. And Rachel had to go in there to spoon feed her sometimes. And she absolutely hated it. She and her parents secretly wished that Zelda would just die. Not only because this would mean Zelda would no longer have to suffer, but also that the rest of the family would no longer have to suffer.

One day while their parents weren't home, Zelda started convulsing and choking as a result, so Rachel went in there and just watched as she died. She then ran out screaming, Zelda's dead, Zelda's dead, loud enough for the neighbors to hear, and they thought she was crying. But in reality, Rachel is pretty sure that she was laughing. And Lewis's takeaway from this entire story is that he now has another reason to dislike Rachel's parents because she shouldn't have been left in charge of Zelda who was also probably clinically insane by that point.

He's not wrong. The parents definitely fucked up on that one. But also your wife just told you that she indirectly killed her sister or at least allowed her sister to die. And your response is that, man, your parents suck. I think there's a lot more that needs to be unpacked here, Lewis. But Rachel sharing this is important because it gives us more insight into her psyche. and kind of contextualizes some of her actions that occur later on in the film this next scene is where shit really hits the fan though the family and judd are sitting outside having a nice little picnic it's a beautiful day the sun is shining there's a nice little breeze going lewis is flying a kite and judd is like hey let gage have a turn And so he does.

And him and Lewis have this really nice father -son bonding moment. It's super cute. Everything is going great until Gage drops the spool. And Ellie is like, it got away from him, that numb shit. And the adults just laugh. But bro, if my five -year -old said some shit like that, bro, ain't no way. First of all, where are you even learning this? Because you're not going to hear it from us. your parents and secondly we're definitely not going to be laughing and encouraging that kind of language all right we have to have a little conversation but these fools think it's hilarious and lewis like turns like look over at the table and they're all laughing meanwhile gage has his eyes on the prize he drops the spool to the kite he wants to get it back but since the wind is so breezy the kite is blowing away towards the road and therefore it is pulling the spool along with it eventually judd sees what's happening and alerts lewis like hey yo your son's getting close to the road there pal and rachel's like get the baby and lewis turns around is like oh and he races off trying to get to gage as a big rig comes barreling down the road and lewis is hauling ass A little too fast though because he trips and falls before he can get to Gage.

Gage grabs the spool but unfortunately he's standing in the middle of the road when he's able to grab it and the driver is distracted. By the time he looks up he can't stop in time and he runs Gage over. Yikes. After this tragic accident, Louis is sitting at the kitchen table looking at photos of Gage. He's still wearing his clothes that have Gage's blood splashed on him so this whole visual is very, very sad. Judd walks in and says that Rachel's sedative has finally kicked in so she's asleep. Ellie then comes in shortly afterwards holding a picture of her own.

Where she's pulling Gage in a wagon saying she's going to hold on to it until God lets Gage come back. And as she says this, a look of realization comes across Lewis's face. And you can see those wheels turning. Bro is definitely thinking about taking another trip up to the Mic Mac burial ground. But let me tell you about the biggest piece of shit in this entire movie. Bar none. hands down rachel's fucking dad okay at the funeral this motherfucker goes up to lewis and is like hey i knew this would happen i told rachel this would happen when y 'all first got married i told her she would have all the grief she could stand and then some he's telling him all this while lewis is standing next to the casket that his two -year -old son is lying in what a fucking piece of shit this honestly pissed me off bro like this level of disrespect this level of entitlement this level of narcissism this level of just being uncouth crazy unfathomable but wait there's more he tells lewis to rot in hell and then proceeds to punch him in the fucking face and kicks him while he's on the ground dog dog and like the fact that people are just sitting there like watching this unfold and like not trying to check him is crazy people don't step in until lewis pops up off the ground mad trying to get some get back and they're like hey man hey bro chill out this is your son's funeral get a hold of yourself what lewis needs to get a hold of himself okay and To make matters even worse, Rachel's dad like falls over during this whole kerfuffle and he like falls into the casket and knocks it over

onto the ground and Gage's tiny little arm is exposed and just fucks everybody up seeing this. Like real talk, Lewis gotta drag old dude outside and just immediately stomp him the fuck out. That is unacceptable. Unacceptable. There is a time and a place for everything and engaging in fisticuffs with your son -in -law, I would say doing so at your grandson's funeral is probably the worst time and place imaginable. And I understand that everybody grieves differently. That's fine and dandy, but come on, bro.

This is some crazy shit. When I saw that, I was like, wow. At first I was thinking, you know once i saw being mad i was like you know it's probably unrealistic right like no real person would ever behave like this and then i'm like you know what i don't know there are some wild ass people out there who like to make themselves the main character a lot of the time so this is definitely plausible i think and yeah that's insane i can't get over that But that segues into another recurring theme in this film, that parents or adults who think they're protecting their children when they're actually doing the opposite.

So, of course, this all started with Lewis not wanting to tell Ellie that her cat died, following Judd to bury it in the Mic Mac burial ground. And, of course, this accompanies Judd. Not wanting Ellie to be sad or not thinking she's ready to hear about death, even though he has absolutely no business making that kind of determination. And then we have Rachel's dad thinking that he's sticking up for her and blaming Louis for causing his daughter this unimaginable heartbreak and grief. And he makes a complete ass of himself and fucks up everything.

At a time when everybody is already fucked up to begin with. They're not protecting their children at all. They're protecting themselves. They're protecting their own comfort. They're protecting their own peace of mind. Later that night, Lewis tucks Ellie into bed and she asks him if she can have faith in the fact that God could take it all back. Meaning Gage's death if he really, really wanted to. And Louis looks at her stone face and says, yes, ah, shit. This dude has definitely made up his mind at this point.

He is going to put Gage in to the ground at the Mic Mac burial site. Judd walks into the house while Louis is downstairs in the kitchen, which is an absolutely insane concept to me. Like someone could just walk into your house randomly and unannounced and just be like, hey, what's up? Nah, where they do that at? Judd is like, hey man, I know what you're thinking right now. Get that shit out of your head. Don't even deny that you're thinking about it. And here's a cautionary tale for you just in case you need some further convincing that it's a bad idea to put your son in a Mic Mac burial ground to have him return as a zombie.

I gotta come clean, bro. Earlier when you asked me if anyone had ever tried to put a person up there, I lied when I said no. there was one dude a father named bill baderman whose son timmy was killed on his way home from world war ii bill was so beset by grief that he buried timmy before considering what the fallout could be and judd drops the line that has become iconic now that sometimes dead is better because timmy didn't come back as timmy Whatever lives in the ground up there is not human at all.

There is some malevolent entity that has infested the Micmac burial ground. And bro came back as a zombie with like a hunger and taste for raw meat. After a few days of witnessing this dude kind of like terrorize people and freak them the fuck out, Judd and some other local men pulled up to the Baterman house to burn Timmy's body. But they ended up setting the entire house on fire and killed Bill in the process as well. Judd tells Lewis that he feels responsible for Gage's death, not only because he was the one that suggested that Lewis give Gage a turn to fly the kite, but also he thinks that the ground orchestrated Gage's death because he introduced Lewis to its power.

After the intense events of the last few days the family needs a change of scenery so Ellie and Rachel are preparing to fly back to Chicago with her parents while Louis stays behind for a few days. He tells her that he has a few matters to tie up and then he'll join them thereafter. But before they depart Ellie says that she had a bad dream about Louis, Gage and someone named Pax Cow. What she means to say is Pascal, meaning Victor Pascal, who is the ghost jogger who got hit by the car earlier in the film.

Pascal is like, all right, bro, like I tried, Louis, to tell you to not do some stupid shit. You're clearly not listening. So I guess now I need to tell your daughter to tell you not to do some stupid shit. And you're still not listening. So big yikes. As soon as the plane takes off, Lewis immediately heads to the cemetery to exhume Gage's corpse. And it's broad daylight, so he needs to wait until night falls. But he's still pulled up with all of his tools. I mean, you could have left them in the car, bro.

Like, not be so conspicuous. Regardless, this moment serves as the point of no return. Lewis has already dismissed multiple warnings from multiple people. Pascal. Judd. Ellie about doing this shit. And it seems like his conscience is telling him as well not to do this shit. But just for good measure, Pascal shows up again to warn this man. But Louis has finally made up his mind. He's convinced himself that he can just put Gage back to sleep if he starts wiling out. Meanwhile, over in Chicago. Ellie wakes up at the same time telling Rachel that Pascal came to her in a dream to warn her that Louis is about to do some dumbass shit.

And this time Ellie elaborates a little bit more. She says that Pascal is here to help. He's a nice ghost because daddy was there whenever his soul left his body. And so Rachel's starting to think that, okay, this sounds a little bit weird. Maybe I should give it a little bit more. consideration to its validity. And as she walks out of the room, Pascal materializes behind her, but she can't see him. However, he's able to interact with her. He like whispers something in her ear that makes her call Lewis.

And he doesn't answer because he's busy grave digging. She then calls Judd next to check for Lewis. And since Judd says he hasn't seen him, she says, you know what? I'm just going to come home. And he's like, no, you don't want to do that. But she hangs up and starts making her preparations. Judd then goes out onto his porch with a six pack waiting for Louis. He thinks that he can intercept him before he can bury Gage. But his old ass falls asleep. So he misses Louis when he returns and walks down the path.

But bro, Pascal is the real MVP. This dude is accompanying Rachel the entire way. As she's on her plane flying back. They show him sitting in a seat just all jolly like yeah finally someone's gonna stop this dumb motherfucker from doing dumbass shit. And when Rachel nearly misses her connecting flight in Boston Pascal influences the gate attendant to not shut the door to the tarmac so Rachel is able to run through and get on. Then after landing she needs to rent a car in order to drive the rest of the way back to Maine and the desk clerk says they don't have anything.

And so Pascal suggests one that's a little damaged, but still drivable. So the desk clerk is like, hey, I have this one that has a big ass scratch in it. But if you want it, it's yours. And Rachel's like, yep, I'll take it. And as she's hauling ass back home, the car blows a tire and ends up in the ditch on the side of the road. And Pascal pops up again to say that the burial ground entity is trying to stop her. Rachel then ironically is able to hitch a ride the rest of the way with the same driver that ran Gage over to begin with.

But thankfully, she doesn't recognize him. It's absolutely insane though that this dude was back driving his regular route like, what, a week? Two weeks after running a kid down on the road? Yikes. Louis successfully buries Gage and returns home and passes out in bed, still wearing his clothes and his dirty, muddy ass shoes. Gross. And while he's asleep, little zombie Gage comes home as well. He finds Louis's medical bag and takes his scalpel out and heads on over to Judd's house. Sleepy ass Judd is awoken by a crack of thunder.

And then he notices small, childlike, muddy footprints leading into his house. He walks in and hears a child's giggling and asks, Who's there? Bitch, who do you think is there? You know damn well what Louis did. What other fucking kid is going to be giggling in your home in the middle of the night? And also, holy shit, that is a terrifying thought. If I woke up after... passing out from drinking some beers and i'm probably hung over and i'm old as shit on top of that i don't know how he didn't have a heart attack bro because my shit i would have been shook dog seeing these little tiny footprints leading to my house i'm also not going in there i'm sorry i'm calling somebody whether that's lewis or the cops i don't know how you explain that to the cops like hey i'm pretty sure there's a zombie kid in my house please assist But, you know, maybe the main police are more amenable to that kind of thing.

Gage is giggling. It's coming from somewhere upstairs. I think he says something about wanting to play hide and seek with Judd. And Judd's like, is that you, Gage? What are you doing up there? And at this point, he does get at least partially smart because he pulls out a folding knife. But then he gets dumb again because as he enters his bedroom, He hears the giggling coming from underneath his bed and he kneels down to look under there. And that's when Church pops up in his window as a distraction.

So when Judd looks over at Church again with his glowing yellow eyes, super creepy ass cat that never should have been allowed to roam around to begin with. This allows Gage to emerge and saw. into this man's achilles bro then sits there watching stupidly as gage strolls up on him with his open mouth and slices the scalpel across that open mouth splitting that shit and as he falls backwards on the ground gage pounces on him and rips his throat out with his teeth r .i .p Judd. But I'm sorry, bro.

Sliced Achilles or not, you got to punt this kid out of there, dog. Like, he's a little two -year -old. He's tiny. You still got one good leg. You still have both of your hands. Like, piece this kid up, bro. What are we doing? Why are we just letting them slice your face up and shit? I get that there's probably an element of shock there, like seeing this deceased child or formerly deceased child. Instilling his little funeral suit and shit. And he was remarkably intact for a small human that got plastered by an 18 -wheeler.

But still, Judd, man, put your hands up. At least block the slice. Something. You just sat there and watched it. Waited for it. And while he munched on your throat, just took it. Madness. Rachel arrives and gets dropped off in front of the house and Pascal materializes in the front seat of the big rig says that hey this is as far as I can go you got it from here good luck but I think he knows that she's fucked and Louis is fucked and everyone's fucked but Rachel starts off towards her house before she hears Zelda call her name from Judd's house along with some giggling from Gage so she heads that way.

Before she walks in, Church hops out with bloody paws and she sees this and just kind of dismisses it. I don't know if she thought that Church like grabbed a bird or something, but I would have done a little bit of a closer examination. Anyway, she hears groaning from upstairs as she enters the house and she slowly ascends the stairs before entering the bedroom. And while in there, she hallucinates Zelda in the corner, tormenting her before closing her eyes and reopening them to see it's actually Gage.

And this kid is wearing a fucking top hat, bro. And he has a cane, too. Looking like he's about to drop a fire show tune. Like, where did he find this costume, this outfit? I'm not gonna lie, boy had some drip, but still. A zombie two -year -old wearing a top hat is fucking absurd. But she sees him and she's like, oh my God, gay. She's like, her heart is melting. There's like a look of relief that washes upon her face, ignoring the fact that he is clearly undead. And he's like, I brought you something, mommy.

And he pulls out his trusty scalpel, shows it to her. And she's still like, oh, my God, Gage. And she goes to hug him while I reiterate he's holding a fucking scalpel. Then we hear squelching and screaming as he slices her ass up. But Rachel's demise, I understand. That makes sense to me. She has likely been operating in this. fog this haze of just like oh my goodness I'm burying my youngest child he's lost to me forever now here he is in front of me again like how do I marry these two very different feelings together and of course I can't expect her to punt him out of the way like that's her baby I get it very tragic though very tragic that this is the way Rachel met her demise.

And this may be a little bit of a stretch, but I do wonder if this entire scene between Gage and Rachel was kind of emblematic of the feeling that some parents have that parenthood isn't what they thought it was going to be or they don't really enjoy it or whatever it may be like. I think some people may see children as the thing that killed their fun in life, their enjoyment in life. They can't travel and do shit like they want to anymore. They have this restriction and this ball and chain and shit.

So yeah, it may be a stretch and that may not be what Stephen King intended to convey. But I think there probably is someone out there who could watch that scene and be like, damn. Yeah, that's how I feel. But Dr. Dumbass wakes up the next morning and sees Gage's muddy footprints are in his room along with his open medical bag and the missing scalpel. Rachel's dad then calls the house saying to put Rachel on the phone because Ellie is absolutely hysterical and convinced that her mother is dead. And Louis has this look on his face like, oh shit, I fucked up.

Yeah, buddy. You did. So he hangs up the phone saying he can't talk right now and he starts heading down into the cellar where he sees Gage's footprints lead and the phone rings again. He answers annoyed thinking it's Rachel's dad but it's actually Gage saying he's at Judd's house and wants Louis to come over and play with him. He says first he played with Judd then mommy came over and he played with her and now he wants to play with Louis too. And hearing these lines in this childlike voice, bro, was so chilling.

Lewis grabs three syringes and fills them with morphine and heads over to Judd's. And he finds Church standing watch on the porch. He tosses him a raw steak. And while Church gobbles it up, he grabs him and shoots him up with the morphine. And it kills Church again. For good this time. He then walks into the house and it's overgrown with like some sort of dark green rot. But it turns out to be an illusion created by Gage. He then discovers Judd's fucked up body upstairs. And as he stumbles out of the bedroom, Rachel's body then comes crashing down from the attic hanging from a noose as Gage laughs from up there looking evil as fuck.

This little minion then dives at Lewis and tackles him to the ground and honestly is whooping this man's ass, bro. He knocks Lewis's second syringe out of his hand and bites a big chunk out of his chest. He then stabs him a few times with the scalpel, slices him a few times. Eventually, Lewis is able to kind of like shove him off and create a little bit of space, but then he beckons to him to come close. And as Gage does, he... takes his third syringe, plunges it into his neck, and this time Gage dies.

For real. Lewis douses the place in gasoline and burns the house down. He then carries Rachel's body out of there and starts heading down the path back to the burial ground because clearly he has not learned shit throughout this entire process. Also, he's definitely gone insane at this point. So, you know, he's way too far gone. But Pascal tries one last time to talk some sense into Dr. Dumbass. He's like, bro, come on, don't do this. You're going to make things even worse than you already have.

But Lewis tells him that it will work this time because he knows he waited too long to bury Gage. rachel just died so she'll be fine and after burying rachel lewis returns home he sits down on his kitchen floor starts playing a game of solitaire as he waits for rachel to come back and she does walk in with a missing eye and the wound is leaking blood and pus she looks immensely fucked up But apparently this gets bro immensely bricked up because they start making out as she slowly reaches for a steak knife that's sitting on the kitchen table.

The screen goes black as we hear a squelch and Lewis's screams echoing. End of movie. Man, that third act, what a ride. I mean, when they were making out, like... That blood and shit was like leaking into dude's mouth and he was just like lapping it up. Like, yeah, girl, there was like tongue involved and shit. I'm like, oh my goodness, this is some nasty ass shit. Like, dude has lost his entire mind. Wow. So yeah, I think the overarching theme of Pet Sematary is grief and our ability or inability to deal with it.

And our ability or inability to accept fate and the cards that have been dealt to us. Trying to save one thing led to losing everything. That is some bleak ass shit. And this ties into the theme of parenting that we kind of touched on earlier. How do you find that balance between wanting to protect your children with allowing them to learn about the inevitabilities of the real world? And I don't know, man, like, honestly, I think about this from time to time when it comes to my own kids. Like, I know we're going to have tough conversations in our future and it's going to be hard to like walk that line between, you know, being honest with them without, you know, being too honest.

You know, you want to give them the tools and the information they need to develop into functioning members of society and adults. But at the same time, like. How do you determine when is the proper time to have those conversations? I don't know, man. It's tough. Lewis was dumb. He did some super dumb stuff, but he was understandably dumb and tragically dumb. But that's all for me. I'm out of here. Don't forget to follow and subscribe on whatever platform you're listening to if you haven't already.

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Pet Sematary (1989) Analysis & Recap: Goodnight Gage

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