Following the success of director Mary Lambert's adaptation of Stephen King's PET SEMATARY in 1989, Paramount was anxious to follow it up with a sequel and invited Mary Lambert to return and direct. Cue the main tiles for PET SEMATARY TWO. We passed along word yesterday that Lambert's original concept for the sequel involved Ellie Creed as the main character, and today we have word that despite all the (unnecessary) hate that gets thrown at the underappreciated movie, (Stephen King had his name removed from the film prior to its release) Lambert still loves it.
Mary Lambert on PET SEMATARY TWO:
I love the [movie] that we made. It’s very different in that it also went to a place that I really enjoyed going with. It was from the point of view of an adolescent boy as opposed to the point of view of a father who has relationships with his children, relationships with his wife, relationships with the community. This is about two crazy teenage boys who, again, make some bad judgments. It’s really about making bad judgments which teenage boys are famous for. Many movies are based on the bad decisions of teenage boys.
Personally, I love PET SEMATARY TWO for what it is: a Halloween horror-comedy. Not that the movie is set on Halloween, mind you, it just FEELS like Halloween through and through. Plus, Clancy Brown's performance as Gus Gilbert (showcased in all its gory glory in the video below) is a more than enough reason to see the movie if you've skipped it thus far in life. For the uninitiated, the unloved sequel begins when:
young Jeff Matthews' (Edward Furlong) mother, Renee (Darlanne Fluegel), dies. Jeff moves back to his hometown with his father, Chase (Anthony Edwards) and grows friendly with Drew Gilbert (Jason McGuire) at school, who tells him about the Indian burial grounds that bring people and animals back to life, which led to the deaths of the Creed family who used to live in town. Desperately missing his mom, Jeff ignores warnings and buries her corpse, only to have her return in deadly zombie form.
PET SEMATARY TWO was directed by Mary Lambert from a screenplay written by Richard Outten. Ralph Singleton produced the sequel which starred Edward Furlong, Anthony Edwards, Clancy Brown, and Jared Rushton. Buy it on DVD HERE. How much do you love the flick? Let us know below!