A Disappointing Continuation

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The previous review by Insam777 is perfectly stated. The whole delusional grunge youth of the 90's and overall dark tone of this film is very appealing. The movie lacks atmosphere and originality, true, but all in all is a fun watch and the soundtrack is very impressive (hello, 90s!) =)

The sequel to Stephen King's "Pet Sematary" needed to be pretty good, given it's a spin-off from a book/movie by America's most prolific novelist/movie writer. We learn in the first scenes that this B-movie actress is separated from her husband, and very close to her young teen son. A little more exposition on why would've helped. After her death, father and son move back to their home town in -- you guessed it -- Maine. Good move making the dad a vet. His new friend has an abusive stepfather who used to date the late mom, and scene- stealer Clancy Brown does very well as Gus. School bullies, an undead dog, crazy cop, and that sour ground from the first movie add up to a comedic splatterfest, in spite of Edward Furlong's shortcomings in the funny department. Less than a decade earlier Anthony Edwards was the comedic foil to Tom Cruise in the macho classic "Top Gun", but here he plays it too straight. The major drawback to the film is, as I've written before, the Ramis Effect (making a wonderful movie and running out of ideas for the third act). Although he had nothing to do with this film/screenplay, Stephen King has suffered the Ramis Effect before: Okay, we know why Gus dug up the kid's mom, but it's just creepy and wrong that the kid helped things along, made up the attic, and seemed to have gone to the Dark Side with no explanation. Then the undead mom isn't played as a zombie cannibal as with Gus and the first movie people, but as a calculating vampiress type. Finally, it's almost never a good idea to kill a nice kid. The mother and son under the spuds could've been comatose....

Mary Lambert returns to directing a sequel from her classic and truly scary horror film, Pet Sematary. The first Pet Sematary is clearly the better film than this sequel but it may be surprising to some that I found this film more enjoyable to watch. It's a valid point that the first film was ultra-depressing, that the sequel had a good chance of being an easier watch. However, not only was Lambert's sequel more entertaining but the feel, pace and writing were a complete 180 degrees. The writing was lighter and often contained humorous dialogue, especially by Sheriff Gilbert. Edward Furlong, Anthony Edwards and Jason McGwire were all great but Clancy Brown stole the show as the Sheriff, Brown absolutely nailed the dinner scene and one-liners.The movie is undoubtedly a guilty pleasure for myself, since many viewers may not enjoy the quirkiness and good amount of odd disconnected scenes. Important to note too, there isn't a lot of mercy shown by Lambert and the writers towards characters in these films either. It's dark, gritty with way more humor and gore. Take a chance on Pet Sematary II, it's often overlook since Stephen King didn't write a book on the story but it's well worth the watch.

Pet Sematary 2 isn't exactly what I'd call bad, but it's really unnecessary. Whether or not it follows the book or the original movie is beside the point, even on its own it just doesn't have what it takes to be a captivating horror movie. The acting was okay but unmemorable, the plot was more for preteens even though the movie was aimed at adults, and the soundtrack was lame. With sequels and remakes there are always going to be duds, and this is one of 'em. At least the ending credits had a good song, by The Ramones, but if you're looking for a really good horror movie this definitely isn't the first one that would come to my mind.