Synopsis
The "sematary" is up to its old zombie-raising tricks again. This time, the protagonists are Jeff Matthews, whose mother died in a Hollywood stage accident, and Drew Gilbert, a boy coping with an abusive stepfather.
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Cast
- Edward FurlongJeff Matthews
- Anthony EdwardsChase Matthews
- Clancy BrownSheriff Gus Gilbert
- Jared RushtonClyde Parker
- Sarah TriggerMarjorie Hargrove
- Lisa WaltzAmanda Gilbert
- Darlanne FluegelRenee Hallow
- Jason McGuireDrew Gilbert
- Jim PeckQuentin Yolander
- Len HuntDirector
- 63
Boston Globe
It's a much better bad movie than the first one. It isn't often in Hollywood that a director gets the chance to go back and essentially remake a failed film but Lambert, refusing to let sleeping cadavers lie, gets the job done this time. [28 Aug 1992, p.50] - 50
Los Angeles Times
Pet Sematary II, which is too gruesome for grammar school youngsters and too easily laughed off for most high schoolers, ought to be a big hit among the junior high crowd. Not nearly as scary as the 1989 original, it nonetheless expresses and attempts to resolve in bold mythological terms the anxieties of being 13. - 50
San Francisco Chronicle
Pet Sematary Two' follows the usual horror movie pattern: The first half is a pleasure, because you know what has to happen and you can't wait. And the second half is a bore, because you know what still has to happen and you can't wait for it to end. [01 Sept 1992, p.E3] - 40
Empire
Less pompous than Pet Sematary, this has moments of trashy vigour but is scuppered by a consistently wretched script, Mary Lambert's knee-jerk direction and the usual redundant sequel air of utter pointlessness. - 40
The New York Times
Mary Lambert, who directed the original Pet Sematary, has returned for the sequel, which, like its forerunner, is much better at special effects than at creating characters or telling a coherent story. - 30
Washington Post
PSTwo feels like an elongated Tales From the Crypt, though the annoying heavy-metal soundtrack sounds like seepage from Headbanger's Ball. The first time around, Lambert went for terror; this time, it's mostly hardy-har-horror. - 30
Austin Chronicle
Like the dead dog that it is, though, Pet Sematary deserves to be buried very, very deep. - 25
TV Guide Magazine
For all its many flaws, the original PET SEMATARY at least maintained a fidelity to its source novel; this one not only ignores the rules set up by the first movie but manages to contradict its own internal and dramatic logic as well.