Darlanne Fluegel

(On TV, October 2019) The first Pet Sematary managed to blend Stephen King’s unusually bleak novel with a crazy sensibility of its own and if the result wasn’t exactly good, it did hold its own as a decent 1980s horror movie, especially in the King adaptation subgenre. Sequel Pet Sematary II, alas, is crazier but nowhere as respectable, nor as interesting. Once we’ve established at film length that it’s a terrifyingly bad idea to bury people in a cemetery that resurrects them wrong, the follow-up merely piles one dumb character decisions on top of others. The result isn’t a complete catastrophe: At least Clancy Brown has the good sense of overacting throughout his part, making it more fun than the dour plot summary may suggest. Edward Furlong is dull as the lead, but Darlanne Fluegel does bring some redheaded heat to her role, and is a good reason why the beginning and end of the movie are more interesting than anything in between. Still, Pet Sematary II is not much: the plot depends on unbelievable characters, repeating the high points of the original without as much dramatic oomph and with the usual limitations of early 1990s horror movies following up on King’s work without directly adapting them. See it if you must complete a list or two (or if it comes bundled with the original); otherwise it may not be worth the effort to track down.