If there are any audiences in existence who haven't seen Pet Sematary (either the 1989 film adaptation or its 2019 remake) or read its source material over the course of the nearly forty years since Stephen King published it in 1983, you might have difficulty in finding someone who doesn't at least have some passing idea of the story. The tragic tale of the Creed family's encounter with an Indian burial ground that has the power to resurrect the dead has seeped its way into pop culture with parodies on shows such as South Park, The Simpsons, Mad TV, and even a song by punk rock band The Ramones. Now, much like Ellie Creed's beloved cat, the story refuses to stay dead with an upcoming prequel that will stream exclusively on Paramount+.
While the previous Pet Sematary film was panned by both audiences and critics for its predictability, lack of scares, and being light on character depth, the prequel project is actually an incredibly exciting prospect. It appears to be taking place entirely before the story we know with the Creed family, as evidenced by the casting of Jackson White as a young Jud Crandall, the character who first introduced Louis Creed to the cursed Indian burial ground.
We don't see much of Jud in either film adaptation; he's a supporting character who delivers most of the film's exposition. However, in both Fred Gwynne and John Lithgow's performances of the woodsy Mainer we sense that there's deeply buried secrets and trauma from Jud's past. As the keeper of Maine lore and the audience's introduction to the rules of the Indian burial ground, Jud is arguably the most interesting character in the Pet Sematary universe, and the idea of spending an entire film with him as a lead instead of a supporting character is thrilling. A film centered around Jud not only offers possibly deeper insight into a character who we know little about from previous adaptations, but opens the doors to wider (and even more horrifying story possibilities), especially if the Paramount+ prequel chooses to incorporate King’s “The Return of Timmy Baterman” short story which acts as a prequel to the events of the novel.
While both films depict Jud as somewhat of a loner living a quiet life in the aftermath of his wife's death, "The Return of Timmy Baterman" affords him deeper toughness, intelligence, and character development. The story takes place in 1943 and revolves around a father, George Baterman, who buries his son, Timmy, in the cursed Indian burial ground with predictably disastrous results. When the townspeople see Timmy walking around town, they're horrified, especially considering they all attended his funeral and saw his dead body with their own eyes. But Jud refuses to deny what he knows to be true. Timmy has been reanimated as something... else. Rather than deny what he sees, Jud displays incredible open mindedness and is the first person to realize (and posit aloud) that Timmy's body has been possessed by something otherworldly. Not only that, but he refuses to be a bystander to the growing evil. It's here that Jud cements himself as a many-layered character ripe for an updated portrayal on screen. The fear and trepidation that he displays in Pet Sematary are on display in the short story but he doesn't allow those feelings to control him. Instead of cowering, he shows fierce bravery in confronting George about the horrorible monstrosity he has set loose upon their town.
A film that adapts the story of Timmy Baterman - the first person that Jud knows to ever be buried in the soured, cursed soil of the Indian burial ground - would offer a unique origin story to a well-known but previously underdeveloped character and the dark history of the small town of Ludlow, Maine. Anchoring the material to a main character with real depth instead of one painted as the stereotypical quirky New Englander would inspire viewer empathy and give audiences someone to root for, especially considering the hardships (and tragic ending) that Jud faces years later. After all, the elder Jud that we meet in Pet Sematary is somewhat reserved, guarded, and hesitant to reveal his past. It would be narratively juicy if we were afforded the opportunity to see the circumstances that led to these dominant qualities, and it would allow the prequel to have a dialogue with the previous adaptations.
While previous Pet Sematary films have been mostly contained to the Creed family home, a fresh prequel story opens up the canvas to Jud's past and history with the entire town. The visuals of a young Jud Crandall rallying his friends and neighbors to persue a resurrected Timmy (reminiscent of the mob of villagers persuing Frankenstein's monster atop the windmill) would be pretty epic, and it's hard not to get excited at that exciting story prospect. After all, Timmy spends days shambling around town terrifying the townspeople who believed him to be dead, which allows for an intensifying sense of horror, dread, and paranoia to develop. Between Jud's shock and the town's panic and terror, broadening the scope of the plot allows for larger-scale ideas and deeper questions of how people deal with unimaginable horrors and shared trauma. Do we have a responsibility to intervene in vanquishing evil if it pose a threat to our community? Are horrifying acts forgivable if they're done out of love? To what degree do the traumas of our past influence our present?
The handling and ideas of heavy themes of grief and and confronting evil never seem to be fully realized in previous adaptations of the source material. But a story that is completely centered around Jud offers yet another chance to get it right and to actually say something with its storytelling. It's not enough to merely show the effects of evil on a family or small town. The horrors need to be felt, and Jud Crandall is the perfect vessel for the prequel to carry out that task.
While viewers might be suffering from Pet Sematary fatigue, it would be a mistake not to give it at least one more shot. There's scores of untapped story and potential in the idea of a Jud-centric prequel. We know why Jud claims that "sometimes dead is better," but traveling back in time to see the awful things that caused him to settle on that viewpoint would offer new layers to the Pet Sematary story that we haven't seen before. A film about Jud Crandall might be just the thing needed to bring it back to life.