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Where and when did you first see Pet Sematary?

posted 9 years ago by FattyBoombilatti
36 replies | jump to latest

I first saw Pet Sematary when it was released in 1989.
I went with my sister and mother to a Sunday matinee at a Showcase Cinemas in Massachusetts.
I was eight years old and a huge horror film fan.
But this was something completely different.
It wasn't Freddy spouting a cheesy one liner or Jason slaughtering a topless teen while the audience clapped and laughed. No....

This was emotionally disturbing and chock full of unsettling creepiness. I loved it then and I love it now.
It has been one of the few movies that hasn't lost anything upon repeated viewings for me. Its still brings back those same feelings I got when I first saw it.

[–] WoodsboroFountain 9 years ago

I taped it off late-night TV and watched it the next morning, I had already seen PS2 a couple of years earlier haha, always been intrigued by how relentlessly twisted these films are, they still creep me out, lol!

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[–] Dark_Phoenix89 9 years ago

3 years ago, and I borrowed a VHS copy from my aunt. Really loved it then, and still love the film to this day. One of the better King adaptations :)

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[–] sultrystarlet05 9 years ago

I saw it on USA on a Sunday evening after church in my great grandmother's haunted ass house. I guess I was about 6 (so 22 years ago) or so. I tell you I have never been so creeped out in my life.. . I'm getting chills right now thinking about watching Gage's funeral scene and trying not to look into the large dark parlor with all the pictures of dead folk down the hall. Yikes.

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] FrankBooth_DeLarge 9 years ago

I first saw it in early 2004 when I rented it from a video store. I had read the book in fall 2003 and was very excited to see the movie. While I noticed a lot of flaws in the film, especially in comparison to the book, the movie still had something to it that drew me in. I ended up watching it at least four or five times during the week that I rented it and bought it on DVD a few months later.

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[–] AmyJolamb 9 years ago

Some time as a teen when I became a fan of horror movies. Most likely around 1992 or 1993. I'd rent horror movies every weekend from Blockbuster and record them off tv. I was obsessed.

I loved it right away. I recognized the kid who played Gage right away from a short lived TV show about a nun who raised orphans. He was about 3 or so in the show and just adorable.

I found the story very creepy and quickly wanted to see all Stephen King movies.

[–] rayedge 9 years ago

My father took me to see it at night at the rt 3 cinema in Chelmsford, Ma. I would have been 13 and I remember the scenes with Zelda scared the hell out of me. Now, at almost 40, I still enjoy the movie but it doesn't scare me like it did then.

[–] LastCubScout 9 years ago

My buddy and I saw it in '89 at Hilltop Mall in Richmond, CA. We were big horror film fans. I had read the book years earlier and absolutely loved it. Nobody in the film matched what I pictured when I was reading the book, but we both really dug the film. It being the '80s, we loved it when horror films had rock soundtracks during the end credits that incorporated the film title, e.g. Dokken's "Dream Warriors" from Nightmare on Elm Street 3. When that Ramones song came on at the end, we both cheered out loud and high-fived each other.

[–] janX9 9 years ago

I saw it in 89 in theaters. I was 10 years old and my brother sneaked me into the theater. I liked horror movies ever since I was a kid, and they rarely if ever scared me, but the scenes with Rachel's sister Zelda, freaked me the heck out LOL

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[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] janX9 8 years ago

It was almost 30 years ago, I don't remember.

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[–] AmyJolamb 9 years ago

I saw it as a teen around 1992 or so. I just started liking scary movies. A friend introduced me to Stephen King movies. W

[–] AmyJolamb 9 years ago

Forgot I already replied. Can't delete on my phone.

[–] my_FAV 9 years ago

My older sister was a huge Stephen King fan: she let me watch it with her when I was 6 or 7 on TV; I believe this was in 1994.
We were in Puerto Rico visiting my grandparents.
I had never seen anything like it; in fact, I was the biggest scaredy-cat in the world...even for a 6 year old, so the fact that I even watched Pet Sematary was beyond anyone! It scared the crap out of me still, but yet, I actually enjoyed it a lot; it also sort of taught me a little bit about death (minus the dead coming back to life).
I still enjoy it to this day!

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[–] ZeoRangerFive 9 years ago

I can't remember but I think I saw it on Encore or something sometime between 1999 and 2002. It's my favorite Stephen King adaptation.

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[–] Thom-Yorke 8 years ago

I saw it in my grandmothers house with my sister in the late 90'ies. She had copied it to VHS. It. Freaked. Me. Out.

Love it :D

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[–] Survivor147 8 years ago

I was a slasher fan back in the day. I girl who I worked with (at a movie theater in St. Louis) had it and told me I had to watch it. I found it hard to watch and disgusting. I hated it. This was around 1999.

Fast forward to present day - I just rewatched it while it was airing during Halloween and now I love it! I ordered the bluray and the sequel. Can't wait to rewatch part II (even though I don't remember anything about it!)

[–] intelligentsupermodel 8 years ago

I was 11 and saw it in the theatres. Sometimes I wonder what my parents were thinking when they took us to movies. That being said, the OP summed it up perfectly.

This was emotionally disturbing and chock full of unsettling creepiness. I loved it then and I love it now. It has been one of the few movies that hasn't lost anything upon repeated viewings for me. Its still brings back those same feelings I got when I first saw it.

The cat was the scariest thing for me back then. And Judd's dog. And the music!

Even though I still love it, the "emotionally disturbing" component is what makes it so creepy now.

I remember that I just had to read the book after seeing the movie and not being able to sleep that summer (I always read at night before bed). If I recall the book was even more disturbing than the film.