History YMMV / PetSematary

* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: Brutally {{Inverted}} in-universe (as well as out of it): it's repeatedly shown to Louis through every channel possible—from ghostly visitations to personal experience to Jud's detailed catalog of recollections–that resurrecting the dead has CameBackWrong consequences on a scale of misery-inducing to DespairEventHorizon-broaching, and he has no real expectation that Gage's case will be any different, even being fully prepared for [[UndeathAlwaysEnds the possibility of having to end Gage's undeath]] in the worst eventuality. The book essentially posits that if such resurrection were possible, there's almost [[ForegoneConclusion no amount of warnings could stop it from happening]].

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Pascow

* AlternateAesopInterpretation: Although the message of the story is probably about acceptance of mortality, a lot of audience takeaway has looked more like "install a fence if you live near a busy road" or "don't have an outdoor cat."

* TheWoobie: Ellie Creed. [[OffscreenInertia At the end of the story]] she's sedated in the hospital, perhaps driven half-mad from unheeded psychic warnings, her brother is dead, [[spoiler: as is her mother, and her cat, and in the movie her father (though it's a given that he'll also die soon in the book)]]. And all this at the age of six...

** The hauntingly beautiful [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaOh_1lmFGk main theme]] by Elliot Goldenthal...Although MusicLaloSchifrin fans and film music fans may find [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong it sounds a lot like]] Schifrin's work on ''Fiilm/TheAmityvilleHorror1979''.

** The hauntingly beautiful [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaOh_1lmFGk main theme]] by Elliot Goldenthal.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Louis is carrying Gage's body to the Indian burial ground and hallucinates that a mound of rocks turns into an angry face that screams at him. It's probably supposed to represent Louis' loss of sanity and the malevolent influence that the ground has on people, but the sequence lasts a couple of seconds, feels weird and adds nothing to the story. And of all the things AdaptedOut from the movie, it still makes it in...

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The name of the "obediant" cat (also a case of RealLifeWritesThePlot, since it was named for King's daughter Naomi's cat) buried in the outer pet cemetery, who was run down in the road... Smucky.
* HarsherInHindsight: In TheMovie, Zelda was played by a man because they couldn't find an actress bony enough for the part. That certainly wouldn't be a problem today...

* JerkassWoobie: Louis, who just won't learn his lesson about letting dead stay dead, but you can't help but pity him anyway.

* UncannyValley: People and animals brought back by the burying ground usually have this effect on the living. Even for those that aren't in the know, there's something just not ''right'' about them. Louis describes a time when Church jumped into a visitor's lap, and they almost immediately pushed the cat away, somehow sensing that there is something inherently ''wrong'' about the cat. [[spoiler:Jud's story about Timmy Baterman being brought back shows that it's even stronger with other humans.]]

** The hauntingly beautiful [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl6hBi_L40M main theme]] by Elliot Goldenthal.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Louis is carrying Gage's body to the Indian burial ground and hallucinates that a mound of rocks turns into an angry face that screams at him. It's probably supposed to represent Louis' loss of sanity and the malevolent influence that the ground has on people, but the sequence lasts a couple of seconds, feels weird and adds nothing to the story.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Yes, children of the 90s, that is [[Series/{{Ghostwriter}} Lenni Frazer]] as Ellie.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl6hBi_L40M main theme]] by Elliot Goldenthal.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[Music/TheRamones I don't wanna be buried in a pet sematary...]]

* HeartwarmingMoments: Jud Crandall alone provides several of these alone, almost immediately becoming a father figure for Louis, helping out the Creed family however he can, and getting along with kids quite nicely, to the point that he suggests reviving Church because he knows it'll upset Ellie very much. In particular, following Gage's death, Jud not only attends the funeral and supports the family, he makes the arrangements practically alone.

** When Rachel ascends the stairs to find Gage waiting for her, he's [[CreepyChild dressed in a little top hat and smock, holding an infant-sized cane]] like a tiny UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper.

* HilariousInHindsight: One scene has Rachel [[Film/{{Titanic}} nude except for a necklace with a blue gem]].

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: [[Music/TheRamones I don't wanna be buried in a pet sematary...]]

* {{Squick}}: Once again, all over the place.

** JerkassWoobie: Louis, who just won't learn his lesson about letting dead stay dead, but you can't help but pity him anyway.
*** Zelda, somewhat, too. She wasn't exactly nice, but she was a little girl in HORRIBLE PAIN and nobody could do anything about it.
*** Rachel.
*** Irwin Goldman, he hates Louis, but his latest anger towards Louis is partially justified due to [[spoiler:his grandson's death at a very young age and some of Irwin's rage towards Louis was probably out of grief too then just spite. Plus, it probably would get worse for him when he hears the news his daughter Rachel is dead before resurrecting as a zombie who kills Louis at the end of the movie.]]

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: [[spoiler: At the very end when Louis buries Rachel in the burial ground, is it simply a case of him being driven mad with grief, leading to him repeating his mistakes all over again? Or deep down, does a part of him know that Rachel will simply become a murderous abomination just like Church and Gage did, and is doing it to get her to kill him in some sort of penance for what his actions resulted in, performing a sort of SuicideByCop if you will? Also, is Louis actually in control of his actions, or did he just break and became an empty shell, moved by whatever lives in the burial ground?]]

*** Irwin Goldman, he hates Louis, but his latest anger towards Louis is partially justified due to [[spoiler:his grandson's death at a very young age and some of Irwin's rage towards Louis was probably out of grief too then just spite. Plus, it probably would get worse for him when he hears the news his daughter Rachel is dead before resurrecting as an AxCrazy zombie who kills Louis at the end of the movie.]]

* FunnyAneurysmMoment : The name of the "obediant" cat (also a case of RealLifeWritesThePlot, since it was named for King's daughter Naomi's cat) buried in the outer pet cemetery, who was run down in the road...Smucky.

* {{Squick}}: Once again, all over the place

* UncannyValley: People and animals brought back by the burying ground usually have this effect on the living. Even for those that aren't in the know, there's something just not ''right'' about them. Louis describes a time when Church jumped into a visitor's lap, and they almost immediately pushed the cat away, somehow sensing that there is something inherently ''wrong'' about the cat. [[spoiler:Jud's story about Timmy Baterman being brought back shows that it's even stronger with other humans.]]
** This was {{exploited|Trope}} by the filmmakers when they cast a man as Zelda, as they knew it would made her even more weird-looking and unsettling.