As a horror movie fan, Pet Semetary is perfectly servicable. It's production is a little disjointed in places and it lacks the polish we've seen from recent hits such as Hereditary or Us, but as a standard horror movie it stands it's ground and delivers what most will be going to see; some jumps scares, a little gore, and a glimpse into one of Stephen Kings most notorious novels without having to read 480 pages.

As someone who only recently read the book however, this was a little disappointing to say the least. This movie does a pretty horrendous job of conveying the basic themes and story from the original novel in an orderly manner, even skimming over some of the areas that would have worked great for a screen adaptation. (Where was my late night beer talks between Jud and Louis, dammit!) It's rare for me to say, but I think this movie could have done with an extra 30 - 40 minutes of runtime to just bring down the pace and allow for some extra development. Pet Sematary shines best as a moody, dread-filled slow burn that slowly catches up to the new inhabitants of Ludlow before they even have time to realise they are ensnared. It's deep rooted messages about death, the afterlife, losing love for those we know are dying and desperately trying to hold onto our loved ones deserved much more time and care. With movies like Hereditary tackling similarly heavy themes with such quality and grace, it really is a shame to see Pet Semetary get relegated to this level of delivery.

TL;DR as a stock horror movie, it'll serve you well, but as a fan of the book, it might be better to bury this one in the Micmac burial ground and hope it comes back better in the future.

--- SPOILERS BELOW HERE ---

Small complaints as a Book Reader:
Why did they mishandle Jud's characterisation so badly? In the book he is described as loving, warm and a father figure to Louis. Here he is just a vessel for explaining the burial ground and then drugged and murdered. It hurts more that they got John Lithgow, an absolutely amazing casting choice for Jud, and wasted him. Not even an "Ayuh"? For shame.

Ellies love for Church is completely downplayed and understated, making the burying of the cat scene lose so much heft. Ellies awareness that the cat has changed adds to the creepy factor of the burial ground and it's power, but here it just scratches her and she asks for her door to be closed so he can't get in.

Rachels backstory with Zelda is explained, but all the superfluous details that make that backstory so gutwrenching and powerful are clipped. There is no explanation of how Zelda became hated by the family, how the idea of the "model death patient" is a total misconception and in death many of us go unceremoniously, unloved by our families because of the monster our affliction turns us into.

Ah well, I guess I shouldn't read the books of things right before seeing them :P