Directed by Mary Lambert, with King writing the screenplay, it stars Dale Midkiff, Denise Crosby, Blaze Berdahl, Fred Gwynne, and Miko Hughes as Gage Creed.

The Creed family—Louis, Rachel, their children Ellie and Gage, and their pet cat Church—move from Chicago to rural Ludlow, Maine, after Louis accepts a job as a local physician.

They befriend neighbor Jud Crandall, who takes them to an isolated pet cemetery (misspelled "sematary") in the forest behind the Creeds' home.

Realizing Ellie will be devastated, Jud takes Louis beyond the pet cemetery and deep into the woods, to an ancient Miꞌkmaq burial ground.

He tells Louis the story of a local named Bill Baterman who buried his young son Timmy in the Miꞌkmaq ground after he was killed near the end of World War II.

Rachel returns home and is lured into Jud's house by the specter of her dead sister Zelda, only to discover that she is actually seeing Gage, holding a scalpel.

Stephen King's script for Pet Sematary was finished and ready to go, so Doran was given the greenlight to obtain the rights for Paramount and start production.

The original ending scene was more ambiguous: it showed only the undead Rachel entering the kitchen where Louis is playing solitaire, leaving his fate uncertain.

[10] Rachel's appearance was made far more gruesome with special prosthetic effects, and she kills Louis at the end as suggested by his screams when the film cuts to black.

However, Lambert was very impressed with two-year-old Miko Hughes, who she felt was a natural talent despite his young age, so she lobbied the studio to accept her choice.

[11] She also faced resistance from executives over her choice to cast Fred Gwynne, whom the studio believed audiences would not take seriously because of his fame as Herman Munster.

[7] King himself was very involved in the filming process, consulting with Lambert frequently on her ideas for the story and any deviations from the script she wished to make.

[16] The film features two songs by the Ramones, one of Stephen King's favorite bands: "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" appears in a scene, and "Pet Sematary", a new track written specially for the picture, plays over the credits.

[17][18] The song "Pet Sematary" became one of the Ramones' biggest charting hits, reaching number four on Billboard's "Modern Rock Tracks" list, despite being, in the words of AMG, "reviled by most of the band's hardcore fans".

The website's critical consensus reads, "Pet Sematary is a bruising horror flick that wears its quirks on its sleeves, to the detriment of its scare factor.

[1] Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote that the film "has some effectively ghoulish moments" but "fails mostly because it doesn't trust the audience to do any of the work".

"[26] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Lambert goes for strong, succinct images and never stops to worry whether there's a lack of credibility or motivation.

[28] Philip Strick of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote, "The family feuds and loyalties which lend some coherence to the novel and justify its punchline ... are simply plundered for their shock effect en route to the final bloodletting.

"[30] Bloody Disgusting rated it 4.5/5 stars and wrote, "The plot alone would make for a scary movie, but by injecting excellent atmosphere, capable acting and generally nightmarish scenes, Pet Sematary is a truly effective horror flick and well worth the price of admission.

Finally, in December 2017 Paramount Pictures announced that it was remaking the film, with Jeff Buhler penning the script and Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer set to direct.

[45] The new adaptation stars Jason Clarke and Amy Seimetz as Louis and Rachel Creed, with John Lithgow appearing as Jud Crandall.