When it comes to October horror, this season is off to a bit of a rough start. For every gleefully mean-spirited horror ride to hell like When Evil Lurks, there is a soulless sequel lacking in scares like The Exorcist: Believer. Yet there is nothing quite as perplexing as Pet Sematary: Bloodlines. A prequel to 2019’s Pet Sematary, it is a film where the stiffest thing is not the reanimated corpses but the dialogue the cast is saddled with, alongside a premise doomed from the jump as it tries to fill in mythology that didn’t need to be expanded and forgets about actually being a work of horror that stands on its own. The only scary thing about the experience is how painfully sluggish it is. There are plenty of characters and some bursts of gore, though it all amounts to what may very well be the worst Stephen King adaptation to date.

What Is ‘Pet Sematary: Bloodlines’ About?
Image via Paramount+

Taking us back decades to explore what was going on in Ludlow in 1969, we pick up with this version of Jud Crandall (played by Jackson White from the series Tell Me Lies), who wants to escape the town and go off into bigger things. Wouldn’t you know it, that doesn’t prove to be so easy as things are not well in a community that doesn’t seem to want them to leave. Within this ominous backdrop is Timmy (Jack Mulhern), who has returned from serving in the war and seems like an entirely different person. The more we see of him, the more it becomes clear that something is quite wrong with him, and measures will need to be taken to stop what is going on with him. It turns out that Timmy is being possessed by something that will soon wreak havoc on the other one-dimensional characters. As we cycle through conversations all over town, as well as a bizarre extended flashback that spells everything out, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines takes on a repetitive quality where any sense of fear never rises above a light hum. All the moments of gore that punctuate the experience are as empty as the surrounding narrative.

The film is, to put it bluntly, mostly narrative padding. Acclaimed actors like David Duchovny and Pam Grier are relied on to give the story some gravitas, but they also end up trapped in a malaise of some kind. There are some almost funny one-liners that could have worked in a more daring film, were it not for the fact that the film seems to just be going through the motions. There is one sequence in a hospital that almost helps Pet Sematary: Bloodlines turn a corner but ends up tepid rather than terrifying. The way it is staged eliminates any sense of tension as the camera mostly just wanders around, purposeless instead of pointed. Even when a creepy smile passes across the face of a character and the plot kicks off, what follows lacks any real punch. A goofy spurt of blood that splatters on someone’s face out of nowhere, which was highlighted in the trailer for some reason, leaves no impact because of how nonsensical its source is. What can only loosely be called the “best” scene in the movie is lifeless, and a testament to how utterly disposable the end product is overall.

RELATED: When Can You Watch ‘Pet Sematary: Bloodlines’ on Paramount+?

Forrest Goodluck Is the Sole Bright Spot in ‘Pet Sematary: Bloodlines’
Image via Paramount+

If there is one small saving grace to the film, it comes in the performance of Forrest Goodluck as Jud’s friend Manny. He isn’t the lead (and absolutely should have been), but still remains one of the few things that stands out from the muck of the rest of the film. Having appeared most recently in the spectacular film How to Blow Up a Pipeline, Goodluck seems like the only actor in the film who escorts us into the events unfolding before our eyes. A brief emotional scene he gets toward the end is infinitely more engaging than anything that proceeds or anything that follows. That being said, his character is mostly kept off to the side instead of being made integral to the narrative. If you want to watch a film that more fully makes use of his talents while exploring a story about people coming back from the dead, 2019’s Blood Quantum is always right there. By the time we’re dragged to the ending of Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, some of the escalations are so contrived and empty that it’s a wonder it doesn’t completely go to pieces.

It isn’t that there isn’t something potentially interesting going further into the past of an existing story to find something new to explore, but Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is not even close to the film to do it. There is just nothing to get invested in, outside of Goodluck, other than reflecting on what the point of it all was, to begin with. A climactic sequence playing out in the water where one character nearly drowns is as good an encapsulation as any of the viewing experience. All the emotional beats from start to finish are just completely unearned — it’s as if every foundational aspect of a good horror story has been washed away, too.

Rating: D-

The Big Picture

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is a disappointing prequel that lacks scares and fails to stand on its own as a work of horror. The sluggish pacing and lackluster dialogue make for a frustrating viewing experience. The film feels like narrative padding, relying on acclaimed actors to add gravitas only to end up ultimately feeling empty and purposeless. Even the few moments of gore lack impact due to nonsensical staging. Forrest Goodluck delivers a standout performance as Jud’s friend Manny, but his character is underutilized. The film’s escalations feel contrived and empty, leaving little to invest in outside of Goodluck’s performance.

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is available to stream on Paramount+.