FAQ

Morticians are able to cover damage to bodies with makeup, stitching and many other techniques. Gage is wearing a long sleeved jacket and pants so there is no way of telling the damage done to his body, the clothing could hide damage. His head and face may not have been damaged to the point that it wasn't repairable (it doesn't show his body after being hit and it doesn't show how he was hit - it could be that his body was flung at an angle and his face and head were missed by the truck) so there really is no way to say if he would/would not just have a small scar from repairs done by the mortician. It is possible that his face and head weren't badly damaged.

Church's behavior had changed after being buried. He was now violent (and working with Gage) and needed to be put down before killing anyone. Plus, he was likely testing the drug on Church to see how lethal it would be.

A dead fall is a large pile of limbs, branches and brush. The pile at the back of the pet cemetery was probably the result of years or even decades of brush and limb-clearing that took place in the cemetery and the area surrounding it. Whenever someone cleared the growth out of the cemetery or the path leading to it, they took the brush to the deadfall and piled it on top.

The danger that comes with the deadfall is that it's unstable to walk or climb on. The limbs piled on each other could be any width -- anything that was too narrow could easily break if someone tried to step on them or climb on the pile. Limbs could also be rotten and would definitely give way, like the one we see Louis break, causing his fall when he follows Jud. A person could also end up impaled on another branch if something gave way, a point that Louis talks about specifically.

Jud, however, knew the secret of crossing the deadfall, which Pascow calls a barrier -- if someone walks at a steady pace to the top and doesn't look down, they'd be able to cross it safely. There might have been some magical force at work, one where a person's belief they could cross safely would protect them. Louis' fall in the movie was not from the original story and was added for dramatic effect.

From the moment Victor Pascow passes away, his identity and appearance are assumed by what could be called a "guardian angel" who tries to prevent people from using the cemetery; and even though he puts in a lot of effort, he can't stop people from using it.

Doctor Louis Creed (Dale Midkiff) has accepted a position at the University of Maine's campus health center and moved his family—wife Rachel (Denise Crosby), young daughter Ellen "Ellie" (Blaze Berdahl), and baby son Gage (Miko Hughes)—into a house in the country near a busy road. While exploring their yard, Ellie finds a path, and neighbor Jud Crandall (Fred Gwynne) explains that it leads to a pet "sematary" where kids have been burying their beloved pets (often killed by the heavy traffic on the road) for years. When Ellie's cat, Winston "Church" Churchill is killed by a truck, Jud reveals a secret burial ground behind the pet sematary that has the power of returning pets to life ...but they often don't come back quite the same as before.

Pet Sematary (1983) is a novel written by American horror writer Stephen King. The inspiration for the story came from King's own experiences living on a busy road in Orrington, Maine. The road claimed the lives of a number of pets, and the neighborhood children had created a pet cemetery in a field near the Kings' home. King's daughter Naomi buried her cat "Smucky" there after it was hit, and their son Owen had a close call running toward the road, both experiences that played into the story. A sequel to the movie, Pet Sematary II (1992), was released in 1992.

Stephen King misspelled it for the title because, in the book, the kids that made the sign for the pet cemetery misspelled it. King explains in a new introduction to the book that a real pet cemetery near his house in Maine had a sign reading "Pet Sematary." This misspelling (obviously made by children) found its way into the book and the title.

Many viewers think that Church was a Russian blue, but he actually was a British shorthair. Russian Blues are slimmer and sleeker while British shorthairs are more rounded.

Louis injected Church with a high dose of morphine. Morphine is a painkiller and as large a dose as Louis gives Church can stop a living creature's breathing.

Missy Dandridge (Susan Blommaert) writes in her suicide note: "I am sure I have cancer. I cannot face the pain. Sorry"

It's explained in the movie that the cemetery has "gone sour" but that it was once used by Native Americans. The book gives more detail. It says that the Micmac Indians used the ground as a burial site, but it became the haunt of a wendigo, a bad spirit that could possess humans and turn them into cannibals.

Meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges, the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord, usually due to viral, bacterial, or fungal infection. Symptoms include headache, fever, and a stiff neck. Because of the infection's closeness to the brain and spinal cord, meningitis can be life-threatening or result in long-term complications such as those seen in Rachel's sister Zelda (Andrew Hubatsek).

Rachel is killed by Gage, and Louis buries her in the Pet Sematary. He gets back to his house and starts playing cards with himself. Then Rachel, covered in blood and dirt, walks through the door, her eyes gushing pus. Louis starts crying, and Rachel moans, "Darling." The two start kissing passionately as Rachel reaches for a knife. It is presumed that Rachel is about to stab Louis in the side of the head when the credits roll.

Yes. He plays the minister at Missy's funeral.

According to those who have both seen the movie and read the book, the movie mostly follows the book, at least to the degree that it represents all of the major "happenings". It's far from perfect, though, because a major component of the book takes place within Louis Creed's mind and his slow dip into insanity following the death of his son and the visit to the true Pet Sematary. In the book, Jud has a wife. When his wife dies, Rachel reacts badly. Part of Jud's wife's role was used for Missy in the film, who had been just a minor character in the book. The movie has cut out a lot of what the spirit possessing the buried bodies is all about. In the book, an essential aspect is that it's an all-knowing and evil, crude and merciless in verbal level too, but the film chose to not point this out either in Timmy's or Gage's case. In Gage's case it's understandable though as the actor was far too young to speak such lines at all. The film also has the resurrected Gage all pretty as baby, whereas in the novel, he's what a toddler realistically would look like after being hit by a truck and re-intacted to one piece before burying. Rachel's appearance is also different, and the book ends right when she says "Darling."