'Pet Sematary': Bringing Stephen King's Most Terrifying Novel To Life [Set Visit Report]

Over the summer, I had the chance to head to the Montreal set of Pet Sematary, the new adaptation/remake of Stephen King's 1983 novel. What I saw there excited me beyond my wildest dreams. I'm a huge Stephen King fan, and Pet Sematary is my favorite King novel, immediately making me suspicious of any adaptation. What I came away with is the knowledge and confidence that the film is in excellent hands, and might just be the next great Stephen King movie adaptation.

(This Pet Sematary set visit report is as spoiler-free as possible. Check back with us closer to the film's release for a more spoiler-centric report.)

While the crew bustles about setting up a complicated scene involving Jason Clarke and John Lithgow, directors Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer emerge from that peeling, run-down house and meet us in the yard. Both men look a bit exhausted, and yet come alive when speaking about the film. Widmyer is the more talkative of the two by far, rattling off info about the production while a cigarette burns in his hand. Kölsch sits by his side with a thoughtful look on his face, waiting to interject."We're lucky that It did as well as it did, because now we're in another Stephen King renaissance and we shouldn't blow it," Widmyer says. "We should be making great movies out of this material, because the material warrants it. [Pet Sematary] is a very seminal book, it's very different from [King's] other books. [And] our approach to the material is very mature, very grounded, and we really understood the material."And what of that material? How true is this Pet Sematary hewing to King's novel, as opposed to the 1989 film adaptation?"There were a lot of things in the book that we were always big fans of or things that didn't even make it into the original movie that we wanted to do," Kölsch says. "And we worked hard to get those into the script. That has been our approach, to be faithful to the book. But the best remakes are the things that stay faithful to the essence, not necessarily every single thing that happens. We're making some changes, or doing some decisions based on the kind of things that we think would be really cool, but it's all within the essence and the spirit of the original source material."This is incredibly promising to hear. Based on the footage we see being shot today, it's clear that this Pet Sematary has nailed down the ever-present dread of King's novel. It's also found clever ways to remain faithful to King's prose while also interjecting new, exciting bits, resulting in something that seems fresh and alive. Earlier in the day, on a conference call with with Lorenzo di Bonaventura, the Pet Sematary producer elaborates a bit on some of the material changes in this new adaptation."I would say this: we are extremely faithful to it, both in literal content and especially, in addition, in emotional," di Bonaventura says, adding: "From the beginning we've tried to make the book very much our guiding light, both in literal content and in emotional content."But some changes were made, of course. "The one thing that I always struggled with in the book and in the movie that was made was Jud's reasoning behind telling Louis about the burial ground, or taking him to the burial ground," di Bonaventura says on the call.In King's novel, and the '89 film, the sudden death of the family cat inspires Jud to take Louis into the woods – to the pet sematary, and beyond. "It was an interesting process to go through the development of it because we kept trying to find a rational reason – this is why Jud would do it," di Bonaventura continues. "But what we ended up on, which I think is an incredibly satisfying result – which is an evolution, I'll say from the book – is that Jud is this lonely man who suddenly has a family that moves in who touches his heart. So it's an emotional decision he makes, not a rational decision."This is certainly a clever approach to Jud's motivation, and this sort of attention to detail has me excited. As does the fact that Kölsch and Widmyer understand that there's more to Stephen King that just horror. What makes King's work so immortal and universal is the way he creates his characters, making them seem fully formed. And the way he's able to tap into realistic themes and graft them onto a fantastical scenario."The supernatural element is a tool to tell [the] story," Widmyer tells us on set. "The same way The Shining is really about addiction because Stephen King was going through addiction at that time, and his use of the father and writer's block and claustrophobia and stuff. It's not about an evil hotel, you know? You bring the horror in with you, and that's really what this story is too. So we love that stuff."Widmyer adds later: "This is literary horror. This isn't just concept and shlock. This could be something more. I think we're excited to try to tell...an elevated, really smart, mature version."

Except we're not. A slight miscommunication was made, and instead, we're bundled off to base camp – an endless sea of trailers and campers set up within a sprawling, barren field. We stroll across graveled earth, where we happen to catch sight of twins Hugo Lavoie and Lucas Lavoie, who both play Gage Creed in the film. The children run about, laughing, completely oblivious and indifferent to any horror lurking within the frames of Pet Sematary.We've come here to talk with John Lithgow, who takes on the role of Jud Crandall. Lithgow has been in the business for nearly 50 years, appearing in films such as All the Jazz, Blow Out, Interstellar, and yes, Shrek. And that only scratches the surface. Being in his presence is slightly surreal – he's imposingly tall, and having seen him for so many years on the screen it's a bit jarring to then catch sight of him in person.Decked out in a plaid shirt and dirty overalls, he greets us kindly inside one of the trailers. He's soft spoken, his words are perfectly enunciated. A warmth radiates from him. He's grown a heavy beard for the role, and in a nice added touch, the makeup department has stained the mouth area of his beard yellow with nicotine. Just as in King's novel, Lithgow's Jud is a heavy smoker.Lithgow inherits the part of Jud from the late Fred Gwynne, who turned in a highly memorable performance as the elderly neighbor, and really nailed the character's thick Maine accent so prevalent in King's book. But don't expect Lithgow to do the same."We all talked about [the accent]," Lithgow tells us, "and we even tried it different ways. I did a whole reading with a Maine accent. I personally felt that even people who are from Maine, even actors who get it absolutely right – an accent like that kind of takes you out of the story. I myself think that, especially how they have reimagined this script, which is changed from the book, to the first film, to this – it has evolved and Jud has become a more serious character, in a sense. He is a character in the pull of a kind of deep, deep regret, deep guilt, great longing, great feelings of loss, love. And because of that, I just felt he had to be a very genuine person. Listen, I have Boston roots. My father was born there, all my uncles and aunts were from there, I went to Harvard and I know Boston well. I can do an accent. But as soon as I start, that's all you're listening to."This genuine approach to the character falls in line with what Widmyer and Kölsch told us about their grounded, mature handling of the material. And Lithgow's take on the part of Jud is refreshingly serious – this is no frivolous role for him. He's inhabiting the character."The first you see of Jud – he's a gruff and forbidding, almost scary character," Lithgow says. "You don't know who this character's going to be – but his first scene is with a 9-year-old little girl [Ellie Creed], who is a very unusual 9-year-old girl, but she really warms to this character and he warms to her. And suddenly, you see this kind of forbidding guy, who for some reason can enchant a child. He just, he can really connect with a child –  mean really connect, talk to her about death, talk to her about what it's like to be a little girl moving to a new town. He's like Mr. Rogers. He's got a strain of Mr. Rogers in him – the last thing you expect from this character. And that's the first you see of him – and before you see his demons. I just love the fact that all those things are going on with him.""You know, when you make a horror film," Lithgow continues, "the emotions have to be so authentic and everything that happens in the story has to really come out in various deep emotional needs from the characters. And that's built in to the way [Widmyer and Kölsch] have reimagined this story. You believe these feelings and you identify strongly with these characters and their needs, their longings, their feelings of love and anger, you know, and regret. You know, you'll find this quite a serious film when the time comes."Later – much later – Jason Clarke, who plays Louis Creed, will tell us something similar in this very same trailer. Clarke has been filming all day, and is covered in dirt from a scene he just shot. He's tired, and still has more to shoot. But he takes time when asked questions, ruminating on them for a long time before he gives us answers. "The thing in the book I love is that Louis has such internal monologue," the Australian actor says. "There's a sarcasm to him, and a wit to him, an irony, an awareness and a lack of an awareness. [Pet Sematary is] a story about a family and what you'd do, you know, if you could...[the burial ground is] just sitting up there, it's a hard itch not to scratch, you know, but then when you start scratching it, it gets pretty ugly. You know, it's not – it's a festering scratch, if that makes sense."Our talk with John Lithgow ends when the actor is called back to set. And at long last, we're told we're going to travel to the pet sematary.

We're brought here via golf cart. First, we travel to the huge red farmhouse being used as the new home of the Creed family. Tall trees tower behind it, and a path has been made. The golf carts travel over the bumpy terrain of that path, deeper and deeper into the woods. Lights have been fixed up in the trees for night shooting. Dust kicks up from the earth. And before too long, we've arrived.To stroll into the pet sematary set close to dusk is something akin to a religious experience. Nestled deep in the woods, the childish graveyard – "Boot Hill for animals," Louis Creed calls it in the novel – is a marvel of production design.Nothing here looks fake or staged. In a concentric circle, homemade grave markers advertise the final resting place of (fictional) pets."BIFFER BIFFER A HELLUVA SNIFFER...""TRIXIE, KILT ON THE HIGHWAY"The inscriptions on these markers we see, and more, are taken verbatim from King's book.Wooden crosses, hammered together in lopsided angles; stones with diminished words chiseled into them; faded photographs of dogs and cats; religious iconography all around.The pet sematary entrance is marked by a totem so tall and emotionally devastating that it takes my breath away, and briefly makes me feel as if I might tear up. A wooden post – likely from a bed or a porch – juts from the ground at a crooked angle. A splintered piece of wood is hammered into the top of the post. PET SEMATARY is painted on that board in drippy, white letters. And wrapped around the post are hundreds upon hundreds of dog leashes and cat and dog collars. Studded, pink, black, faded, weathered. The remnants of countless pet lives, suddenly snuffed out one day. At the bottom of the sign rest water and food bowls. Off to the side is a framed painting of the Virgin Mary, nestled in some brush as if it had been tossed aside in a fit of rage.The insects hum; the air is still and hot. Death is comfortable here. And to stand here, right now, with the night coming in, is to be transported directly into King's novel. To find yourself in a real graveyard for dead animal. To feel the power of something ancient, and evil, pulsating through the woods.There's talk of rain tonight, and slowly, crew members begin shrouding the handmade tombstones in plastic sheeting, as carefully as a coroner encasing a corpse in a body bag. Silence takes over, as if we're in a real graveyard – as if to raise our voices here in this place of death would be disrespectful.And all around the sematary is what King calls the deadfall in his novel. Thousands of jagged, huge branches and tree trunks, piled up in a mad shape. An impossible, towering wall of stick and birch and bark. It looms large, and it feels like it's watching you. In the center of the deadfall is a hole – a spot for a camera to be placed, to peer out. But as you stand in the pet sematary, and peer into that hole, you feel the life running out of you. You feel darkness creeping in. You feel like something is watching you.In the film, as in the story, the deadfall leads to the Micmac Burial Ground. The place that has the power to bring back to the dead. The place where the ground has gone sour.The Micmac Burial Ground is being built on a soundstage, we're told. But looking up at the deadfall here, you can believe the real Micmac Burial Ground is just beyond. All you have to do to find it is climb over...and take a little walk.Pet Sematary opens on April 5, 2019.