Stephen King‘s works have seen a new renaissance as of late with the blockbuster film IT’s sequel on the way in September, the critically acclaimed Castle Rock getting picked up for second season a mere six episodes into it’s run, and on April 5th, we will see a reboot/remake/reimagining(?) of King’s classic Pet Sematary.

Check out the new trailer.

From the looks of things, this movie is taking every horror trope from last decade and rolling it all up into one terrifying feast.  Kids in animal masks, jumpy jump cuts, vibrating ghost images, and bone-cracking jerky movements- Pet Cemetery…er… Sematary seems to have it all! And like all of King’s adaptions it can either go one of two ways; this will either be a eye-rolling mess or a gruesome good time.  And with Lithgow leading the pack, this is leaning towards the latter. 

But for fans of the books or even the original movie and it sequel (Yes, there are some out there!  We are few, but fierce!) there seem to be one or two major departures from the source material.

Ok, Slight Spoilers Here

Although the premise seems mostly the same as the book, there’s one huge divergence in this movie.  It’s not the little boy, Gage Creed played by Hugo Lavoie, who gets a truck to the face and then resurrected, but rather- the older daughter Elle, played by Jeté Laurence that comes back “different”.

Now, I’m not of any mind here on this difference.  It could easily work either way, with either undead kid. I’m not a book purist, although I do think this is one of King’s stronger novels.  The grieving father/husband is a very relatable character put in a easily understandable situation… a situation where his love for his family could potentially unleash hell upon the earth.  

However, it seems that this trailer hints that more than just one of the Creed kids will be returning, or at least they might be bringing more nasties with them. 

If true, this changes the story more significantly.

We won’t know if this is a good or bad turn until April 5th, but if there is a chance for a zombie-John Lithgow I’m pre-ordering my tickets as fast as I can.

For more Lithgow-goodness here’s the first trailer.