PET SEMATARY: BLOODLINES Director is Interested in Exploring The Stephen King Horror Story in More Sequels
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is a prequel story that’s set 40 years before the events of the 2019 film adaption of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary. The story explores the history of the town of Ludlow and the character Jud Crandall. This is a fascinating story, and it’s one that I was happy to see brought to life.
There’s a lot of lore in the Pet Sematary story and Pet Sematary: Bloodlines director Lindsey Beer is interested in exploring that lore even further. During an interview with GamesRadar, she said:
"You could do so many movies within the Pet Sematary universe that peel back the onion more and show more and more of what this evil really is, and really comes from, but I certainly have lots of versions of a very extensive origin story in my head.”
She goes on to say that the other films set in this horror universe "would be something that I would be further interested in exploring. It was definitely a tightrope to balance because I didn’t want to give it all away. I also feel like if you explain too much, it almost becomes more confusing, but I was trying to just explain enough that it felt intriguing and satisfying in and of itself, but would beg more questions."
The upcoming prequel film is going to tackle the tragic story of Timmy Baterman because it hasn’t been properly explored before.
Baterman is a side story within the main narrative of King’s novel, and it was used to emphasize the dangers of the burial ground. During World War II, Timmy was killed in action. His grieving father, Bill Baterman, unable to cope with the loss, buried his son in the Micmac burial ground, which is the ancient cemetery with the resurrection power. Timmy came back to life, but he wasn't the same. He began acting strangely and violently, terrifying the townsfolk. Stories about his behavior, including mutterings about secrets of the townspeople and acts of violence, spread throughout the town.
Several men from the town, including Jud Crandall went to the Baterman house to confront Bill about his undead son. They found Bill in a state of denial, refusing to acknowledge that the thing in his house was no longer his son. Eventually, the Baterman house burned down under mysterious circumstances, with both Bill and Timmy inside. When talking about telling this story, Beer said:
“It’s such an interesting piece of the lore, because the book basically implies that it was because Jud had this interaction with the evil and Timmy earlier in his life that the evil was now targeting him as an adult, but that’s not something we ever learn in the film. So it seems like such an important missing piece in the mythology that I’m really glad that’s what they chose to focus in on.”
The story for the new film is set In 1969, and young Jud Crandall who “has dreams of leaving his hometown of Ludlow, Maine behind, but soon discovers sinister secrets buried within and is forced to confront a dark family history that will forever keep him connected to Ludlow. Banding together, Jud and his childhood friends must fight an ancient evil that has gripped Ludlow since its founding, and once unearthed has the power to destroy everything in its path.”
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines will premiere Friday, October 6th, exclusively on Paramount+. Would you want to see more stories explored in the world of Pet Sematary?