Random Interesting Revelations From Documentary 'Unearthed and Untold: Path to Pet Sematary' (14 items)

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  (#1) It Features The Actual Locations That Inspired Stephen King - Including The Titular Burial Grounds

  Many of the locations in Pet Sematary are the places that inspired King while he was writing the novel - from the pet cemetery he lived next door to, to the town where he spent time off while he wasn't teaching. In Unearthed & Untold, the cast and crew of the film discuss how it's not just the buildings and homes that add to the creepy vibe, but the other exterior surroundings in Maine, as well. 

  Denise Crosby (Rachel Creed) notes that the woods surrounding the Pet Sematary sets helped inspire her attitude while filming the more dour, horrifying scenes. If Pet Sematary was filmed in Los Angeles, or any other state doubling for Maine, the emotional inspiration from the area would not have been the same. Many of the locations in the film are miles away from one another, especially the Micmac burial ground and the deadfall, and each were just as necessary in creating the most appropriate aesthetic for the adaptation.  
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  (#2) The Filmmakers Interview One Of The Founders Of The Real Pet Sematary

  The pet cemetery of Pet Sematary is a real place, although it is not an ancient graveyard - at least not according to the documentary. The actual cemetery is in Orrington, Maine, and Stephen King lived next door while he was teaching at Hampden Academy.

  Bethany Smith, one of the founders of the "Pets Sematary," says that King's house was empty for "many many many years" before the author moved in. She explains that the cemetery was started in the '70s out of necessity because of the large amount of pets perishing on the highway. Smith also explains how the pet cemetery came to be called "Pets Sematary." She said: 

  The neighbor up the road, Johnny, he was really into spray painting anything and everything, he decided that our cemetery had to have a sign because it was a growing population. We gave Johnny the task of making the sign and he showed up with it spelled the way it's spelled and we had a really good laugh. 
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  (#3) The Film Only Got Made Because Of The 1988 Writer's Strike

  Lindsay Doran, a producer on the film, tried to get her Pet Sematary adaptation off the ground in the early '80s while working as an executive at Embassy Pictures. Despite her position in the company, they felt that "the time for Stephen King movies had come and gone." When she moved to Paramount in '85, she once again attempted to get the film off the ground with no success. 

  It wasn't until the writer's strike of 1988, when the company started to worry about holes in their upcoming release schedule, that Pet Sematary was approved. Because they couldn't hire any writers, they couldn't greenlight any new scripts, but Doran already had Pet Sematary in her back pocket. In the opening of the documentary, she says that Paramount executives tried to put the kibosh on the film despite not having any scripts available. They finally gave her the go-ahead with their backs against the wall. 
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  (#4) The Novel Was Only Published Because Of A Contractual Agreement

  Stephen King really didn't want to release Pet Sematary. After he wrote it, he put it in a drawer and tried to forget about it before moving on to write something new. The story came back to life in the '80s after King moved from his first publisher, Doubleday, to Viking. Due to his previous contract with Doubleday, there was a pile of money withheld from King, and in order to access it, he had to give them one more book. In 2019, King explained to Entertainment Weekly: 

  The money had piled up enough, so I said, "Well, what do I do about this?" And [King's lawyer] said, "You'll have to give them another book, and make it part of the agreement that they can publish the book under their bullsh*t terms. But they have to break the investment fund."

  According to the documentary, Doubleday didn't want the book from King while he was still working with them. However, after moving to Viking, they were hungry for another King hit so they agreed to his terms. 
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  (#5) King Tells The Infamous Story About Shelving The Novel Because It Scared Him Too Much

  Early on in Unearthed & Untold, King discusses his distaste for the book - not because he thinks the writing is bad, but because he was so afraid of the story he conjured up while writing the book. He admits that it was "nasty" and far too bleak for his personal taste.

  The film later reveals that Doubleday used these exact sentiments to market Pet Sematary once it was released. Who wouldn't want to read the novel written by the master of horror that even he felt was too scary? In 2019, King reiterated his distaste for the book to Entertainment Weekly: 

  I listened to it last year when I was down here in Florida walking on the beach with the dog. Michael C. Hall did the audiobook. I was curious about it. You know, I hadn't been near it in 20, 25 years. So I listened to it, and thought, "My God, this is just awful. It's just as dark as can be..." Not that it was badly written, necessarily. But all that stuff about the [demise] of kids. It was close to me, because my kids lived on that road.
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  (#6) Three Classic Horror Novels And One Short Story Directly Inspired 'Pet Sematary'

  Stephen King is a major proponent of gothic literature, and while much of his work is indebted to the stories of H.P. Lovecraft, Pet Sematary draws heavily from three major 19th-century English horror novels. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Jekyll & Hyde, and Dracula all loom heavily over the resurrection narrative for a couple of reasons. Each of these novels is about something unnatural interrupting the natural flow of life and ruining everyone involved, as well as the secrets that men keep. 

  King was teaching a class on gothic horror while living next to the pet cemetery, and these themes were on his mind while he was sitting in front of the typewriter. Aside from these landmark novels, King was also inspired by the short story The Monkey's Paw, a tale about a deceased monkey's paw that grants wishes with disastrous consequences. The documentary states that King has claimed that Pet Sematary is simply a retelling of that short story. 
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  (#7) King Stipulated That 'Pet Sematary' Should Be Filmed In Maine

  Stephen King really wanted Pet Sematary be filmed in Maine. Even people with only a cursory knowledge of King know that he lives in Maine and that his books are usually set in the state. Throughout the '70s and '80s, however, movies adapted from his work were usually filmed in Los Angeles, which made King bristle. His desire to have Pet Sematary filmed in Maine turned into a roadblock for the production. King said that the location added credibility to the film, but that he also wanted to financially help the state. 

  In 1990 King explained, "A movie like Pet Sematary, a movie like Graveyard Shift... should serve as commercials for the state as much as all of the movies made in California, Los Angeles, New York have served as commercials for those places." 
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  (#8) Charlie Sheen And Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Visited The Set

  Filming in Maine had its charms - one of them being that people from around town were comfortable just stopping by the set and checking things out. But it wasn't just the locals who were popping by the Pet Sematary set to watch the newest King adaptation become committed to celluloid; there were also some legitimately famous folks who were interested in the production, as well. 

  Charlie Sheen stopped by one day to greet David Anderson, the makeup artist, after wrapping Wall Street. Basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hung out around set thanks to his friendship with one of the film's producers. This wasn't the last time that Jabbar crossed paths with King, either - he went on to appear in The Stand a few years later. 
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  (#9) Jud's Home Was A Facade Built Onto A Preexisting House

  Since the production took place in Maine, the crew couldn't just find the perfect house the way they could in Los Angeles, but director Mary Lambert made it work. For the Creed home, she found a house that only required a tree with a tire swing to be planted in the yard to make it legitimate. The Crandall home, however, was a bit more difficult to perfect. 

  The crew had to build a facade onto the front of a different house so that Jud Crandall's residence could be across the street from the Creed home and appear in the same scenes. The actual house is a modern ranch, which is a far cry from what Crandall's house looks like in the film. To make these changes, the crew built an extra frame onto the original building, and it looked incredibly real. They essentially built a house over the house, using sheetrock on the outside of the structure and adding real shingles and trim. 
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  (#10) George Romero Was Initially Attached To Direct

  Early on the in pre-production for the film, George Romero (Night of the Living Dead, Creepshow) was slated to direct. He and King had worked together on several films prior to Pet Sematary, and they had a comfortable partnership; however, at the time, he was working on Monkeyshines and wasn't able to get away. 

  King had so much sway over the project that when his first choice for director fell through, he asked Mary Lambert to helm the picture even though she didn't have any features on her resume. She had directed a lot of music videos, including "Like A Virgin" for Madonna and "Control" for Janet Jackson.

  According to everyone in the documentary, Lambert made the set a comfortable place to be while she tapped into the familial horror of the film. 
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  (#11) Fred Gwynne Lost A Child Himself, And This Inspired Him To Take The Role Of Jud

  There may be reanimated creatures and ghastly nightmares moving through Pet Sematary, but the real horror of the story is the Creed family's tragic loss of their son Gage. The emotions that come with losing a child hit home with the film's star Fred Gwynne, who plays Jud, because he lost his 10-month-old son in 1963 when he fell in the family pool. 

  The film's emotional stakes inspired Gwynne to take the role, and he wasn't afraid of letting people know why he was so enthralled with the work. He told the film's DP, Peter Stein, that Pet Sematary wasn't just a horror movie, but a film about life and what happens after life. It's clear that the role is important to Gwynne and he shines on screen. 
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  (#12) There Were A Lot Of Cats On Set

  Throughout the documentary, no one is certain exactly how many cats appear in the film. It's somewhere between seven and nine, but everyone can agree that there were a lot of little Churches running around on set. Each cat was trained to do something specific, be it cuddle with Ellie or hiss on command, and they all had different names. 

  According to Maine historian Sanford Phippen, the cats were all brought around in a wagon called "The Prowler" that had a bed for each cat with their names printed on the side. Phippen explains that one night while he was on set, the cats were so good that they could do their bits in one take, and that they were well aware of the adulation they received from the cast and crew. 
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  (#13) Zelda Was Played By A Male Actor

  The hands-down scariest scene in Pet Sematary is the sequence with Zelda, Rachel's meningitis-ridden sister. Her emaciated and creepy look was achieved through a variety of means, and it began with casting Andrew Hubastek to play the role. Director Mary Lambert said that Hubastek ticked all of her boxes, especially after he auditioned by crawling out from under a table. Hubastek only worked on the film for a short period of time, but he threw himself into production. He remembered: 

  By the time I got to Maine I knew what I wanted to do, which was basically what I did for Mary in my audition. I didn't really know what they were going to be putting on me, just the makeup, that only helped. But I already had a voice and I figured that I would roll with whatever they gave me.

  Foam was glued all over Hubastek in order to transform him into a woman, and to give him the meningitis look that he needed for the role. They ended up filming for nearly 24 hours straight so they wouldn't have to reapply his makeup at a later date. 
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  (#14) The Ramones Wrote The Theme Song In Less Than An Hour

  Aside from the existential dread threaded throughout the film, one of the most important factors going into the movie is its soundtrack. Like many King adaptations, Pet Sematary features music by the Ramones, who wrote a track specifically for the film. The Ramones were huge fans of Stephen King (and vice versa), so they jumped at the opportunity to contribute. Marky Ramone explains: 

  Stephen King's a big fan, and he wanted Ramones songs in the movie so he chose "Sheena" and then he gave the book to Dee Dee Ramone to read, and [Dee Dee] wrote it in 40 minutes, "Pet Sematary," the main song... it was very simple. We met Stephen at his house in Maine, had dinner at his house, and one thing led to another and that was it.

  The song became a fan favorite and a mainstay of the group's live shows. They recorded a follow up song, "Poison Heart," for Pet Sematary II. "Pet Sematary" is so intertwined with the film that it was covered by Starcrawler for the 2019 remake. 

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