Pet Sematary is dumb, occasionally chilling fun—it’s a typical ‘80s B-Movie horror romp. The special effects, supporting ensemble, a well-executed scene here and there, and the occasional twist maintain a constant shuffle onward. However, a “stonier” lead in Louis Creed (Dale Midkiff), unscary and occasionally goofy scares, and a consistent lack of depth behind its many cryptic sayings and classic Stephen King poetic charge limit Pet Sematary from the profundity and genuine unease it should (and desperately wants to) instill. The Creed family—Louis Creed (Dale Midkiff), his wife Rachel Goldman-Creed (Denise Crosby), their daughter Ellie (Elizabeth Ureneck), and son, Gage (Miko Hughes)—move from the noisy streets of Chicago to the isolated greeneries of Ludlow, Maine, after Louis accepts a new physician position in town. Their across-street neighbor, Jud Crandall (Fred Gwynne), quickly befriends them, relaying all the information needed about the town, including a local and crowded pet cemetery (signed “Pet Sematary”) which has a path that extends to the Creed home. He explains how the whole town’s buried their pets there over the years, even explaining to young Ellie what death is. Unfortunately, partly from a warning bestowed on Louis by a ghostly patient of his that died, the Creed family also discovers the site’s evil past and present capabilities. Having once been an ancient Indigenous burial ground for the Micmac tribe, a part of the graveyard higher up resurrects buried any organisms; now that the “soil is sour,” though, loved ones return as bloodthirsty, violence-crazed beings. As the cemetery seemingly can will death onto others, the Creed family must stop at nothing before they’re all killed or, worse, brought back.

Pet Sematary has quite a lot of ’80s schlock that makes it irresistibly hilarious. For starters, Midkiff is thigh-slappingly bad as Louis. Regardless of who Louis Creed is supposed to be—he could be a psychopath, he could be an absent-minded father—Midkiff maintains a laughable flatness through it all. As deaths stack and the personal losses inflict, the best Midkiff delivers are unbothered, monotone reactions. “As far as your dad is concerned, I’m never gonna be a member of the family,” Louis says to his wife almost in a smile, as if such an in-law conundrum was nothing to be bothered by; “I tried to tell myself that I buried him alive. I’m not a vet. It was dark,” he explains to Jud after they buried the family’s first victim, Midkiff with unstressed cheeks and an unbothered gaze, speaking mildly faster than usual to transcribe the shock he supposedly feels. Sometimes he cries and screams out, but with rapidly blinking eyes and a holler more reminiscent of someone getting lemon juice in their sockets. He significantly deflates the main Creed, and it’s hilarious. Combined with a script that entirely misses Stephen King’s metaphorical angst, poetic irony, symbolic gesturing, and linguistic finesse (other than throwing out a few lines here and there reminiscent of such crafted goodness in hopes that those are enough), and Pet Sematary‘s leading man is a funny miscast fitting of the film’s writerly woes.

While the script and leading man significantly hinder this adaptation from reaching King’s level of storytelling, it’s got several solid components. The ensemble cast is excellent, for example. Fred Gwynne is bone-chilling in his half-naive, half-acknowledged position toward everything as Jud. He ensures Jud is both cryptic and comforting, giving wry smiles with every comforting “it’ll be okay” whilst discomforting with his vague, riddle-like sayings about the cemetery: “The soil of a man’s heart is, stonier, like the soul up there in the old Micmac burial ground,” he says, eyes widened with something of a half-grinned bleached across is cheeks as he explains components of the burial grounds. Denise Crosby as Rachel is jolting, whether she cries over death as a concept or when she describes her treacherous past. She understands much more than Midkiff how to carry herself as a struggling parent who wants to keep her kids safe in the face of new dangers. Both Elizabeth Ureneck as Ellie and Miko Hughes as Gage are cute kids, the former grasping at the horrors death brings into the mind of a child with ease, and the latter delivering as much cute affection as necessary. Pet Sematary‘s production value is also relatively high; from makeup to lightning strikes and eerily darkened shots, this first adaptation of the Stephen King novel nails the atmosphere.

Thus, while there are serious(ly funny) lapses in dialogue, intensifying detail, Midkiff’s and thematic interplay, Pet Sematary also gets a lot right, at least in scope and supporting characters. For Stephen King fans, Crosby or Gwynne fans, and fans of ’80s B-Movie cheese, Pet Sematary is a must-see. Just don’t expect any well-sewn takeaways or genuine thrills and chills beyond a mildly cryptic discomfort, except maybe that you should do something when your disabled sister starts choking.

Screens Saturday, 8/9, 11:59 p.m. (midnight, Sunday, 8/10) @ Coolidge Corner Theatre
Part of the ongoing repertory series: After Midnite