PET SEMATARY

This BBC dramatization of Stephen King’s novel is an update of W. W. Jacobs’s far superior short story "The Monkey’s Paw." In rural Maine, new residents discover a hidden Indian cemetery where buried pets return zombie-like from the dead. When the family’s young son dies, the grief-stricken father decides to use the cemetery’s magical properties to get his son back. The adaptation is faithful, production values full and meticulous, the suspenseful direction excellent. However, the aural mis-en-scene is hackneyed and the acting merely adequate; the colorless lead voices are whiny and unsympathetic. Y.R. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 00]