In this morbid but compulsive horror, adapted by Stephen King from his own novel, the Creed family – handsome young doctor Louis (Dale Midkiff), wife Rachel (Denise Crosby), daughter Ellie (Blaze Berdahl) and toddler son Gage (two-year-old Miko Hughes) – move from Chicago to a new home in a picturesque rural backwater in Maine.
Their helpful new neighbour, Jud Crandall (Fred Gwynne, best known as Herman Munster), warns Louis not to let Ellie’s cat Churchill wander since the road outside the house has huge tanker trucks screaming by at high speed at all hours.
In fact, so many pets were lost on the dangerous highway over the years that the local kids made their own adorably misspelt pet cemetery.
When Churchill inevitably buys it, a sympathetic Jud takes Louis beyond the kid-built graveyard to an ancient Indian burial ground, where anything laid to rest doesn’t rest for very long . . .
When the cat returns the next day (albeit with a nasty smell and nastier disposition), Louis wonders if the lovable kitty he planted is the same beast that dug its way out. But when a similar fate befalls baby Gage, Louis is consumed with the temptation to see his little boy alive again.
For much of its length, the story, which seems to be yet another reworking of the classic short story The Monkey’s Paw, provides only the occasional shudder and is interrupted by awkward flashbacks.
But those who stick with it are rewarded with a really ghastly climax, cleverly engineered to tweak very raw nerves.
Over the years, concerns have been raised about the impact the filming of this movie must have had on young Miko Hughes.
In fact, his scenes in the horror sequences were shot separately from the more “disturbing” elements and violent plots. They later edited him into these scenes, while a child’s puppet was used for the more intense action shots.
The terrifyingly terrifying sick and bedridden woman, Zelda, was played by a man (Andrew Hubatsek).
Director Mary Lambert also did the sequel, which went straight to video in the UK.
A remake was released in 2019 with a (controversially) changed ending.
Jud Crandall
Fred Gwynne Louis Creed
Dale Midkiff Rachel Creed
Denise Crosby Victor Pascow
Brad Greenquist Irwin Goldman
Michael Lombard Gage Creed
Miko Hughes Ellie Creed
Blaze Berdahl Missy Dandridge
Susan Blommaert Marcy Charlton
Mara Clark Steve Masterton
Kavi Raz Dory Goldman
Mary Louise Wilson Zelda
Andrew Hubatsek
In fact, so many pets were lost on the dangerous highway over the years that the local kids made their own adorably misspelt pet cemetery.
But those who stick with it are rewarded with a really ghastly climax, cleverly engineered to tweak very raw nerves.
