4/5 stars Rather like the storyline, Stephen King’s grisly 1983 book gets re-animated for this second cinematic adaptation. The original movie, arriving in 1989, was scripted by King and featured Herman Munster himself, Fred Gwynne. Here, co-directors Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kölsch do not try anything too fancy, sticking to the premise closely as a doctor and his family move into a new home in Ludlow, Maine. The result is surprisingly effective. Played by Jason Clarke, Dr. Louis Reed is a rational man who does not believe in the afterlife. But that changes when he, wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz) and kids Ellie (Jeté Laurence) and Gage (Lucas Lavoie), arrive at their new home, a sprawling property that even includes a pet cemetery (misspelled as “sematary”) where local kids come to bury their beloved animals. But something is clearly amiss: Rachael is soon haunted by childhood visions of her crippled sister while Louis starts seeing things after failing to revive a fatally wounded patient. The story then gets really freaky when the family cat Church is run over and old-timer neighbour Jud (John Lithgow) escorts Louis to the cemetery. Instead of putting the feline to rest with the other creatures, he takes it to a stone circle further on; within hours, Church has returned from the dead, now a vicious creature with wiry hair and demon-like eyes, who immediately scratches Ellie and tries to attack Gage. “Sometimes dead is better,” mutters the foolhardy Jud, who will soon begin to regret his meddling in the occult. It film review: Stephen King’s demonic clown makes a striking impression If you’ve not read the book or seen the other movie, it’d be kinder not to spoil the subsequent events, as tragedy strikes and an insidious fog rolls in around the Reeds’ property. Scripted by Jeff Buhler, who wisely gets out of the way and lets King’s original story do the work, what follows is a skilful mix of visual effects, animatronics, and good-old fashioned prosthetic make-up. True, the “evil” version of Church isn’t always the most convincing, but by that point you’ll be swept up in this ghoulish tale. While the adult actors are all perfectly proficient, the real star is young Laurence, who has already featured in The Snowman and assorted TV roles. She is marvellous as Ellie, the sweet-as-a-button child who goes on a hellish journey. Partly thanks to her, the film sits neatly among the best movies made from Stephen King’s lurid library. Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook