'Pet Sematary: Bloodlines' Director Lindsay Anderson Beer Talks Stephen King Horror Prequel (Exclusive)

It has been 40 years since Stephen King's Pet Sematary novel was first published, and the story continues to unsettle audiences everywhere in the new prequel film, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines. Written and directed by Lindsay Anderson Beer, the film traces back the origins of the infamous cursed graveyard and explores how it came to devastate lives rather than return them. In a recent exclusive interview with PopCulture.com, Beer told us that King's novel was her introduction to horror, and left her with "so many questions as a fan" when she was growing up.

"It was really exciting to be able to answer those for myself," she said, "and make up mythology and reread the book over and over again and be like, 'Oh, I didn't notice that one line. Could that one line be three scenes?' But the entire process was amazing, and also it was important to me to bring in Indigenous characters and point of view because obviously it's a part of the book, but we don't have characters to give space to, I mean, I can't really name one thing. All of it was really a privilege."

One of the most compelling elements of the film is the comparison and contrast of two fathers: Dan Crandall, played by Henry Thomas, and Bill Baterman, played by David Duchovny. "Obviously, the original Pet Sematary is such an intimate story, but it's about what a father will do for his son and to spend one more day with the person he loves," Beer explained. "This is obviously a much more sprawling tale, but at the center of it are these two dads, on the protagonist side and the antagonist side, but ultimately they're both just fathers trying to protect their sons in different ways." She added that one thing "really important" to her was making sure that Bill "always felt like a very sympathetic antagonist and not a villain."

In the original story and film — as well as the 2019 movie remake — the "pet" at the crux of the plot is a cat. This time, however, Beer chose a dog. Specifically, she chose an Australian Cattle Dog named Jellybean, who she says "was amazing" as Bill's dog Hendricks. Beer went on to reveal, "Jellybean was deaf, which posed an interesting challenge shooting-wise because the trainer couldn't just say a command. The trainer had to be in the direct eye line of the dog, which if you're trying to point a camera at a dog, means very creative about the angles. 

"That challenge aside," the director continued, "it definitely challenged my understanding of geography, geometry, all of the Gs. That dog was so sweet and his walk was so creepy and he was so good at just having this bizarre air to him." 

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is now available to buy on Digital, and will be released Dec. 19 on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD, from Paramount Home Entertainment.