How Stand By Me influenced Pet Sematary: Bloodlines

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is a prequel that delves into the backstory of two characters from the original bestselling book. It’s also heavily influenced by another Stephen King adaptation – Stand by Me – as the film’s producers explain.

Set in 1969 – in the small town of Ludlow – Pet Sematary: Bloodlines revolves around two characters from the original Stephen King novel. Jud Crandall, who is a major player in the book, and Timmy Baterman, whose tragic backstory is also recounted.

The characters in this prequel are mainly young men and women, with the film also featuring flashbacks to their childhood years. These scenes are reminiscent of 1987 movie Stand By Me, which happens to be an adaptation of another Stephen King story in the shape of The Body.

We watched Pet Sematary: Bloodlines at the film’s Fantastic Fest world premiere. Then got the chance to quiz producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian about the making of the movie. As well as its influences.

How Stand By Me influenced Pet Sematary: Bloodlines

Producer Vahradian has previously said that one of the reasons director Lindsey Anderson Beer landed the gig was because of her pitch, which invoked Stand By Me.

That film – directed by Rob Reiner – follows four young friends into the woods as they search for a dead body. And also covers the ways in which they drifted apart in later years.

“What we loved when she came in was the idea of exploring these friendships between these kids,” Vahradian explains of Beer’s Bloodline pitch. “How you’re as close as you can possibly be when you are 10-years-old, and how they gradually, inevitably, you grow apart as people. And so I think that was the hook into those characters. To explore what it was that had separated them.”

Why the prequel focusses on Timmy Baterman

As for why the film focusses on Timmy’s story – told through the eyes of Jud – Di Bonaventura explains: “All the fans always talked about Timmy Baterman. He’s the reason. Because that’s an area that has never been explored. So that’s where we started – seeing what kind of story we could carve out of that. And I think our experience of getting to know the older Jud Crandall – it was a cool idea to do the younger one because it’s never been done. So for us it’s both an incredibly important part of the book, and a fan favourite.”

Vahradian adds: “This was for me the most heartbreaking part of the book because it was a father and his son and it dealt with this thematic war, so it had multiple layers to it. It was dealing with the impact of war on a small town. So it was an opportunity to explore the power of the cemetery, and at the same time, to get deeper into that exploration of grief, which the first movie was really about.”

You can read out Fantastic Fest review of Pet Sematary: Bloodlines here, while the film hits Paramount+ on October 6, 2023. For more festival coverage, click here. Or check out the below reviews:

Dream Scenario review | The Toxic Avenger review | The Fall of the House of Usher review  | Suitable Flesh review | Your Lucky Day review | The Creator review | Saltburn review