Mary Lambert spoke to ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief about her upcoming festive movie Best. Christmas. Ever! recently and talk eventually turned to her most famous directorial gig: 1989’s adaptation of the Stephen King novel Pet Sematary.
Lambert Unearths Pet Sematary Memories
Tyler asked Lambert what she thought of the film’s legacy.
”Oh, wow. I don’t know, exactly. I feel really lucky to have been given that opportunity at that stage in my career, — to work with Stephen King, who’s a really amazing storyteller and dramatist. I, personally, have always been a storyteller, but my craft with narrative, I’m more of a visual person than a word person.”
Lambert cites King’s ability as a writer as a key factor in the film’s success.
”To be able to work with a wordsmith like Stephen King and someone who knows how to craft a story arc and to craft the characters and to fit it all into this beautiful narrative structure … it was really an important thing for me to do, for me personally to do.”
It felt like a united front in Lambert’s eyes, and she delved into what exactly made the film so beloved by horror fans.
I feel like we came together in a collaboration, with his words and my pictures. I feel like I was able to achieve something that changes people a little bit when they see it, and hopefully … horror movies are there so that you can get your fears out in the open and laugh at them — that’s what they’re for,” she said, ”Or maybe not laugh at them, but at least give a nod to them and go, ‘Okay, I’m looking at you, I’m dealing with it’. I feel like with Pet Sematary, each one of the characters personifies a different fear that you, as an audience, can kind of walk through those fears until you can finally look the really horrible one in the face, which is the idea of losing someone you love, like a child.
Pet Sematary gained a 1992 sequel (also directed by Lambert)starring Edward Furlong and Clancy Brown, and 30 years later, it was remade, with a prequel movie Pet Sematary: Bloodlines released on Paramount Plus earlier this year.
Best, Christmas. Ever! is currently streaming on Netflix and stars Brandy Norwood, Jason Biggs, and Heather Graham in a festive tale about a woman trying to prove her old friend’s life isn’t as perfect as it appears.
