10 Horror Movies Critics Were WAY Too Harsh On

Pet Sematary could only be a Stephen King story, it's such a perfect example of his style that it comes over like a tighter, soberer version of It. Shot in Maine on King's insistence, Pet Sematary ticks all the boxes - Indigenous American burial grounds, horrific family history, Faustian Pacts and names like 'Louis Creed' all add to the flavour, this is King at the height of his popularity.

Horror critic Kim Newman had this to say on King's screenplay: "In the book, with three hundred pages of motivation, you can just about swallow the plot. But in the film this is impossible and you have to sit impatiently through scene after silly scene before the zombie attacks start."

Newman gave a one star review, hammering a final nail in the coffin lid: "Literary success fails to make the leap to film again, with another hacked-up, sloppy screenplay from King."

While the film spends too much time fawning over Creed's nuclear family, it's in the details that King's talent really pays off. Fans cite 'Zelda' as one of the best scares - Creed's wife, Rachel, suffers from the traumatic memory of her dying, deformed sister, hidden in the attic of her childhood home.

Another big charm of the movie is the presence of Fred Gwynn (Herman Munster himself) whose Maine accent is so good that it's worth watching just to hear him say "Ayuh..."