Taking place in 1969, years before the original story, this prequel sees a young Jud Crandall – played by Jackson White, who’ll grow up to be Fred Gwynne or John Lithgow, depending on which version you prefer – who’s set to leave Ludlow to join the Peace Corps. This doesn’t go down well with some of the locals, particularly Bill (David Duchovny), whose son Timmy (Jack Mulhern) has served in Vietnam. Timmy is due back after being honourably discharged, Bill tells him scornfully. In reality, Timmy was killed in action, and Bill has buried his son in the infamous graveyard.
On the road out of town with his girlfriend, Norma (Natalie Alyn Lind), a huge bird smashes into Jud’s windscreen, and they come across Bill’s dog, which looks a little off. They take it over to Bill’s and see Timmy, who isn’t the friend that Jud remembers. To make things worse, the dog attacks Norma, ripping a hole in her arm. It soon becomes clear that strange things are afoot in the cursed town, and the curiously misspelt cemetery is to blame.
Despite the best efforts from Duchovny and White (and the addition of the legendary Pam Grier, Samantha Mathis, and E.T.’s Henry Thomas), this prequel never really hits strong enough to justify its existence. That said, there are enough shocks and jump-scares to entertain the undemanding horror fan.
This is the directorial debut of Lindsay Anderson Beer (co-writing with Jeff Buhler), who does her best to weave a tale that brings points about the early colonialists and the Vietnam War into play amongst the usual morality tale of tampering with death while staying as true to the original themes and the book’s tale of Timmy Baterman as possible. The biggest problem lies in that it’s an unnecessary prequel, arguably made to cash in on the ever-growing remake/franchise crowd. Beer would be better served with an original property, but then there’s sadly no money in that, is there?
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