The Stephen King Sleeper Hit On Streaming Is Breaking Records
While he’s the undisputed master of horror, Stephen King’s stories have often been hit or miss with audiences: some may be horrified for life by the idea of Pennywise, for example, and others may find the idea of a killer clown to be a little over the (big) top.
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines Is On Paramount+
That is certainly the case with the Paramount+ movie Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, which received poor reviews when it was first released.
Despite those bad reviews, Yahoo! reports that this Stephen King sleeper hit “now holds the title of the most-watched original movie on Paramount+ ever in the span of its first 30 days.”
Not The Usual Paramount+ Movie
Even though Paramount+ is mostly associated with the various Star Trek television shows like Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds, it seems the streamer’s audience really enjoys exploring more monstrous characters and storylines.
Before Stephen King’s Pet Sematary: Bloodlines came along, Teen Wolf: The Movie held this particular record. This may indicate something of a pattern: that Teen Wolf film has a dismal 32 percent critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but those poor reviews didn’t keep audiences from streaming the hell out of that movie.
Critics Originally Panned Pet Sematary: Bloodlines
Believe it or not, critics provided an even worse review of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary: Bloodlines when it came out. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie currently has a 23 percent critical score, and critics complained that the film is ineffective in its attempts to expand on King’s original story.
Critics also noted that the movie focused more on grisly gore than telling an effective horror story, though there are many who would dispute that point.
Stephen King Liked It
Ironically, one of the biggest defenders of the film is Stephen King himself.
Even though the horror maestro claims to hate his own Pet Sematary book, he declared that Pet Sematary: Bloodlines told a “fine story” and enjoyed how the film focused on “caring about the characters.”
Cynics might say that King is just doing a bit of PR here, but if the legendary author isn’t afraid to dunk on his own original novel, we doubt he’d lavish praise on the new film for no real reason.
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines Cast
Of course, there is a chance that Stephen King was simply charmed by the cast of Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, and we’re right there with him.
The cast is basically genre royalty: the film stars E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial star Henry Thomas as well as Super Mario Bros. star Samantha Mathis (she’ll always be our favorite princess).
It also features Jackie Brown star Pam Grier as well as X-Files icon David Duchovny, who showed us all how sexy believing in aliens could be.
Stream Pet Sematary: Bloodlines On Paramount+
Fortunately, if you’d like to experience Stephen King’s latest film adaptation for yourself, you don’t even have to leave the house. The movie is currently streaming on Paramount+, and even though Halloween is over, you can “treat” yourself to Pet Sematary: Bloodlines at the press of a button.
With any luck, you’ll find the show is worth the hype. If nothing else, it simply has to be better than Paramount+’s new Frasier, a reboot that made us agree with what King wrote in the original Pet Sematary: sometimes, dead is better.
