Pet Sematary (1989)

The Creed family – father Louis, mother Rachel, their children Ellie and Gage, and their pet cat Church – move from Chicago to rural Maine following Louis’s job. They befriend their neighbor Jud (Fred Gwynne), who shows them a burial ground for pets (with a charmingly misspelled sign) behind their house. And how fortunate, because no sooner do Mom and the kids leave town that Church is run over and killed. Jud, not wanting the kids to be upset, tells Louis to bury Church in the pet cemetery, whereupon he returns to life. Or at least a semblance of it – he stinks and wobbles, and he seems to hate Louis. But that doesn’t stop Louis when, soon thereafter, his son Gage is also run over by a truck… I bet you can see where this is going.

Based on the novel by Stephen King (who cameos as a minister at a funeral), Pet Sematary is a grand old morality-play shock-fest of exactly the kind the ‘80s loved. And, if you don’t think too hard about it, it is – at its heart – a story about a family who REALLY loved their cat. So what more perfect (by Nightmare series logic) film to make a benefit for The Humane Society of Tampa Bay?

One dollar from each ticket sold will directly benefit animals looking for forever homes at The Humane Society, and you can come meet some of those adorable, adoptable cats (that do NOT stink or wobble) starting at 6:00pm during a special pre-film kitten-cuddling happy hour event in the lobby.