Early reviews for the prequel to a Stephen King remake endorsed by Stephen King don’t exactly line up with its creator’s enthusiasm

Even though he’s written countless novels, novellas, and short stories that haven’t yet been adapted for screens either big or small, it was nonetheless decided that another stab at Pet Sematary was the most worthwhile method of continuing to mine the Stephen King back catalogue for content.

Of course, the chilling story has already been brought to life as a feature film that scored itself a sequel and then saw itself remade two decades later, so a prequel was the clear and obvious next step if it had to be anything. The master of terror may have given the thumbs-up to Paramount Plus’ incoming original Bloodlines, but the first wave of reviews aren’t quite as enthusiastic.

The biggest obstacle – which additionally happens to the most obvious – is that the majority of critics don’t seem to understand why Pet Sematary even needed a prequel in the first place. Derived largely from one passage in the source material, we’ve seen what happens when a small part of an iconic text gets turned into a full-blown spooky movie, and things did not go well for The Last Voyage of the Demeter.

While there are some positive notices to be found in terms of the atmosphere and several of the performances coming in for praise, the overriding sentiment is that Bloodlines is merely the latest in a long line of prequels, remakes, reboots, and do-overs that fails to justify its need to exist, which is hardly a problem restricted solely to the bibliography of the literary icon.

Because it’s a horror flick releasing in the run-up to Halloween, though, Paramount should at least be able to take solace in the fact bumper viewership is guaranteed when it debuts on Oct. 6.