Warning: Major spoilers for Pet Sematary: Bloodlines below!
Summary
- Pet Sematary: Bloodlines reframes Jud Crandall as a villain, expanding on his backstory and revealing his connection to the cemetery and the evil in the woods.
- The prequel showcases Jud's knowledge of the dangers of resurrection and his firsthand experience of the destruction caused by Timmy, making his actions in the 2019 film deeply misguided.
- Bloodlines changes Jud's origins and gives a reason for him to stay in Ludlow, implying a curse that ties him to the town and his duty to prevent the evil from spreading, making his actions in the 2019 film even more puzzling.
Horror prequel Pet Sematary: Bloodlines provides an origin story for the 2019 movie, and in doing so, reframes a key character as a villain. Stephen King's Pet Sematary is one of the author's bleakest works and doesn't exactly end on a note that lends itself to sequels. Still, both adaptations of the novel have spawned offshoots, with Pet Sematary Two and the 2023 prequel Bloodlines. While King wasn't enthused about the former project as it wasn't actually based on any of his books, Bloodlines adapts a chapter from his novel that tells the tragic story of Timmy Batterman.
In the novel, Timmy's distraught father resurrected him in the cemetery's "sour ground," with the resurrected soldier soon setting about tormenting the town of Ludlow. This passage is recounted by Jud Crandall - played by John Lithgow in the 2019 film and Jackson White in Bloodlines - and was intended to serve as a cautionary tale about burying a loved one in the titular locale. Bloodlines greatly expands on Timmy's (Jack Mulhern) story and reveals he and Jud were once best friends. Following the events of the prequel, however, it's tough to see Jud as the benevolent old man he's depicted as in the 2019 film.
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines Turns Jud Crandall Into A Villain
Neither the book nor the movie adaptations of Pet Sematary go into great detail about why Jud revealed the cemetery's resurrecting qualities to Louis. True, he'd grown close to the Creed family and didn't want young Ellie to mourn her cat Church after he's run over. Despite knowing the "sour ground" brings back both animals and people as malevolent, twisted versions of their former selves, he still kicks the story into gear by taking Louis to the burial ground with Church, which sets off a disastrous chain of events.
Bloodlines expansion of the Timmy Batterman story not only reframes Jud's actions in the 2019 film and King's book, but it basically makes him an outright villain. The prequel also expands on the backstory of the cemetery, featuring a flashback to the settlers who founded Ludlow. Through reading some diaries from these founders, Jud learns the local tribe built the "Sematary" as they believed animal spirits could ward off the evil in the woods. He also learns the story of Ludlow, who was the first settler to find the cemetery and was later resurrected as a cannibalistic monster after being buried there.
The town was then named Ludlow as a reminder of the dangers of the local "sour" ground, with Jud himself being descended from these settlers. Not only does Jud learn all this backstory, but he sees firsthand the destruction Timmy dishes out, which includes killing Jud's father Dan (Henry Thomas). By the time the 2019 movie comes around, Jud knows better than anybody the dangers of bringing back anything using the cemetery, so he was either hopelessly naive when he revealed it to Louis or so lonely and desperate for the Creed clan's attention he was willing to risk damning them to be part of their lives.
Pet Sematary's Prequel Proves A Major Villain Theory Correct After 4 Years
Before the release of the 2019 adaptation, there were theories (such as this one from Dread Central) that Lithgow's Jud would be more of a villainous figure. The final movie didn't bear that out, as while Lithgow's Jud was more haunted than the kindly version played by Fred Gwynne in 1989's Pet Sematary movie, he was still portrayed as a man with good intentions. Those who watch Bloodlines will now have a hard time seeing Jud's actions in the 2019 movie as anything other than villainous or deeply misguided.
Given the death and destruction Timmy's resurrection caused, Jud should have made it his mission to take the secrets of the burial ground to his own grave. While the fan theories may have misread Jud's intentions, Bloodlines essentially bears out his villainous qualities. Jud knew the dangers inherent in resurrection and even saw how Timmy's dog was turned into a vicious monster by the process. It's always possible that the evil present in the woods warped Jud's thinking and that's why he told Louis about the cemetery, but even so, after Bloodlines he had to have known better.
Bloodlines Changes Jud Crandall's Origins & Reason For Staying In Ludlow
One interesting note about Bloodlines is that it implies Jud was cursed to remain in town. When the story begins, he and Norma (Natalie Alyn Lind) are set to leave town, but they are forced to stay after a crow - apropos of nothing - crashes through their windshield. This accident soon leads them to Timmy's farm, which sets the prequel's story in motion. Had this accident never happened, Jud would have left Ludlow and likely never returned, but instead, he learns of his connection to the town's past and his family's vow to prevent the evil in the woods spreading beyond Ludlow.
After his father Dan is killed, Jud decides to stay in Ludlow with Norma and keep vigil over the cemetery. It's possible he had other zombie-slaying adventures in the decades after, which a potential Pet Sematary: Bloodlines 2 could explore. The movie's ending frames Jud as a protector of the town - which just makes his actions in the 2019 film all the more idiotic.
Source: Dread Central