Filmmaker Lindsey Anderson Beer talks 'Pet Sematary' prequel

Forty years ago, Stephen King gave countless readers nightmares with his then-new novel, "Pet Sematary." Now, a film streaming exclusively on Paramount+ explores the fictional events leading up to King’s novel — and might just give nightmares to a whole new generation.

"Pet Sematary: Bloodlines" hit the streaming service last Friday, and immediately bulleted to the most-watched spot platform; the horror prequel is the directorial debut of writer-producer Lindsey Anderson Beer, who’s been a "Pet Sematary" fan since reading the novel as a child.

"I was around 9 or 10, and I saw it in the library, and I didn’t know what it was about," she says. "I ended up reading it in a night, and it really kind of unlocked a love of Stephen King and horror for me."

And the filmmaker says that deep love for King’s work influenced every decision in making the new movie.

"When I came on to re-write the script and direct, I just thought of it as a prequel to the book, and not any one film," she says. "So, I just kept re-reading the book … there’s also a bunch of stuff about the mythology and the evil through the book that’s never been shown in film or explained in film form before, so I was really just looking to bring together those threads and answer questions."

To hear more from "Pet Sematary: Bloodlines" director and co-writer Lindsey Anderson Beer, click the video player in this article. And click here to visit Paramount+.