Cujo

I give director Lewis Teague (who also directed Cat’s Eye) lots of credit in creating a pretty good horror flick, while keeping the spirit of the novel alive. Maybe even quite scary to those with a fear of dogs. As well as director of photography Jan de Bont as there are some great shots in this film that pull this film way above where it could have landed. That filed under B for Bad Horror Movie.

I have read the book and while Stephen King might be my favorite author I found the book so long-winded and perhaps twice as long as it needed to be. He essentially wrote the scares out of the book. The movie on the other hand does not do that, although for some there is a slow first half of the film. To me it is more of everything that is shown does not exactly tie up nicely in the end or at all.

Everyone I think should have heard about the rabid dog Cujo by now. I think it was stamped right into the psyche of the public. I remember in the movie Fletch (which was made 2 years after Cujo) Chevy Chase essentially breaks into a house and he calls out for Cujo afraid that he is going to be attacked by a vicious dog. So, this is the story of a big, beautiful St. Bernard named Cujo who is bitten by bats after chasing a rabbit in the opening.

We follow the Trenton family with dad Vic (Daniel Hugh-Kelly) who has created the Sharp cereal commercials, mom Donna (Dee Wallace) who is having an affair. Funny enough it was with her real-life husband Christopher Stone. Finally, there is their son Tad (Danny Pintauro) who truly believes there is a monster in his closet.

Donna takes the car out to mechanic Joe Camber (Ed Lauter), but it is there that Donna, and her little son are face to face with Cujo. Those scenes to me show off some incredibly trained dogs and really does create tension and scares. Well worth viewing once you get to these scenes.

It’s the subplots though that perhaps with further writing could have been tied up or maybe they would have had a 45-minute program maybe better suited for a TV horror show. Some do tie in well like Tad thinking he has a monster in his closet. But when you understand that this is a movie about a rabid dog other movie do not.

I must also say that if you were to make a horror or sci-fi film in the 80s about a family for the mother you would just call Dee Wallace. This time she isn’t facing a friendly new race from outer space like E.T. or hungry, razor toothed baddies like Critters, but a vicious, scary, out-of-control, large dog that needs to be stopped or you die.

I personally believe this is Wallace’s best performance and I mean she always does a good job, but she really carries this film. Without her this film may lose 1 or 2 points from me in my rating. It’s really on the shoulders or her Pinto (who at times is a little annoying, but it is realistic) and certainly the dog.