ironhorse_iv Review of Cujo

Cujo (1983)

Cujo will take a bite out of you! It's a pretty scary film.

[6/10 · 20 November 2014]

I don't know, what some critics were thinking when saying Cujo is not as menacing or frightening as other film adaptations of author Stephen King's popular stories. It's pretty damn scary! It's a better film than films like 1983's Christine & 1986's Maximum Overdrive, combined. Director Lewis Teague did unleashed a semi good horror movie into the screen and it's a bit overlooked. It had some bite with its bark. I remember seeing this film when I was a kid, and being very afraid of the huge St. Bernard. It was like if the dog, Beethoven got rabid. It's a scary thought of a family pet turning against the owners. Unlike the other horrors novels, that go deep into the supernatural and fantasy genre. This film, portrays something that could honestly happen. Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, the movie tells the story of a mother, Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace) whom wants to get her car fixed, only to find herself with her son, Tad (Danny Pintauro) trapped in a car, when the neighborhood friendly family dog, Cujo becomes crazed and started killing people after being bitten by a rabid bat. I think, some people give this movie a bad rating, due to that reason, that it's feeding into the hype that certain dog breeds are dangerous. Yes, it's a bit prejudice and ignorance to think of all St. Bernard are evil, but to claim that the movie is too far fetch to be taken serious is an understatement. There has numeral cases of dogs turning against their owners. Yes, abuse, hunger and poor breeding play most of the factors to those accidents happening, but ruthless behaviors coming from normal well-kept dogs, do happen as well. Dogs do bite and dogs could kill you if they wanted to. They are indeed animals, no matter how tame they can seem. You do have to suspense disbelief, somewhat because the movie makes Cujo look something out like a monster. It's like 1993's Sandlot, in the humorous ways, they make Cujo look more than a normal dog through means like puppetry, forced perspective and a guy in dog costume. Still, some shots were pretty good, like the JAWS like animal point of view shots and how they show that loud sounds hurt Cujo. The movie does show how rabies does in fact lead to behavior changes in animals, but a rabid dog would either be hyperactive or lethargic, not super-crazed. This is a lethal disease that would cause the dog to be weaker and weaker, by the time, the Trenton family comes into play. A rabid dog is more likely to attack humans when prone, but it's normally it is too weak to be, even that vicious. It wouldn't have the strength to kill multiple people. Most rabid dogs would not be a killer like Cujo. Still, there's always going to be a slim chance that your dog will turn on you. But the odds of this are so astronomical that to be honest, I would not worry about it. It rarely happen. This movie shouldn't stop people, from buying St. Bernard. Most of them, are truly friendly. It was genuine problem in the making of the film because they simply could not get the St. Bernard to act aggressively. They had to replace him with a cunningly disguised Rottweiler for several crucial scenes, and tape his tail to his leg so he didn't wag it constantly. Large breed dogs like St. Bernard perfectly stable if purchased from a reputable breeder or pound. As long as you meet the requirements of taking care of the breed, this movie shouldn't stop you from buying dogs like that. One thing that I love about the film, is the sense of Man Vs Nature. Thank God, Stephen King didn't add the supernatural into it. The original novel was supposed to be a sequel of sorts following Stephen King 1983's The Dead Zone, in which a previous dead serial killer character, kind of bogeyman, supposedly haunted Tad and possessed Cujo to kill him. I just glad, it never came about, in the film version. I do like how Cujo stakes his prey, as if a Lion or a wolf, waiting for the right moment to attack. You really get the race against time, as conditions inside the car, become more and more unbearable, as heatstroke and dehydration, starts to kick in. The only thing, I kinda hate about the film is how annoying, the child is. The way, he's scream is ear-bleeding. It's super loud. It's doesn't help that the kid is nearly ten year old, yet, he acts like a useless toddler. How lame! He could do more, to help his mother. He was just a burden to watch. He's way too sensitive. I just wish, the movie had the same ending for the kid as the novel. One thing, I didn't like is the sub-plot that the novel had, about Donna cheating on her husband. It never added much to the story. The movie also brings it in, to help push the story, on why the police couldn't find, Donna and the kids, but the movie doesn't give us a conclusion on what happen to the Trenton's marriage. It ends with a cliffhanger note. The same, goes with the Camber family. They go away, for plot reasons, so Donna and the kids can be stuck with the dog, most of the film, but still, you would have thought, they would be used for the big climax, but no, they don't return. The movie would have, more depth, if Bret (Billy Jayne) was the one that had to take his own dog down. It would have been a great Old Yeller type of an ending. Sadly, it never came. Overall: It's a dog eat dog world out there and Cujo indeed deserve another look. Like me, you're be really surprise, how good, it was.