Cujo (1983)
Directed by Lewis Teague
I’m not sure how I’ve gone so long without talking about Cujo, it’s one of those movies that many people have seen, or maybe one of those movies that everyone knows, but not many have actually seen. I think this year was probably the second or third time I watched Cujo. It was on the AMC app so I fired it up, I like getting at least one Stephen King movie in every year just because there are so many good ones.
Cujo, like most people know, is about a St. Bernard that contracts rabies from a bat bite. The rabid dog then wreaks havoc on a small town, killing a few people and trapping a mother and on in their car for over a day. It is a simple, straight forward plot that is handled rather well. There are a couple side stories, Cujo’s owner Joe, is leaving with his son and wife to visit his wife’s sister. Joe is an abusive man, but really loves Cujo. The main character Donna is cheating on her husband with her ex-boyfriend from high school, which her husband finds out, and she admits it. It has a little more depth than a killer dog flick.
The acting is pretty good for what the movie is. Dee Wallace does a great job as Donna, Daniel Hugh-Kelly is kind of just there, he doesn’t do much as Donna’s husband Vic. Their son Tad is played by Danny Pintauro, aka Jonathan from Who’s The Boss? He borders on good and annoying most of the movie. Ed Lauter plays Joe Camber the mechanic and owner of Cujo. He does fairly well, but it is far from his best performance, he was a pretty good actor. The scenes in the Ford Pinto being terrorized by Cujo are gripping. Dee Wallace shows so much emotion in the climax, her facial expressions emote so much fear and anguish. She really puts in an amazing performance. When Tad starts suffering from heatstroke and dehydration is really is creepy and terrifying. As good as Wallace is, you know who the best actor is in this movie? THE DOG! Who goes uncredited. Seriously? The dog that plays Cujo is great! He starts off as a sweet family dog and slowly changes into an unstoppable monster.
This movie doesn’t have much in the way of special effects. Just some blood and cuts here and there. The stunts and work with the dog are all great. It is really believable that the dog is that insane with rage from the rabies virus. I can’t really say enough for how great the dog was in this movie. Then I find out its actually 5 different dogs used haha. Either way the dog acting was top notch. The dogs’ tails were often tied down to their legs so they wouldn’t wag so much, which makes me happy, dogs are so great. The camera work is also kind of typical, I can’t really think of any amazing shots aside from the occasional POV shots of Cujo, which are effective.
Cujo is a well acted, well adapted Stephen King movie. Dee Wallace does such a great job capturing the emotions of a mother fighting for her son’s life. The dogs in the movie do a great job as well, which couldn’t have been easy to work with. This is a classic and should be watched by fans of the genre. I give Cujo a B+. It is a little slow in parts and some things are kind of left to interpretation that I wanted to have a little more explanation to.
