Cujo (1983) Review

CLAYTON'S CREEPY CINEMA!

WEEK 3: HAIR-RAISING HORRORS

Cujo (1983)

Usually cinematic killer canines come in the form of werewolves, but once in awhile Hollywood tries something different and gives us a new face to haunt our nightmares. Cujo is based on Stephen King’s terrifying novel of the same name which made a household pet scarier than it had ever been. The film, though not quite as good as other Stephen King adaptations, is still frightening and, in my opinion, quite underrated.

The plot is simple enough, which is partly what makes it so disturbing. The Trenton family is just your average American family. Vic works in advertising, Donna is a stay at home mom, and Tad is a little boy scared of the monsters in his closet. As it turns out, the ultimate monster lives on the rural homestead of a mechanic who is going to fix their car for cheap. There they meet Cujo, a hulking Saint Bernard who seems lovable at first, but is changing into an insane beast due to a bite from a rabid bat. Cujo kills his abusive owner and his neighbour, and when Donna and Tad return to have more work done on the car, Cujo attacks them. They end up trapped in the car when it breaks down, and with Vic out of town and no one around to help, they are trapped while Cujo waits. As the wait wears on, Cujo grows impatient and crazily attacks the car. Suffering from heat exhaustion, thirst, and hunger, Donna has to do something before Cujo gets in or both she and Tad succumb to the heat.

Cujo is a classic Stephen King story, and the film is filled with nail biting suspense. Right from the opening scene where Cujo is playfully chasing a rabbit and gets bit by the rabid bat, you know this creature that was man’s best friend mere moments ago has become man’s worst enemy. The stunt dogs used throughout the movie are incredibly well trained, and the menace they give off is palpable. This is not just due to the dogs’ training or the gruesome makeup applied (including copious amounts of saliva, blood, and grime), but the way the director situates the camera to make Cujo look most menacing. The sequences within the car are terrifying, but when Dee Wallace’s character finds herself outside of the car, the panic really takes hold. The ending is altered from the book, and in most cases I wouldn’t agree with that, but in this case I think it works, as the ending in the novel is extremely dark and the film’s ending is a bit more satisfactory after what the characters went through. Some of the human drama in the first act is iffy, and it does take awhile for Cujo to really turn badass and frightening, but in general there aren't any big problems with this movie. "Nope, nothing wrong here!" 

 

Cujo is a suspenseful tale of when good pets go bad, but it isn’t just a throw-away killer animal flick—in fact, I would say it’s one of the better films to feature a killer animal. Stephen King’s concept is ingenious, and Cujo’s presence is felt even when he isn’t on screen. It’s creepy, well made, and does for Saint-Bernards what Jaws did for Great White Sharks.