Cujo review.
Stephen King’s Cujo turns 40! An early film adaptation that lacks the punch of contemporary movies filmed by directing legends…but still worth a watch.
Classic movie reviews will contain spoilers.
Cujo
Directed by Lewis Teague
Screenplay by Don Carlos Dunaway and Barbara Turner
Starring Dee Wallace, Danny Pintauro, Daniel Hugh-Kelly, Ed Lauter and Christopher Stone
Cujo Review
Early film adaptations of Stephen King’s work tell a fascinating story. Five of the first six movies were directed by noted auteurs of their era. It’s impossible to separate the quality of these adaptations from King’s enduring success on film. Sandwiched between those four films was the lone entry not directed by a legendary filmmaker. That doesn’t mean that Cujo is bad, mind you. It means that it tends to stand out by…not standing out. There have been countless King movies worse than Cujo. There have also been many that are far better.
First out of the gate was Carrie in 1976. Brian De Palma tackled the story after delivering memorable genre turns with Sisters and Phantom of the Paradise. He’d go on to direct classics like Blow Out and Dressed to Kill. Next up was Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining in 1980. No need for further explanation on that one. George A. Romero gave us the anthology movie Creepshow in 1982 (as well as the Salem’s Lot mini-series in 1979). This marked King’s first screenwriting effort. 1983 saw three King adaptations hit theaters. David Cronenberg’s The Dead Zone followed films like Scanners, Rabid and Videodrome. His follow up film would be The Fly. Christine from John Carpenter followed a string of classics including Halloween and The Thing. The third movie (and third ever released King adaptation) was Cujo.
Cujo doesn’t boast the level of credibility in the director’s chair that the rest of the first six King releases do. It’s director, Lewis Teague, did give us the wonderful 1980 Jaws rip-off Alligator. Though he would return to direct another King adaptation in 1985 with Cat’s Eye…no one is looks at Cujo through the vein of where it fits into the director’s filmography. That’s a thing that happens when an acclaimed filmmaker handles Stephen King material. Legendary horror director Tobe Hooper would try his hand at King with The Mangler. It would not rank high in his overall oeuvre. Frank Darabont, Rob Reiner, and current King whisperer Mike Flanagan would fare much better. For Teague, Alligator is arguably the best movie he ever helmed. Cujo would rank high on his list.
Cujo is an incredibly simple story. A St. Bernard is bitten by a bat and goes mad with rabies. He terrorizes everyone around him…including Donna (Dee Wallace) and her young son Tad (Danny Pintauro). There’s family drama to guide us through the bulk of a bare bones story…but for the most part everything that matters in Cujo happens in the final act of the movie.
Let’s get the family drama out of the way. Donna is married to Vic (Daniel Hugh-Kelly) an advertising executive who must leave home for half the movie to deal with the fallout from a product he advertises getting people sick. Donna had an affair with Steve Kemp (Christopher Stone) which is an odd narrative choice since she is the character we are meant to root for. Vic is portrayed as a good man…which starts us off with little sympathy for Donna’s character. At least it gives Dee Wallace a new layer to play in her on going 80s battles against creatures.
Cujo kills a few townsfolk in surprisingly underwhelming fashion before he becomes fixated on Donna and her son. The standout piece of the film involves the 35 minutes we spend locked in a car with them as the giant killer dog patrols the area around it. The heat/dehydration threatens them as much as the monster at the door. Without these 35 minutes there wouldn’t be much of anything to say about Cujo. It allows Teague an extended period to show off his talents. Tense, atmospheric and claustrophobic. A ticking clock with both internal and external forces working against you.
Cujo is largely a daylight horror movie. Future Speed and Twister director Jan de Bont serves as the film’s cinematographer. It has a classic look (to match its pace) with some moments of cinema wizardry while locked inside of the car. The film’s best moments happen in the car sequence. Cujo rams the door like Jaws trying to topple The Orca. Rabidly attempting to enter through a slightly lowered window or ready to pounce when the door opens a crack. There are some effective dog attacks in this sequence…which the rest of the movie fails to offer.
While Donna and Tad remain trapped for the entire third act of the film…we get brief reprieves to follow Vic’s story. Unable to contact Donna, he heads home to find his family missing and the house ravaged by Kemp. Here we learn that the Castle Rock police are incredibly inept. The complete lack of useful help provided means that Donna has no choice but to take matters into her own hands. Tad is fading fast…Donna exits the vehicle to take on Cujo face to face. She dispatches the dog quickly and easily. Which kind of makes the previous 35 minutes feel unnecessary.
In a change from King’s original story…Tad survives the ordeal, and the family reunites. Not before Cujo bursts through a window for one last scare, however. Donna shoots him dead, and the nightmare ends. In classic 80s movie fashion, we freeze frame almost immediately upon Vic’s arrival. The Kemp story and the future of the couple’s strained relationship is left unanswered.
Cujo is a good movie. Dee Wallace and Danny Pintauro (pre-Who’s the Boss?) are excellent. Without their tremendous efforts nothing here would work. Pintauro is almost too good. His terror is unforgettable. With an incredible commitment to the key part of the story (mother and son locked in a car), Cujo leaves a memorable mark on the history of Stephen King film adaptations. Even if the movie in totality is fairly middle of the road.
Scare Value
Cujo still looks good at 40. While it has never been as good as the King adaptations handled by the best directors of the era…it has enough going for it to hold up decades later. The extended car sequence is the easy highlight…as are the performances of Wallace and Pintauro. There is a timeless quality to Cujo that makes up for some of the tedium and underwhelming kills.
3/5
Cujo Links
Streaming on Max
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