Cujo

Rating:
Summary: I don't like dogs because of this movie...
Review: Man oh man I should've never watched this when I was 12. Because of this, I'm afraid of dogs to this day. No jokeing. Buy this and change your love for dogs. Cats rule and dogs drool!!

Rating:
Summary: A good adaptation, but it's almost impossible to watch
Review: In 1983, director Lewis Teague unleashed a force more horrifying than anything that ever came from the mind of Stephen King. Its name was: Danny Pintauro. This sissified young actor would go on to almost completely nullify the obvious appeal of Alyssa Milano through all those years of Who's the Boss? before finally disappearing from the scene (hopefully for good). It need never have happened. Had Cujo never "introduced" Pintauro to the acting scene, I might never have been forced to come to terms with the fact that Will Wheaton was only the second most annoying child actor in the world.

In terms of this film, let me say that, while there have been a number of less successful and ill-conceived adaptations of Stephen King's work, Cujo is my least favorite of all the Stephen King films. Let's start with the fact that the novel is not conducive to a film adaptation in the first place - the idea of Cujo is a good one, but the characters and atmosphere of the story are as unappealing as meatloaf left out in the hot sun for about three months. Vic Trenton (Daniel Hugh Kelly) is the only half-way sympathetic character to be found here, but he, unfortunately, looks like a reject from The Brady Bunch. Then you have his wife Donna (Dee Wallace); not only is she unattractive, she is having an affair with one of her husband's friends. And young Tad (Danny Pintauro) - I know he's a little kid, and we were all scared of the dark at that age, and all of us would have squawked incessantly if we were trapped in a car by a giant rabid hellhound, but he is just so incredibly annoying. Less important characters, such as Donna's illicit boy toy and the dysfunctional Camber family, suck what little air is left over out of the room. The town itself looks like it should have been abandoned ten years ago. And the lighting - a sunny day has never been as depressing as what you see here. I don't like the music, either, but I guess I've complained enough already.

And what of Cujo himself? Normally, as an animal lover, I would fall in love with any animal in a film. Not Cujo. Sure, he didn't go out and get rabies on purpose, but he had no business chasing that cute little bunny rabbit in to the bat-occupied hole in the ground in the first place. On top of that, he proved unable to finish the job when he had the film's two least likable characters trapped. I've got to give the canine actor his props, though, as he gave everything he had to this film. He had to endure all kinds of miseries to take on the look of a rabid gigantic killer, and he held nothing back when told to attack people, cars, doors, windows - whatever. He also, I am quite sure, did all of his own stunts. Sadly, in yet another slap in the mug to canine actors everywhere, he was left entirely out of the credits. He was the only actor in this production who deserved to have his name in lights, yet he didn't even rate the same dignity as the film's best boy and assistant cooks.

Finally, I must say I was disheartened to find that the director lacked the courage to end the film the way Stephen King ended the novel. A lot of people complained about King's ending, but it was the right one and should have carried over to the film adaptation. Obviously, I pretty much hated watching Cujo, but I must admit that, by and large, it was a pretty good adaptation of King's novel (except for the ending, of course). Effective it may be, but enjoyable it is not.

Rating:
Summary: A film that tells your demons will come back to haunt you!
Review: We all know Cujo is a giant St. Bernard that has to kill because he is rabid. The film works as a horror film because of that concept, but this film and the story writer behind it believe that paybacks are a bitch. Retribution is always around the corner and when it is your time, you don't know if it is going to from a guy in a hockey mask, a massive great white shark,a 58 red and white Plymouth Fury, some idiot with long finger knives or a lovable Saint Bernard. Whatever it is though, sin always accounted for. Cujo subscribes to that theory.

Everyone that dies in this film, with the exception of maybe one, does so because they are not very likable people to begin with. They are all tainted and when Cujo gets a hold of them, we are almost glad that he wants their blood. But it is the climax of the film that is the most intriguing. Because here we have a woman who has gotten rid of her sin. But she now has to face the music not for what she is doing, but for what she has done. And if you read the book, you will see that it sticks to that theory and message much more than the film does. It is understood that Cujo has to have a happy Hollywood ending, and that is fine, but the book tells a much more clear yet paradoxically convoluted tale of a boy, his dog, and how sin is never really forgiven.

What is also great about Cujo is how it shows the dog coming unravelled. We see the transformation from lovable suck of a family dog, to vicious killing machine that has an insatiable need for blood. We see his nose get more wet, we see how certain noises bother him more and we see how much saliva this dog has stored up in his nasty mouth.

Cujo is a good movie. It is scary, especially the last half hour and it actually has a point. It also does a fairly good job of bringing King's vision to life. It is not easy to do that, after all King has a very vivid imagination. But Cujo comes close. Very close


Rating:
Summary: Good Dog Gone Bad...
Review: Big dog chases bunny. Bunny runs into hole. Big dog sticks nose in hole. Bat bites big dogs big nose. Horror results. CUJO is the tale of a poor St. Bernard who contracts rabies, causing him to kill and kill again. Dee Wallace Stone (The Howling, The Hills Have Eyes) is menaced, along with her son. They are trapped in their car by the huge, slobbering beast! Watch Cujo hurl himself at the car! See him covered in bloody foam and dirt! Sort of a hairy, land-locked version of JAWS. While the first 2/3 of the film are slow-going, the finale' is worth the wait! Not for the squeemish pet owner! No real Cujos were harmed during the making of this movie...