Cujo (film)

Cujo
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Lewis Teague
Produced by Robert Singer
Daniel H. Blatt[1]
Screenplay by Don Carlos Dunaway
Lauren Currier
Based on Cujo by
Stephen King
Starring
Music by Charles Bernstein
Cinematography Jan de Bont
Edited by Neil Travis
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros.
(North America)
PSO International
(International)
Release date
 August 12, 1983
Running time
 93 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $8 million
Box office $21 million

Cujo is a 1983 American horror film based on Stephen King's 1981 novel of the same name and directed by Lewis Teague. It was written by Don Carlos Dunaway and Barbara Turner (using the pen name Lauren Currier),[2][3] and starring Dee Wallace, Daniel Hugh Kelly and Danny Pintauro. The film revolves around a rabid St. Bernard dog, who traps a mother and her child inside their car without food or water during a heat wave, and their attempts to survive.

Despite receiving mixed reviews and being a modest success during its theatrical release, the film has gathered a major cult following in the years since its release.[4] Another film adaptation was announced in 2015 and is currently in production.

Plot

Cujo, a friendly and easygoing St. Bernard, chases a wild rabbit and inserts his head into a cave, where a rabid bat bites his nose. Meanwhile, the Trenton family – advertiser Vic (Daniel Hugh-Kelly), housewife Donna (Dee Wallace) and their sensitive young son Tad (Danny Pintauro) – take their car to the rural home of abusive mechanic Joe Camber (Ed Lauter) for some repairs, where they meet Cujo (the dog from the prologue), who is the Camber family's pet. Donna notices Cujo's bitten nose, but thinks little of it. Later, Vic and Donna's marriage is tested when Vic learns that Donna is having an affair with her ex-boyfriend from high school, Steve Kemp (Christopher Stone), while Vic's advertising for a cereal commercial is failing. Charity (Kaiulani Lee) and Brett (Billy Jacoby), Joe's wife and son leave the house for a week to visit Charity's sister Holly. When the bite infection drives Cujo mad, he kills their alcoholic neighbor, Gary Pervier (Mills Watson), and Joe (who is attacked before he can call authorities).

Vic goes out of town on a business trip, as Donna and Tad return to the Camber's house for more car repairs. Cujo attacks them, and they take shelter in their Ford Pinto. Donna tries to drive home, but the car's alternator dies and the two are trapped inside. The hot sun makes conditions nearly unbearable, and Donna realizes that she must do something before they both die from heatstroke or dehydration. However, attempts at escape are foiled by Cujo's repeated attacks. Vic returns home to rekindle his marriage, only to find Donna and Tad missing and his house vandalized by Kemp. He suspects the possessive Kemp of kidnapping, but then realizes his wife and son might be at the Cambers' house.

The local sheriff, George Bannerman (Sandy Ward), arrives at the house and has a brief standoff, before Cujo kills him, knocking him off the catwalk in the barn and mauling him to death. Meanwhile, Donna takes advantage of a momentary distraction and hits Cujo with a baseball bat until it breaks, leaving only a jagged handle. Cujo jumps at her and is impaled in the stomach by the broken bat. Donna takes the sheriff's revolver and retrieves Tad, who is dehydrated and overheated. As Donna revives Tad in the house, Cujo, now recovered, breaks through the kitchen window and tries to kill them. However, Donna shoots Cujo dead, before Vic arrives and reunites with his family.

Cast

Production

The original director was Peter Medak, who left the project two days into filming, along with his DOP Tony Richardson. They were replaced by Lewis Teague and Jan de Bont respectively.[5] Cujo was played by four St. Bernards, several mechanical dogs, and a black Labrador-Great Dane mix in a St. Bernard costume.[6]

Reception

Box office

Cujo was a modest box office success for Warner Brothers. The film was released August 12, 1983 in the United States, opening in second place that weekend.[7] It grossed a total of $21,156,152 domestically,[8] making it the fourth highest grossing horror film of 1983 behind Jaws 3-D, Psycho II, and Twilight Zone: The Movie.[9]

Critical reception

Reviews from critics were mixed to negative. Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote the the film was "by no means a horror classic, but it's suspenseful and scary."[10] Variety panned it as "a dull, uneventful entry in the horror genre, a film virtually devoid of surprises or any original suspense."[11] Gene Siskel of The Chicago Tribune gave the film one star out of four, calling it "one of the dumbest, flimsiest excuses for a movie I have ever seen."[12] Roger Ebert called it "dreadful,"[13] and Linda Gross of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "no theater is air conditioned enough to justify watching this scary, gory and beastly movie."[14] Steve Jenkins of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that "for the most part Cujo works very effectively as a near reductio ad absurdum of the woman-in-peril-mode," but disliked that the film changed the ending from the book, thinking it made "absolutely no sense in terms of the film's logic."[15]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 58% based on 31 reviews with an average rating of 5.6/10, the critical consensus stating "Cujo is artless work punctuated with moments of high canine gore and one wild Dee Wallace performance."[16] On Metacritic, the film holds a 58/100 based on 8 critics, meaning “mixed or average reviews”. Author and film critic Leonard Maltin gave the film three out of a possible four stars, calling it "genuinely frightening" also writing, "Builds slowly but surely to [its] terrifying (but not gory) climax."[17] Despite the mixed reception, Stephen King called the film "terrific" and named it one of his favorite adaptations.[18]

Additional adaptation

In 2015, Sunn Classic Pictures announced they would develop another adaptation titled C.U.J.O., which stands for “Canine Unit Joint Operations”.[19]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Blu-Ray Art and Details: Near Dark, Cujo, and Frailty".
  2. ↑ Gingold, Michael (April 6, 2016). "RIP "Cujo" scripter Barbara Turner". Fangoria. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Cujo - Cast & Crew". AllRovi. Archived from the original on 2013-01-16. Retrieved 2012-03-06.
  4. ↑ "'Cujo' Remake Goes Into Production This Year". Best Horror Movies.com. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
  5. ↑ Mick Garris on Cujo at Trailers from Hell
  6. ↑ London, Michael (August 19, 1983). "A Pack Of Bogus Bernards Helps Give 'Cujo' Its Bite". Los Angeles Times. Part VI, p. 1.
  7. ↑ "Weekend Box Office August 12-14, 1983". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2011-11-07.
  8. ↑ "Cujo (1983)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2011-11-07.
  9. ↑ "1983 Yearly Box Office Results - Box Office Mojo". www.boxofficemojo.com.
  10. ↑ Maslin, Janet (August 13, 1983). "Film: 'Cujo,' Good Dog Gone Wrong". The New York Times: 13.
  11. ↑ "Cujo". Variety: 23. August 17, 1983.
  12. ↑ Gene Siskel (Siskel, Gene (August 12, 1983). "Trashy 'Cujo' shouldn't happen to a dog". Chicago Tribune. Section 3, p. 1.
  13. ↑ Ebert, Roger (October 26, 1983). "The Dead Zone". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  14. ↑ Gross, Linda (August 15, 1983). "Rabid Dog On The Rampage In 'Cujo'". Los Angeles Times. Part VI, p. 4.
  15. ↑ "Cujo". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 60 (598): 302. November 1983.
  16. ↑ "Cujo (1983) - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes.com. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  17. ↑ Maltin, Leonard; Sader, Luke; Clark, Mike; Edelman, Rob. Leonard Maltin's 2014 Movie Guide. Penguin Press. p. 308. ISBN 978-0-451-41810-4.
  18. ↑ Greene, Andy. "Stephen King: The Rolling Stone Interview, Rolling Stone Issue 1221, November 6, 2014". Retrieved October 31, 2014.
  19. ↑ "Stephen King's 'Cujo' Remake Title Sounds Diseased: 'C.U.J.O.'". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
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