Cujo

Plot synopsis:
The story takes place in the setting of numerous King works: the fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine. Revolving around two local families, the narrative is interspersed with vignettes from the seemingly mundane lives of various other residents. There are no chapter headings but breaks in between passages to indicate when the narration switches to a different point of view.
The principal characters are the Trenton and the Camber families. The middle-class Trentons have recently moved to Castle Rock from New York City, bringing with them their four-year-old son, Tad. Father, Vic, discovers that his wife, Donna, has recently concluded an affair. In the midst of this household tension, Vic's advertising agency is failing, and he is forced to travel out of town, leaving Tad and Donna at home. The blue-collar Cambers are longtime residents; Joe is a mechanic who dominates and abuses his wife, Charity, and their ten-year-old son, Brett. Charity wins a $5,000 lottery prize and uses the proceeds to trick Joe into allowing her to take Brett on a trip to visit Charity's sister, Holly, in Connecticut. Joe acquiesces, secretly planning to use the time to take a pleasure trip to Boston.
Cujo, the Camber's large, good-natured St. Bernard, chases a wild rabbit in the fields around their house and inserts his head in the entrance to a small limestone cave, where a rabid bat bites him on the nose and infects him. A short incubation period follows. Soon after Charity and Brett leave town, Cujo goes mad and kills their alcoholic neighbor, Gary Pervier. When Joe calls on Gary, Cujo kills him, as well.
Donna, home alone with Tad, takes their failing Ford Pinto to the Cambers' for repairs. The car breaks down in Camber's dooryard, and as Donna attempts to find Joe, Cujo appears, ready to pounce. She climbs back in the car as Cujo starts to attack. Donna and Tad are trapped in their vehicle, the interior of which becomes increasingly hot in the sun. During one escape attempt, Donna is bitten in the stomach and leg but manages to survive and escape back into the car. She plans to run for the Cambers' home but abandons the idea due to her fears that the door will be locked, and that she will be subsequently killed by Cujo, leaving her son alone.
Vic returns to Castle Rock after several failed attempts to contact Donna and learns from the police that Steve Kemp, the man with whom Donna was having an affair, is suspected of ransacking his home and possibly kidnapping Donna and Tad. To explore all leads, the state police send Castle Rock Sheriff George Bannerman out to the Cambers' house, but Cujo attacks and kills him. Donna, after witnessing the attack and realizing Tad is in danger of dying of dehydration, battles Cujo and kills him. Vic arrives on the scene with the authorities soon after, but Tad has already died from exposure. Donna is rushed to the hospital, and Cujo's head is removed for a biopsy prior to cremation of his remains.
The novel ends several months later with both the Trenton and Camber families trying to go on with their lives: Donna has completed her treatment for rabies, her marriage with Vic has survived, and Charity gives Brett a new, vaccinated puppy named Willie. A postscript reminds the reader that Cujo was a good dog who always tried to keep his owners happy, but the ravage of rabies drove him to violence.

Tags: insanity, cult, murder

Review:
The bulk of the film focuses on when Donna and her son are trapped in the broken down car because Cujo attacks whenever they try to leave.
It would probably not be unfair to say that Cujo is the least good of the three but in all honesty there isn't a great deal in it, with all being pretty effective and nicely varied horror films.
Out of those three, and unlike most King horror films in general, Cujo is not a supernatural horror movie and is based on a plausible idea.
A woman and her young son become trapped in their broken down car in a remote junkyard when a St. Bernard dog, made rabid by a bite from an infected bat, lays siege to their vehicle in a murderous mood.This one could be described as a high concept movie given the very basic nature of its set-up.
Dee Wallace does some good work as the mother who has to deal with the trauma while having to comfort her young son, who it has to be said is involved in some pretty intense looking scenes which may have been quite full on for the young actor involved.
Which, it turns on its owner and also terrorises that of a unfaithful women and her son that came to get their vehicle repaired, but only to be trapped in their broken down car with rabid dog outside trying to get to them.Beethoven yep, I just couldn't stop thinking of the lovable Beethoven when watching this flick.
Stephen King-based thriller is a sweat-inducing shocker that ranks among the most intense King adaptations.Woman and child are trapped inside their stalled car by a huge, rabid dog.Cujo remains one of the more memorable Stephen King novels because it's a tale of such merciless suspense and in the hands of director Lewis Teague much of that same horror transcends well into this film.
The supporting cast is good too, as are the numerous St. Bernard's that play our vicious title character.Cujo is a top-notch suspense film that never loses its edge.
The 1983 film Cujo by Lewis Teague was no different than my viewings of other King adaptations, in the way that it starts off strong, then falls off in the middle and the end.
Starring Dee Wallace and Danny Pintauro Cujo tells the story about a rabid dog who turns on those around him and brings evil to the small town he lives in.
This didn't get the distribution or attention "Misery" got, but it's equally tense and equally well acted by Dee Wallace-Stone (as Donna Trenton).The simple premise is that a woman becomes trapped in a car while a rabid dog, Cujo, waits to tear her apart.As "Misery" was about confinement, so is "Cujo", and director Lewis Teague "("Educating Rita") keeps the suspense high and convinces us that Donna's situation is real.
Dee Wallace Stone" ("E.T.") and Danny Pintauro (TV's "Who's the Boss?") are very good as the mother and son who's little trip to get the car fixed turns into a nightmare.
The novels of Stephen King provided the basis for a number of horror films that ranged from rather good (FIRESTARTER; THE DEAD ZONE; CHRISTINE) to absolute masterworks (CARRIE; THE SHINING).
Nevertheless, in a decade that didn't see too many horror films become masterpieces (and this even applied to later King adaptations like PET SEMETARY and CHILDREN OF THE CORN), even slightly lower-caliber King from the 1980s like CUJO still outdoes even in the 21st century much of what is out there now.Dee Wallace, who portrayed the emotionally distant mother in director Steven Spielberg's 1982 sci-fi masterpiece E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL, plays more or less a similar role in CUJO, a frustrated suburban wife in a northern California town whose life has become a subject of turmoil; she has had an affair behind her husband (Daniel Hugh-Kelly) with another man (Christopher Stone); and her five year-old son (Danny Pintauro) is troubled by these issues which he is much too young to even begin to comprehend.
They are trapped in the broken-down car for much of the hot summer day, the target of Cujo's wrath.Lewis Teague, who directed the 1979 Dillinger-inspired THE LADY IN RED, and the 1980 cult horror film ALLIGATOR, does an effective job of conveying small-town life in this, the first of King's adaptations to be set in his fictional community of Castle Rock.
Taking her car to a local mechanic's, a woman and her son become trapped inside their car at the facility by a St. Bernard infected with rabies from a rat-bite and must find a way of controlling the dog long enough to let them get away alive while others begin looking for them.This here was really weak and barely has anything worthwhile about it.
The other story lines here, from the mechanics' family leaving or the son being a whimpering coward isn't all that exciting either, and all-told they end up furthering another problem here in making the central plot-device so unsuitable to be supported in a film this long that there's the need to pad this out so excessively here that this all pushes the attack into such a late part of the film it's almost too late to care.
This is what separates it from other animal attack films.The New York Times called the film "predictable" and said, "Cujo is not as menacing or frightening as other film adaptations of King's popular stories and especially can not compare to the 1976 Carrie..." Now, that may be true.
The dog, Cujo, looked excellent throughout the film, although, I think they went a little overboard at times with the goo on his face.The actors all did a fine job, but there really isn't much to talk about.
So all in all I think this was a great book to film Stephen King adaptation that I recommend to horror and thriller movie fans.
It's a respectful - if not completely faithful - version of the story that captures a lot of its visceral power.It actually takes its time to get started (unlike a lot of modern movies where the aim is clearly to have things happen as fast as possible) and gives us all too human and thus easily relatable characters to follow before and during their horrible ordeal in a Maine dooryard.Dee Wallace is wonderful in this as Donna Trenton, a young mother who's had vague unpleasant thoughts about growing old and bored as a homemaker in the small Maine town of Castle Rock.
With nowhere to go, Donna has a hard time making it through the subsequent siege by the dog.Once "Cujo" kicks into gear, it's a hell of a film, with plenty of nerve jangling thrills and intense action scenes.
Cujo is another good and decent adaptation of Stephen King's novels, about a rabid dog gone so wild it starts killing innocent people.
You can almost hear every old lady with a Persian cat on her lap tutting as she watches Stephen King's 'Cujo' and saying something like 'I told you dogs were trouble.' Here a lovably, cuddly St Bernard doggy gets bitten by a rabid bat...
I feel comfortable writing it now, because unfortunately I know exactly how this film is going to end.The premise is simple enough, rabid dog on the loose in a small town, kills people.
Great - simple plot for a good fun camp 80s horror.Uhh ..no.The main problem is this is based on a book (Stephen King) and you can tell that is should not have really been adapted to film, at least not with the same plot.
The only good thing was the action scenes with the dog looked real, even though they were dull.Films ended now, and it didn't get any better.
It was just a stop-go situation repeated over and over again until the movie reached its conclusion.Without giving the ending away, I can tell you it was very formulaic and unworthy of a Stephen King story.The suspense scenes when they are on the screen are exciting to watch.
But it turned out to be a massive disappointment.Overall, I do not recommend fans of Stephen King or horror movies in general to watch CUJO.
Despite the static setting, you never feel bored when viewing their scenes in the second half of this film.While some of the metaphoric meaning of the book may have been lost when Cujo was transferred to the big screen, this movie is still an underrated horror flick that is definitely worth a watch..
"Cujo" may not be a perfect adaptation of Stephen King's novel, but it's a well made horror movie.
There is a long stretch of the story where our main characters Donna and her son Tad are trapped inside their car while Cujo is outside.
It is a one of the best horror movie classic films ever made due to the fact something like this is a possibility - not likely to happen just like the movie but the threat of being bitten by a rabid animal is something that can happen and has happened to some people and beloved pets.Rabies is not a joking matter - and maybe this is what makes Cujo such a powerful film.
Stephen King's Cujo was brought to the screen and met with indifference back in 1983, yet it has aged surprisingly well and comes out as one of the better "mad animal" movies that followed in the wake of Jaws.A big cuddly St. Bernard dog is bitten on the nose by a bat, cops a serious bout of Hydrophobia and then terrorises anyone in its path.
Which spells bad news for Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace) and her young son Tad (Danny Pintauro), who have the misfortune to be stuck in a battered old Pinto that has broken down in Cujo's territory.Lewis Teague directs with no little skill here, wringing out pot loads of tension and inserting genuine moments of terror as mother and son literally fight for their lives.
This is judged perfectly, because once Cujo is unleashed on Donna and Tad, it throws up a number of emotional connections to not only the humans, but also the dog as well.Wallace and Pintauro are excellent, providing the film with its beating heart as they prove to be a believable mother & son pairing.
St Bernard's are so friendly but not Cujo when he is bitten by a bat that turns him rabid and goes on a killing spree.Poor Donna (Dee Wallace) who along with her son is getting her husband's car fixed by Joe, Cujo's owner.
Because the dog belongs to someone else, and the people under threat from it haven't spent any time with it prior to it trying to kill them ensures that a good idea isn't taken advantage of, which is rather shocking considering King's obvious talent for horror.
Meanwhile, Vic Trenton has learned that his wife is having an affair and while he's away on business, she takes their son to the garage to get the car fixed...where they bump into the rabid St. Bernard.Most of King's stories take in supernatural elements, so the fact that this one doesn't ensures that it has grounding in reality, which makes the whole thing scarier.
I don't know but maybe you will when you watch CUJO!Another one of the flawed Stephen King adaptations that people find so excited.
As a guy who grew up in a country with a lot of rabid dogs, it's worth a watch if you want to see all the creature horror movie clichés in action.
Based on Stephen King's novel, CUJO is a good horror movie.
The movie, based on a book by Stephen King, tells the story of Cujo, a dog who is rabid after he gets bitten by a bat and goes after his owners.
Tad's mother (Dee Wallace) and father are having some marital issues which make for good enough reason to send the father off and leave mother and son helpless to fend off the attack from Cujo, a rabies-infested St. Bernard.
Cujo is a fairly decent film compared to many others based on Stephen King stories.
Stephen King wrote this horror movie and I can imagine the real horror of Dee Wallace (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) as she was trapped in a car that didn't appear too much bigger than the dog that was foaming at the mouth wanting to ravish her.
When Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace) and her son go over to Joe's, their car dies trapping the pair while Cujo lurk in waiting.This takes a while to get the dog to start killing.
this movie certainly has some adrenaline inducing moments and terror,especially if you've ever been attacked by a dog.it's one of the better adaptations of a Stephen King novel to the small screen.the story is simple,but it is effective,and once it grabs you,it doesn't let go until the end.a dog named Cujo starts freaking out and attacking people,for reasons which are explained in the movie.it's fairly fast paced,and isn't boring.there is one sequence of events that didn't seem to belong in the movie.it had nothing to do wit anything.this is just a few brief scenes.but it felt like filler to me.anyway,the rest of the movie is pretty good.for me,Cujo is an 8/10.
I first read cujo about a year ago and like all stephen king books I have read I loved it, so when I had a chance to watch the film I took it.The story of cujo is simple, the dog cujo is bitten by a bat infected with rabbies and inturn turns into an angry violent beast of a dog.
There comes Donna Trenton(Dee Wallace Stone) and her son Tad(Danny Pintauro) who drive a Ford Pinto that's breaking down all the time, get locked in a garage so that Cujo does not get them.
No special effects, no CGI, just a rabid dog is enough to instill terror to the point of passing out.Stephen King wrote this horror movie and I can imagine the real horror of Dee Wallace (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) as she was trapped in a car that didn't appear too much bigger than the dog that was foaming at the mouth wanting to ravish her.This was Danny Pintauro's first film.
Dee Wallace-Stone, at the height of her career (after performances in the original "Hills Have Eyes", "E.T" and "The Howling", gives another outstanding performance in the film adaptation of Stephen King's chilling novel, "Cujo".
Wallace-Stone plays an original desperate housewife, Donna Trenton, who, somewhat neglected by her husband Vic (Daniel Hugh-Kelly) has an affair with family friend Steve Kemp (played by Christopher Stone - the "Stone" in "Wallace-Stone", who sadly died some time ago).Wallace-Stone once again plays a loving mother, though this time, thanks to her affair, is somewhat distant from her son Tad (child actor Danny Pintauro), but later in the film, their relationship is defined well when they both go through a harrowing performance with the infamous "Cujo".Strangely for a horror movie (but not unwelcome), and certainly not untypical of a Stephen King adaption, most of what goes on during the film is rather mundane, just the day-to-day life of the Trentons, which makes for interesting drama in itself.
It's not until Donna and Tad become trapped in a car (for reasons that I won't go into), things really start to heat up, as the dog Cujo, riddled with rabies, tries many attempts to get into the car and attack the mother and son.The time where the Trenton's are trapped in the car is done very well, and they seem to go through everything one would expect from someone in their situation.
Both Wallace-Stone and a young Pintauro do remarkably well in these scenes."Cujo" does fit into the horror genre as the "rabid-dog" concept seems to fit there well, however the film evoked terror more than horror, as the performances were so real, and the situation, while unlikely, is not highly improbable.
It leaves the stories, the subplots, and the family issues behind (mostly), and lets the mother (Dee Wallace) and her son get trapped in their car by a now violently rabid Cujo.
An intentionally claustrophobic thriller-cum-horror movie (how's that for a come-on?), adapted from Stephen King's bestseller, about a big scrappy St. Bernard infected with rabies and preying on people around an isolated farmhouse; Dee Wallace and young son Danny Pintauro get stuck on the property in their station wagon while snarling, drooling Cujo waits them out.
I honestly do not know why Cujo is not as highly regarded as other Stephen King horror films.
Although "Cujo" can be a bit startling at time, as with most good horror movies, I didn't think it was scary or even creepy in the slightest.
I was worried by watching a horror movie about a rabid St. Bernard that I might become afraid of my friend's dog.
Knowing that this movie had been made based on a story by legendary horror writer Stephen King about a rabid dog, I was intrigued.
There's only so many times that a dog head-butting a window can be scary, although it didn't scare me once.) I think the film was trying to go for the "claustrophobic scare," where terror is generated from the thought that the woman and her kid can't leave the car for fear of Cujo.
Director Lewis Teague("Alligator") directs this film based on a Stephen King novel about a young woman named Donna Trenton(played by Dee Wallace) who, along with her young son Tad, are trapped and terrorized by a rabid St. Bernard(it was bitten on the nose by a bat in a cave) after their car breaks down at a mechanic's home(father of Tad's friend).
Next to "Carrie," "The Shining," "Christine" and "Misery," "Cujo" is another one of my favorite Stephen King film adaptations.The movie revolves mostly around the Trenton family: Housewife Donna, her advertiser husband Vic, and their little boy Tad. Donna is going through a rough time with Vic, since she is just ending an affair with another man.