When I think of the movie Cujo, one of the first things that comes to mind is what Stephen King had to say about this book: He does not remember writing it. King wrote this book when he was suffering from alcoholism, and in an interview said that he had no clue what he was writing, just that it came out good and was a huge success. The movie did not fare so well with critics, but was a box office success when released in August of 1983.
Cujo is the story of a friendly Saint Bernard that turns rabid when a bat bites him. Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace) recently has separated from her husband after he finds out she has been having an affair. Her five-year-old son, Tad (Danny Pintauro), loves going to see Cujo. Young Brett Camber (Billy Jayne), and his father, a mechanic (Ed Lauter) own the dog and don’t mind Tad coming around to see him. One day, however, Donna and Tad make a trip to the house and find that Cujo has turned into a mad killing machine, and has killed one of his owners. When their car dies and the two are trapped in the car in the summer heat, Cujo quickly begin to become more violent and aggressive and begins to attack the car. With no help in sight, Donna and Tad must try to find a way to escape.
The last time I saw this film was about twelve years ago. I was not a big fan of it then, and I really do not care for it now. The story is good, yet the film moves along very slowly and the ending is apparent from the beginning. Don’t get me wrong; it is effective in its suspense and there are plenty of scares when Cujo comes out of nowhere and attacks. The script has some good character development, yet its pacing and use of one location for the majority of the film gets boring after a while and I found myself sitting in front of my television thinking to myself the same thing I did twelve years ago: When is this movie going to end?
The Blu-ray disc has a few special features, including a three-part documentary, “Dog Days: The Making of Cujo,” which features interviews with the cast and crew. There is also audio commentary with director Lewis Teague. The film is presented in 1080p Widescreen High Definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD master Audio and the original monaural audio in Dolby digital with English and Spanish subtitles and English SDH for the hearing impaired.
I read a lot of books, and I read Cujo when I was in high school. I often prefer reading a book over watching a film, because the book always seems to be better. That is the case here. I think the book is great, and the film does not do it much justice. The film, although it starts off extremely slowly, does have some frightening moments and is put together really well and comes off as a realistic. If you already are a fan of the film, you will probably want to pick up this disc and add it to your collection. Cujo has its moments, some of which will scare the hell out of you.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
