Cujo (1983)

Cujo: Directed by Lewis Teague. With Dee Wallace, Danny Pintauro, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Christopher Stone. Cujo, a friendly St. Bernard, contracts rabies and conducts a reign of terror on a small American town.

“A St. Bernard dog is playfully chasing a rabbit, but when the dog decides to pop its head into a burrow itu0026#39;s bitten by a rabies-infected bat and slowly over time it becomes a maliciously uncontrolled mutt. 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.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBeethoven… yep, I just couldnu0026#39;t stop thinking of the lovable Beethoven when watching this flick. That was one of my childhood favourites, but I guess it isnu0026#39;t going to be quite the same when I come across it again. I wonu0026#39;t look a Beethoven the same way again. Anyhow, this is one of the Kingu0026#39;s better-made adaptations. Although, itu0026#39;s a long way from brilliant, it delivers a stable amount of interest and tension to proceedings. This was my second viewing of it and it has hardly lost any of that full-blooded impact it generated, especially the heart racing standoff between the dog and the trapped victims. I wouldnu0026#39;t be surprise that you donu0026#39;t think your watching a horror film to begin with, as the opening basis centres around a family melodrama, raising martial issues and work commitments. It kind of comes across as cheesy in its supposed sentiment in those moments. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThen it kicks into gear with the slow beginning making way for a crackerjack final 40 minutes of simple confined tension built around isolation. It also doesnu0026#39;t hold back on the vicious dog attacks with ample ferocity and raw suspense being belted out. Watching people being mauled apart by this giant scuffed up dog wasnu0026#39;t that pleasant at all. The gore effects were more than adequate and it looked the part of a rabid dog perfectly. But you couldnu0026#39;t help but feel sorry for the dog, as itu0026#39;s more of a victim then the people who heu0026#39;s terrorising. Honestly I cared more for the misunderstood pooch than the initial victims. The characters werenu0026#39;t entirely likable, with the exception of one or two, but I didnu0026#39;t connect with them in this mess. The story is simple and plays it straight, but that doesnu0026#39;t mean it avoids the familiar clichés. Although, it doesnu0026#39;t entirely hurt the film, well it kind of enhances it actually. A surprising factor I found was that the filmu0026#39;s camera-work was well choreographed with plenty of swirling shots and when it needed to up the ante it became rather erratic to fit in with the mood. Also add in some glorious slow-mo. The score on the other hand I thought was forcefully unbalanced and didnu0026#39;t fit into the mood at times. The performances are all sturdy and very hard to knock. Dee Wallace-Stone was at the top of her game as the wayward wife and Danny Pintauro as her worried son was equally so. Daniel Hugh Kelly gives a likable performance as the father and of course the endearing dog is worth a mention too. The strong performances make this traumatic experience even more believable.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA tautly constructed and work-man like film that wonu0026#39;t push the boundaries, but its intensely petrifying in its simple origins.”