- Directed by Lewis Teague
- Written by Stephen King, Don Carlos Dunaway, Barbara Turner
- Stars Dee Wallace, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Danny Pintauro
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 33 MInutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrCv5Brqntg
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
Doggies aren’t scary, right? Well, they can be a little. And sometimes they really can be. This is an extreme case, and they do it effectively. It’s a good story, realistic with events that really could happen. Dee Wallace sells it, as does the rest of the cast.
Synopsis
We see a happy little bunny in a field on a beautiful spring day. Then a giant dog comes out of nowhere and chases it. The rabbit escapes into a cave full of bats. A bat bites the dog.
Elsewhere, little Tad tries to get into bed without the “monsters” getting him. He’s afraid of the dark; he’s afraid of the closet door that won’t stay shut; he’s afraid of what’s under the bed. His father Vic explains that there’s no such thing as monsters; they only exist in stories. His mother Donna just looks tired of the whole thing.
Steve Kemp comes over. He’s a furniture repairman and Vic’s tennis partner. We soon learn that Steve and Donna are screwing around when Vic’s not home. Vic, on the other hand, wants another baby.
The mailman gives Vic a tip on where to find a good mechanic out in the country. The whole family goes out to the Camber house, where Joe Camber agrees to fix Vic’s car. Donna and Tad see Cujo, a huge Saint Bernard. Donna’s a little afraid of dogs, but Tad isn’t. Tad and Cujo make friends, and Donna notices the scab on Cujo’s nose.
Vic works at a PR firm that is having a really bad week with their breakfast cereal account. Donna drives her broken down old Pinto to see Steve and break up. Vic drives by in his fancy convertible and spots them outside— but only briefly, so he’s not completely sure what he saw.
Meanwhile, we see the infection on Cujo’s nose has gotten worse, and he’s not looking good at all. Charity Camber reveals that she just won $5000 in the lottery. She got Joe an engine hoist, and she wants to go to Connecticut to see her sister for a week, taking their son with her. Joe has his friend Gary over to keep him company.
Steve comes over, not willing to take no for an answer. Vic comes in during their argument, and he knows what’s going on. Vic has to go out of town for ten days to deal with his lost account. Vic can’t fix Donna’s car, so he tells her to take it to Joe’s for a repair.
Out in the country, Gary dumps trash in his pile. He sees Cujo, who growls at him. He recognizes the foaming at the mouth and runs away, but Cujo is faster. Gary grabs his gun, but Cujo breaks in the front door and kills him. Later, Joe Camber calls for Cujo, as he hasn’t been around the house lately. Joe stops over at Gary’s house and finds the body. He also finds Cujo, and he also knows what the problem is, but he also can’t get away.
Donna and Tad drive out the Camber farm to get the car fixed, but find that no one’s home. Cujo attacks before they even get out of the car. They roll up the windows, so they’re OK for now. Tad starts crying about the monster, and the crying and screaming never stop. The screams only infuriate the dog more. The car, on the other hand, refuses to start. They eventually honk the horn and drive the dog away.
With no other options, Donna and Tad wait in their little car until help arrives. The car is still dead and isn’t going anywhere. Vic tries to call home that night, but when no one answers, he thinks Donna is out with Steve.
The waiting game begins. The next day, they’re still in the car, and it’s really hot. They are near the mailbox, so they wait for the mailman to come. At the post office, we see that Mrs. Camber put a hold on their mail while she was going out of town; the mail isn’t coming.
Eventually, Donna gets out of the car, and gets attacked, but she fights him off with a metal Thermos. There’s lots more screaming.
Vic decides to leave the meetings early since he can’t get through to Donna. His partner is angry, but Vic goes anyway.
On the third day, Tad starts having convulsions from dehydration which raises Donna’s motivation levels just a bit.
Steve goes over to the family’s home looking for Donna. Vic goes home to find that Steve has cut open all the pillows in the house and trashed the place. The police think maybe Donna did this before leaving him, but Vic is convinced that Steve did it. The police start looking for Donna’s car, which might be up at the Camber place.
The sheriff arrives at the farm, and he gets out to investigate. He finds out what’s been going on— just a little too late to save himself.
When the sheriff doesn’t report in, Vic decides to go to the farm himself.
Donna resolves she has to do something and makes a run for the baseball bat in the yard. She whacks Cujo good a few times and finally stabs the dog to death.
With the danger past, she tries to get inside the car to rescue Tad, but can’t get in. She finally has to break a window to get to him. She takes Tad into the Camber house and gets him water. He’s nearly dead, but she revives him.
Cujo then breaks through the window and Donna shoots him with the sheriff’s gun.
Vic arrives minutes after all the action ends.
Commentary
Man, can that kid scream!
This was made back when Stephen King movies still tried to be good. It’s got a small-ish cast, a simple story, and not too many distracting special effects. Just a scary old dog who mostly behaves like a real rabid dog would. There’s absolutely nothing supernatural, magical, or evil here.
There was talk of doing a sequel, but all it would have taken to resolve the problem is a simple modern cell phone. Of course, that wasn’t an option in 1983, so the isolation of being in a car, even right next to a house, is very real.
The kid here is really annoying with all the screaming, but I think he’s supposed to be doing that to heighten the tension. In the book, Tad died, but he does survive here so the film doesn’t have such a downbeat ending.