Director: Lewis Teague
Screenplay: Don Carlos Dunaway, Lauren Currier (Barbara Turner)
Cast: Dee Wallace, Danny Pintauro, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Christopher Stone, Ed Lauter
Country: USA
Running Time: 93 mins
Year: 1983
This is a welcome 4K release of Cujo this month, a movie which always seems trapped as a cult favourite. It deserves a little bit of mainstream love and on a few more lists. It’s one of Stephen King’s favourite adaptations of his work for starters, forget that Kubrick upstart. Ok, King has proved not to be the sharpest voice on adaptations of his own work, but Cujo is genuinely extraordinary.
No escaping that it looks like a 70s TV movie at first though. Editing, crash zooms. Charles Bernstein’s Soft synthesizer theme which is pretty relentless throughout and dates the movie badly. But that’s my only complaint, and it’s picky and inconsequential, so let’s move on.
Naff familiarity breeds complacency. Director Lewis Teague was a Roger Corman veteran and had directed Alligator in 1980, a decent creature-feature in itself. The cinematographer was Jan de Bont, who would go on to Speed and Twister. His kinetic energy later in the film is fluid and horribly claustrophobic, working dog-POV rigs. The early scenes feel domestic, which acts as a trojan horse. The characterisation and acting is superb, with the merest glances revealing fault-lines, forming a dramatic reality that doesn’t need another protagonist. When the horror starts, the sheen falls away and leaves us, the viewer, completely exposed, in a movie that easily rivals A Quiet Place for tension.
The pieces fall into place with a couple of neat contrivances that leaves Wallace and her little boy alone with a rabid dog in a remote homestead. The setup is deliciously simple, but incredibly effective because of all the work done to that point.
And it’s a real monster, not an alien force. In The Monster Squad (also released this month) the gag is that the monster really is in the closet, but Cujo brutally replaces the imaginary bogeyman in Tad’s wardrobe with a real, flesh-and-blood creature. His demon doesn’t hide under the bed; it’s waiting in the sun.
This is the crux of Cujo. Whether it’s Tad being scared of the dark, or his parents’ marriage rapidly breaking down, the story looks at how we are distracted by the imaginary fears we create for ourselves and are ill-prepared for a true, visceral, indiscriminate horror. The story is as contrived and exaggerated as any fiction, but a dog turning rabid is more than possible.
King said this was one of his favorite adaptations because the first half preserves the domestic drama. Like Jaws (also a story about divorce), the monster arrives to test the fault lines. The marriage is already suffocating before Donna and Tad are physically trapped in a car.
Really, without a shred of hyperbole, Cujo is second only to Jaws as a perfect domino-rally narrative. That too was a story about infidelity that happened to have a shark in it. This happens to have a doggie. A series of contrivances compound one another to result in a stalling car in baking daylight heat. While he lacks Spielberg’s virtuosity, and whether he meant to or not, Teague nevertheless creates a false sense of security. Too late, we find we’re as trapped in the bloody car as Donna and Tad.
Cujo attacking the car is a phenomenal scene. Dee Wallace is astonishing, her relationship with her son and her rapidly diminishing wits makes the tension unbearable. Pintauro (only around five or six during filming) gives one of the most terrifyingly realistic child performances. Hyperventilating, fever-induced panic attacks and genuine terror amplify Wallace’s desperation. It feels distressingly un-acted.
Wallace was possibly the most emotionally committed actor of genre cinema in the late-70s, early-80s era. Where Jamie Lee Curtis could be ice-cool with a whip-smart wit that got her recognised for mainstream comedy (Trading Places was the same year as Cujo), Wallace’s raw vulnerability made her too damn good for the horror genre to lose. Donna Trenton isn’t a Final Girl; she’s an imperfect, adulterous woman. Wracked with guilt, backed into a corner (literally the corner of a Ford Pinto), she transforms into a feral, protective lioness.
Wallace wouldn’t need to be without a threat though, and the ferocity of former fluffy family pet Cujo is breathtaking. Cujo is all the more disturbing because he’s a good boy really. He was living his best life chasing rabbits. Getting bit by a rabid bat was bad luck and he’s no supernatural evil like Pennywise. Actually, I think he could make the clown think twice when he turns aggressive. He’s a storm of matted fur, teeth, blood and drool. A big, lumbering St. Bernard with a turn of speed to take your breath away with bone-rattling impact.
Cujo is a film that’s easy to take for granted without seeing it because it didn’t get a prestige horror rep. Oh, scary dog, family under siege, blah, blah, might be worth a watch… No, this is a must-see.
VIDEO
This is soft-diffused 70s/80s, could have been a TV movie aesthetic. But the native 4K transfer is nevertheless an excellent upgrade, essential for the second-half. Cujo’s disgusting awe-inspiring appearance is incredible. The tone and contrast really make the dust and sweat pop inside that car. The HDR really enhances the heat and sun beating down on the faded yellow paint of the Pinto.
EXTRA FEATURES
This 4K package has an excellent raft of features. Mainly archival, but it’s so thorough, it makes excellent value whether you’re upgrading or a newbie to the film. The inclusion of a “Director’s Cut” is a bit misleading as there’s barely any difference. Certainly nothing narratively. If you know the book, the alternate cut doesn’t change a thing to make it line up with the original ending, for example.
LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
- Collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by Jamie Graham and Kat Hughes
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jeff Marshall
DISC 1 – THEATRICAL CUT (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY)
- 4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) of the Theatrical Cut
- Original lossless mono and DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Archive audio commentary with director Lewis Teague
- Archive audio commentary with director Lewis Teague and Jeff McKay
- Archive audio commentary with film historian Lee Gambin, author of Nope, Nothing Wrong Here: The Making of Cujo
- Cujo Revisited, a round table discussion with Dee Wallace, Danny Pintauro, Daniel Hugh Kelly and director Lewis Teague
- Dog Days: The Making of Cujo, an archival documentary on the film’s production
- 2019 interviews with actress Dee Wallace, composer Charles Bernstein, stuntman Gary Morgan, stuntwoman Jean Coulter, casting director Marcia Ross, visual effects artist Kathie Lawrence, special effects designer Robert Clark and dog trainer Teresa Miller
- Theatrical trailers
- TV and radio spots
- Image gallery
DISC 2 – INTERNATIONAL CUT (LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE BLU-RAY)
- High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation of the International Cut
- Original lossless mono audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Interview with critic and author Kim Newman on Cujo
- Q&A with Dee Wallace from Cinemaniacs Monster Fest 2015