Lionsgate finally releases a decent edition of ‘Cujo’ on DVD with a first time ever widescreen transfer and even a couple extras to boot, or should I say bite? I’ve never been a big fan of ‘Cujo’, the book or film, but the tautly made pic has its fans and I imagine they’ll be pleased by this release.
Directed by Lewis Teague, yet another Roger Corman alum from the 70s, who directed a few John Sayles’ scripted pics like ‘The Lady in Red’ and ‘Alligator’ before crossing over into the mainstream where he didn’t last long with the likes of ‘The Jewel of the Nile’ and ‘Navy Seals’, Teague manages to squeeze out a fair amount of tension from a premise that is suspect at best.
Although from the featurettes on the disc, it seems a lot of the credit should go to cinematographer Jan De Bont (who went on to direct ‘Speed’ and ‘Twister’ among others) who came up with some clever camera placements during the extended climatic car trap sequence to build suspense and not allow the audience to get bored with the one location.
As far as the concept goes, I guess your mileage may vary but I’ve never, ever had a bad experience with a dog, not one ominous growl, nothing. I’ve never seen a dog be anything other than a tail-wagging, hand-licking bundle of joy. In fact, I had a German Shepherd in high school that I trained to let me in the sliding glass doors of my basement really late at night after my parents were in bed…cause, y’know…I really hated to wake them up when I got back late from bible study.
So rabies or no rabies, I can never buy mean dog stories - ‘Old Yeller’, ‘Man’s Best Friend’ – nadda. That’s purely subjective, however, as I’m well aware there are vicious dogs out there, I just haven’t seen any. So with that said, the impact of this film falls more in the fantasy realm for me than the reality particularly with the use of a Saint Bernard. I know their big dogs and that heft would prove scary for some…but I couldn’t help but think where Cujo’s mug of hot chocolate was as he was ripping the throats off of people.
Anywho, on to the dated domestic troubles that make up the dull first half of this film – the exception being the opening scene which establishes our friendly little pooch getting rabies by being a dumbass and poking his head in a hole where it didn’t belong.
We soon meet Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace) and her crumbling life that seems to be more than defined by her POS Ford Pinto. She has a nice successful husband Vic (Daniel Hugh Kelly) and a well-groomed son Tad (Danny Pintauro) but that apparently doesn’t stop her from being a whore. Having an affair with the “local stud” Steve Kemp (Wallace’s late husband Christopher Stone), Vic finds out and is none too happy about it.
Speeding off in his Jaguar for a business trip, the appropriately disgruntled Vic leaves her some fateful last words: Take the Pinto to the repairman to get it fixed. And as that soap opera played out, we learn that the rabies-infected ‘Cujo’, who belongs to the repairman’s son, had a few scores to settle where he then ends up on the repairman’s desolate junk-ridden farm.
I think we can all see where this one is heading…yep, Donna and Tad end up on the deserted farm in a broken down car with no one but bite-happy Cujo to keep ‘em company. Stuck in the broken down car, Donna and Tad are forced to make some decisions before exhaustion and hunger get the best of them.
Stephen King’s 1977 novel originally ended on a much darker note and I for one would’ve welcomed the bleakness to a fairly predictable run of events but unfortunately the ending got changed for the film adaptation…at King’s request apparently as he always regretted the way he ended the novel (…pansy). A rather inconsequential film for me, there is some tension in the later scenes but the horror/gore elements come up particularly lacking and I’m at a loss to guess why. An R rating, a gruesome King story as your source material, why not let loose?
The performances by Dee Wallace and Danny Pintauro are quite strong, however, and do generate some character sympathy but the lack of any strong character development really hurts the pic. 45 minutes of focus on the characters becomes irrelevant if there’s not a strong script to back it up and the standard domestic squabbles prove dull after the first ten minutes.
So with the 25th anniversary (wait a minute…the film was released in 1983…add 25…getting antsy are we, Lionsgate?) edition, we get a brand spankin’ new 1.85:1 widescreen transfer that makes the old open matte 1.33:1 version like doggie poo if you’ll excuse the pun. Some new special features include an audio commentary by director Lewis Teague, who would no doubt hand out trophies to all of the cast & crew if given the chance, and a surprisingly lengthy 43 minute doc ‘Dog Days: The Making of Cujo’ that is divided into three parts. Mostly full of retrospective interviews from everyone including the director, Dee Wallace, Danny Pintauro, cinematographer Jan De Bont and more, this entertaining doc will be a treat for fans.
‘Cujo’ is not a bad film, per se, and I’m guessing if you’ve ever had a rabies-infected Saint Bernard after you, you might even get a few scares out of it, but I never could get into it. As a horror film, the gore is noticeably lacking, and as a suspense film, the script isn’t quite tight enough. Nevertheless, some good performances do wring out a little tension and Lionsgate did a good job with the transfer and features, so if you’re a fan, by all means, step up to the doggie door…
Cujo (25th Anniversary Edition) is now available at Amazon . As of yet, this version of the DVD is not available in the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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