Cujo

The movie poster. It doesn't really show the crazy dog

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Rating: Rated R for graphic violence, language and brief sexual content.
Cast:

•      Dee Wallace as Donna Trenton

•      Danny Pintauro as Tad Trenton

•      Daniel Hugh-Kelly as Vic Trenton

•     Christopher Stone as Steve Kemp

•      Ed Lauter as Joe Camber

•      Kaiulani Lee as Charity Camber

•      Billy Jacoby as Brett Camber 
•     Frank Welker was credited for doing vocal effects for Cujo.

Storyline: Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace) is a frustrated suburban housewife whose life is in turmoil after her husband Vic learns about her having an affair. Brett Camber (Billy Jacoby) is a young boy and a son of a mechanic, Joe, (Ed Lauter) whose only companion is a St. Bernard named "Cujo." Cujo is bitten by a bat with rabies and his behavior begins to change. While the dog begins to succumb to the disease, Brett and his mother leave for Connecticut to visit his mother's sister. When Donna and her young son, Tad (Danny Pintauro), drive out to the home where Cujo and the Cambers live, the gentle Cujo has been driven insane by rabies and has killed Joe and the Cambers' neighbor. Worse, their car gives out near the Camber's house and Donna and Tad are trapped inside while the massive dog waits outside, attacking repeatedly, all while Vic is out of town on a business trip.

          Cujo brutally kills anyone and everyone who comes to the house, including the local Sheriff. Eventually Donna makes an attempt to dash for the house but is attacked by Cujo, the only safety being the car. After a brutal struggle between the desperate mother and the relentless animal, Donna takes advantage of a momentary distraction and beats Cujo with a baseball bat and then stabs him with the handle when the bat breaks. As Donna attempts to revive her son, who has passed out due to the extreme heat, Cujo tears through the kitchen window and launches himself at the two. 



Trivia: (I was going to put trivia for some reason but I didn't want to put it all on the same page so here's a link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085382/trivia)
 

Review: I think of Cujo as "realistic horror" because it is something that could really happen. People really do get killed by rabid dogs...this film just exaggerates the truth a bit. It's a very good film - well acted, well directed, suspenseful and emotional. One of the problems is that it is pretty predictable. It starts off with the dog getting infected, and from then on tension is built up slowly as you sense the dog is getting angrier and angrier (He also gets dirtier and dirtier).

         Eventually it snaps and starts killing people. The bulk of the film focuses on when Donna and her son are trapped in the broken down car because Cujo attacks whenever they try to leave. You can feel all the desperation, pain and isolation of Donna and her son as they lay trapped inside. It makes you think twice about dogs and certainly what you would do in such a situation. Would you run, attack the dog, or wait until help arrives?