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Dee Wallace, Danny Pintauro, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Christopher Stone, Ed Lauter ... see more see more... , Kaiulani Lee , Billy Jayne , Mills Watson , Robert Behling , Terence Donovan , Bob Elross , Jerry Hardin , Merritt Olsen , Arthur Rosenberg , Sandy Ward , Daniel H. Blatt , Clare Nono

Based on a Stephen King novel, Cujo is not as menacing or as frightening as other film adaptations of King's popular stories and especially cannot compare to the 1976 Carrie. Cujo is a happy St. Berna... read more read more...rd until he is bitten on the nose by a rabid bat and slowly begins manifesting the symptoms of his fatal illness. His condition deteriorates as he attacks people again and again, until finally, mom Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace) and her son Tad (Danny Pintauro) are trapped inside the family car with Cujo lurking nearby, set to kill them any way he can. A showdown is inevitable but is as predictable as the rest of the film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Flixster Users

51% liked it

51,593 ratings

Critics

59% liked it

27 critics

R, 1 hr. 34 min.

Directed by: Lewis Teague

Release Date: August 12, 1983

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DVD Release Date: August 21, 2001

Stats: 2,176 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (2,176)

  • blkbomb
    October 15, 2011
    blkbomb
    Vic Trenton: There are no real monsters. 
    Tad Trenton: Except for the one in my closet. 

    "Unleash the terror."

    Cujo isn't a terrible movie by any means and it isn't a bad adaption of the Stephen King book either. It's just that Cujo isn't anywhere near King's best work. It's on... read moree of his least terrifying, horror stories. It's only scary is you have a St. Bernard, that just happens to be named Cujo.

    At the start of the movie Cujo is chasing a rabbit. He sticks his head into a hole and gets attacked by a bay, which bites him on the nose. The dog goes on a killing spree, before trapping a mother and son inside their dead car. The movie isn't really all that thrilling, but given that most of it is shot in a car, I have to say it is pretty well done. I especially liked the scene where the mother sits and the front of the car, after an attack, and the kid sits crying in the back. The camera is in the middle and slowly rotates between the two before it goes nuts and spins faster and faster, until it's just a blurry mess.

    The acting isn't too bad and the movie looks really good, with some great cinematography by Jan De Bont. If you are intrigues by the premise, you'll probably love this one; I however was not and it made the last hour very hard to sit through because I wasn't in anyway absorbed into the story. 
  • spielberg00
    September 8, 2011
    spielberg00
    Based on the novel by Stephen King, CUJO is a poorly-adapted, pet-centric horror movie. It's frustrating watching a movie where some scenes look like exact copies as they appeared in the book, other scenes are barely faithful and move through way too quickly, and some memorable ... read morescenes from the book were scrapped from the entire feature. It should be clear to people as professional as screenwriters: never make a screenplay uneven and off balance--either adapt the book word-for-word, adapt it somewhat faithfully, or forget it and scrap your idea because no one's going to enjoy the end result. If Stephen King had experience with directing more than just one film, and if he could adapt his books into screenplays well, he would have directed and written this (for the screen) into a great movie. Instead, it's a disappointing flop.
  • ajv2688
    January 16, 2011
    ajv2688
    Simple and scary, in fact it's too simple and it's not a great horror movie, but it's okay.
  • kenstachnik
    September 4, 2010
    kenstachnik
    There are parts of this movie that are really really effective. There are other bits...not so much. Worth checking out for the Jan De Bont photography too.
  • TheDudeLebowski65
    June 9, 2010
    TheDudeLebowski65
    Cujo is one of the scariest Stephen King Adaptations. The film is a type of Horror that leaves gripping your seat and biting your nails. The film is filled with the scariest and most suspenseful moments of any King adaptations, as one of the best too. The cast does a great job in... read more this film, and it only adds to build this effective chiller. Cujo is a film that will make you think twice about St Bernards and lose a night of sleep or two. Either it will stick with you for a while. Lewis Teagues directing is superb, and when Cujo has the Trentons under siege in the Pinto you feel like you're enduring the ordeal with. You really shouldn't be a claustrophobic because that pinto is small, and a lot of the film takes place with Cujo holding Donna Trenton and her son in that car. Cujo is one great film, and like I said, is one of the best Stephen King adaptations.
  • blacksheepboy
    January 5, 2010
    blacksheepboy
    Cujo creates a monster, a real one, able to crawl out of our inner closets and into our worst nightmares, and the result is a terrifying horror story.
  • stormyweather980
    September 13, 2009
    stormyweather980
    Awesome awesome awesome movie! I love horror and Stephen King movies to begin with, but what I love most about "Cujo" is that it's one that I could see happening in real life, which made it all the more suspenseful and yes, scary. An all-time classic if you ask me.
  • LoughnerWasLucid
    July 28, 2009
    LoughnerWasLucid
    dogs arent really that scary
  • matertenebraum
    July 27, 2009
    matertenebraum
    Cujo is a movie that will scare the hell out of dog owners, to say the least. It's very frightening and very underrated, and for most of the movie, there is no sign that it is a horror movie. However, Cujo is very frightening, mainly because these kind of things do happen, a lot ... read moreof people (kids in particular) are bitten by dogs every day.

    The leading lady of 80's horror movies, Dee Wallace Stone, plays a woman who is trapped in her car with her 5 year old son, as a rabid St. Bernard terrorises them.

    The tension in Cujo takes a long time to build up, but when it starts, it never lets up. Under no circumstances should young kids watch this movie, they'll be wetting their beds for weeks.
  • kiriyamakazou
    April 4, 2009
    kiriyamakazou
    Stephen King does killer dog. The film's not bad but it's kind of just, boring. What was really needed was to build upon the relationship between Cujo and his family. The most frightening aspect of this film is a beloved family pet turning against the ones it loves. Cujo never se... read moreems THAT loved. The family don't even notice the gigantic bat bite on his nose. The most memorable part is Dee Wallace's performance, of special note the scene where she screams at her son when they are being attacked. It's a perfectly honest and rare reaction of a parent in such a film. Despite being just 90 minutes it seemed very long. Perhaps a St. Bernard isn't as enthralling for me as Vampires, Clowns or Aliens.

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Critic Reviews

Christopher Null
November 1, 2007
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

As thrilling and scary as Cujo can be, it's dreadful for long stretches. Full Review

Eric Henderson
October 28, 2007
Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine

Directed by Lewis Teague with less cinematographic flair than even the TV miniseries for 'Salem's Lot, Cujo unfortunately demonstrates the difficulty in adapting King's shorter works. Full Review

David Nusair
July 20, 2005
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews

...there's no denying that the sequences dealing with Cujo's assault on Wallace's cheap Pinto are extremely effective... Full Review

Steve Crum
October 23, 2004
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan

Unrelenting terror throughout bulk of film

Clint Morris
March 4, 2004
Clint Morris, Moviehole

Takes a bite out of the common horror flick...Very entertaining

James Sanford
January 11, 2004
James Sanford, Kalamazoo Gazette

Not particularly suspenseful

Ken Hanke
November 20, 2003
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Better than average King adaptation.

Luke Y. Thompson
January 9, 2003
Luke Y. Thompson, New Times

Yep, that's one scary dog!

Karina Montgomery
August 15, 2002
Karina Montgomery, Cinerina

Shockingly effective

Scott Weinberg
July 25, 2002
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

This one's got some bite.

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Cujo Trivia

  • Stephen King, Dee Wallace-Stone & a St. Bernard?  Answer »
  • Good dog or bad dog? Which of these dogs you would NEVER want to have as your pet?  Answer »
  • This Stephen King movie was about a rabid dog...  Answer »
  • True or False? Cujo was a pug.  Answer »
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