31 Days of Horror: Cujo

October 11, 2008: Cujo
Stephen King's Cujo is one movie that has stayed with me over the years and every time I see a dog showing its teeth I think of this crazed canine.
The movie begins with a frustrated housewife named Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace). Her life is thrown upside down after her husband finds out she is having an affair, which gives the characters some depth.
Then there is a young boy by the name of Brett Camber (Billy Jacoby) who's family owns a car shop and also a Saint-Bernard named "Cujo".
When first seeing Cujo this dog is huge and made up of muscle, power and teeth. He's a nice companion until he is bitten by a rabid bat and Cujo becomes infected with rabies, thus creating a monstrous killer.
When we come back to the main characters we learn that Vic Trenton (Daniel Hugh Kelly) is away on a business trip, and also to think over his marital troubles. This leaves Donna and her five year-old son, Tad Trenton (Danny Pintauro) alone.
As Cujo is infected by rabies we have Donna deciding she is going to bring her Pinto to Brett Cambers' dad's car shop ... but of course the car fails and Cujo is out for blood.
This movie is violent and bloody, it will surly scare anyone of any age. I don't recommend it for young children, because the terror in this movie is non-stop.
What I like about this movie is that like other horror movies the victims have done something to make them not likable and in like in the book Cujo is basically the punishment they have to face.
So when we see Donna facing Cujo, we see someone who has accounted for her sin and facing her final test. This message is in the movie, but it doesn't go as deep as the book does. Yet ... I find that the movie does a surprising good job in capturing some of it.
The last half hour of this movie is what really made it for me, it's fantastic and something I look forward to seeing every time I watch Cujo. I won't say what happens, but I will say its scary and will keep you on the edge of your seat in pure fright.
This isn't you grade A horror movie like Rosemary's Baby, but it's scary and does its job effectively.