Cujo (1983)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
A normally friendly St. Bernard named Cujo gets rabies and goes on a killing spree. Eventually a mother (Dee Wallace) and her young son (Danny Pintauro) crosses paths with the monster and soon they're trapped in their car unable to go anywhere. CUJO isn't a complete success but there are enough effective moments to make it worth sitting through. I'm not familiar with the Stephen King story so I can't comment on how close this movie follows it but I think there are a few problems here. One problem is that we're given a pretty worthless subplot involving the wife having an affair on her husband (Christopher Stone). I'm not sure if this played a bigger part in the book but here it just basically adds minutes to the running time and in the end it really adds up to nothing. Another problem I have with the film is that it's not nearly as intense as it should have been. In order for a film like this to succeed I think it needs to keep the viewer in constant terror as soon as everything starts to happen. That doesn't happen here, although there is one attack sequence inside the car that is quite chilling. Finally, the biggest problem with the picture is that it's simply way too predictable. With that said, Dee Wallace is extremely good in her role as the mother who is forced to fight this creature to try and save her son. Pintauro is also very good in his role as the child and it's fun seeing Stone, although his role isn't that well written. As I said, there's one attack scene inside the car that is quite thrilling but the rest of them are only mildly entertaining. The final showdown does manage to be quite exciting, although by this point you're ready for anyone to win just as long as the movie comes to an end.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
A normally friendly St. Bernard named Cujo gets rabies and goes on a killing spree. Eventually a mother (Dee Wallace) and her young son (Danny Pintauro) crosses paths with the monster and soon they're trapped in their car unable to go anywhere. CUJO isn't a complete success but there are enough effective moments to make it worth sitting through. I'm not familiar with the Stephen King story so I can't comment on how close this movie follows it but I think there are a few problems here. One problem is that we're given a pretty worthless subplot involving the wife having an affair on her husband (Christopher Stone). I'm not sure if this played a bigger part in the book but here it just basically adds minutes to the running time and in the end it really adds up to nothing. Another problem I have with the film is that it's not nearly as intense as it should have been. In order for a film like this to succeed I think it needs to keep the viewer in constant terror as soon as everything starts to happen. That doesn't happen here, although there is one attack sequence inside the car that is quite chilling. Finally, the biggest problem with the picture is that it's simply way too predictable. With that said, Dee Wallace is extremely good in her role as the mother who is forced to fight this creature to try and save her son. Pintauro is also very good in his role as the child and it's fun seeing Stone, although his role isn't that well written. As I said, there's one attack scene inside the car that is quite thrilling but the rest of them are only mildly entertaining. The final showdown does manage to be quite exciting, although by this point you're ready for anyone to win just as long as the movie comes to an end.