Stephen King Week: Cujo

Welcome back fans of the macabre to Day 3 of Stephen King Week.  Well we have experienced werewolves and a possessed car from Hell, one could almost conclude it can't get any worse, right?  What about the family dog suddenly going through mental changes?  Man's best friend attacking everything and everyone in sight?   It's up to 80's big screen mom Dee Wallace to see us through this.   This is Cujo.

You stop listening to Judas Priest, young man!

Vic Trenton: There are no real spoilers.
Tad Trenton: Except for the one in my closet.





Welcome to Castlerock Maine and as we already know Maine is the state of pure unadulterated evil.   We follow the bleak life of housewife Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Critters, The Howling, The Skateboard Kid II, High Sierra Search and Rescue, Sons & Daughters and Robocroc)  whose life goes topsy turvy when her husband Vic (Daniel Hugh Kelly of Hardcastle and McCormick, All My Children, Second Noah and Star Trek: Insurrection) found out his missus is seeing an former boyfriend and he leaves for a business trip (cue gambling, drinking and prostitute bender) so Donna and her son Tad (Danny Pintauro of The Beniker Gang, Timestalkers and Who's the Boss) go to visit the Cambers to relax and take her mind off of things.

I AM NOT GETTING NEUTERED!!!!

Tad looks forward to playing with Cujo, a large St. Bernard of a lovable nature.  Unaware that hours ago Cujo was bitten by a rabid bat and is going through violent mood swings including killing Joe Cambers and his neighbor.   Cujo proceeds to lunge at Donna and Tad while they are still in the car terrifying them both and as luck would have it, her Pinto breaks down (Thanks Ford for such a reliable vehicle there) and the two are helpless and afraid to leave the car.  The hot summer day bakes the car to the point that heatstroke or dehydration could take effect and Donna is strapped for ideas, let alone any weapons to fend the beast off.  What to do about this monstrous and relentless dog?

I had a few points of interest on the film.  Five St. Bernards had to be used to attack the car or simply interact with the human actors and some of the more extreme shots had to be done with a guy in a dog costume and a fairly decent mechanical head.   Several Pintos were cut down and disassembled to get specific camera shots and Dee Wallace went on the record as saying she never wanted to be in another Pinto ever again.
Director Peter Medak (Hart to Hart, The Twillight Zone, The Krays and Romeo is Bleeding) quit the project and King recommended director Lewis Teague (Alligator, Fighting Back, The Jewel of the Nile, Cat's Eye, Navy Seals and Nash Bridges) after seeing Alligator and felt this was our creature feature man.  

Gimme the Snausages!!!