I think I've decided that the most
effective way to open a horror movie is to set up it up as another
film entirely. This emphasizes that the horror is entering into the
otherwise normal lives of these characters, rather than the
characters simply existing to experience it.
Cujo does exactly that. The
backdrop of the film is a family of three. The father, Vic (Daniel
Hughes-Kelly) finds out that his wife has had an affair, and
meanwhile, is having trouble at work due a product he advertised
turning out to be dangerous. This story doesn't even fade entirely
into the background. Since the father is unaware of the primary
action of the film, he remains at his job, still trying to figure out
how to deal with his personal issues.
The antagonistic force of the film,
Cujo, is a friendly Saint Bernard who lives with the family's
mechanic (Ed Lauter). He contracts rabies when bitten by a bat and
ends up killing the mechanic and his family, just before the mother,
Donna (Dee Wallace) and her son Tad (Danny Pintauro) bring their car
over. Cujo immediately attacks them, and they spend most of the
remainder of the film locked inside the car, which now refuses to
start. (A rare justified use of this cliché, since they were, in
fact, taking it to the mechanic due to car problems).
I don't claim to be an expert on
rabies, so I can't say with any degree of certainty whether or not
the dog's behavior is truly “realistic,” but I can tell you that
it certainly feels realistic to me. When I say that, I mean that the
dog is not a constant antagonist. He calms down between attacks,
lying down, still within sight of the car, until something sets him
off again. At one point Donna is even able to open the door a crack
to allow her son to pee, uncertain if Cujo will react. Luckily,
after a few moments of staring at them, Cujo goes to attack a ringing
phone in the house.
I think that the sympathy and
uncertainty we feel for Cujo helps the movie greatly. The film
makers can pretty much justify having him attack in any pattern
that's convenient for the story, simply because he isn't malevolent.
At the same time, the story has more nuance as we understand that
Cujo is not a force of evil.
The secondary fear of the movie comes
from the fact that it's a hot day. Donna and her son cannot open the
windows or doors of the car to cool off without providing Cujo
something he can force open. So, if Cujo doesn't kill them, then
there's a real chance the heat will. And indeed, it's Tad's
hyperventilation that forces the final confrontation between Donna
and the dog.
The ending of the movie is rather
anti-climactic. Donna is finally forced to get out of the car to
fight Cujo, and the fight is shown in a fairly awkward manner. This
is presumably because there was no realistic way to show Donna
struggling with the dog that would not require him to actually bite
her. Beyond that, the film brings Cujo back to life for one last
scare after Donna stabs him. It's as if they forgot that Cujo was a
sick dog, not a supernatural slasher villain, making this scare come
across as especially cheap.
I don't claim this to be any sort of
masterpiece, by any means. However, I can't imagine that anyone
watching this movie will want the hour and a half of their time back.
I doubt that this movie would be regarded as a “classic” if it
were not associated with Stephen King, but I could certainly see it
surviving as a footnote in horror history, with occasional reruns on
cable, and a place on Netflix.
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