Cujo was another movie that was based on a Stephen King book, and one can only marvel on how Stephen King picks up completely everyday objects and individuals and weaves his horror fest around it. This time it's a dog that is infested by rabies. Of course, the movie and the story has one major difference, which we will discuss later in the article.
Plot:
The main characters, Joe Camber and family live in the fictitious town of Castle Rock, Maine and have a pet, a St. Bernard. Joe Camber is quite fond of the dog, but forgets one important aspect - to vaccinate it against rabies. Inadvertently, Cujo gets rabies from a bat or something, and the entire family is then harassed by a very strong, very brutal and quite ruthless St. Bernard.
Review:
The movie is a scene to scene follow up to the novel, except for a change in the end, which was brought about because the test audience found the ending too depressing. Make no mistake about it, this is one movie that leaves you tired, frustrated and completely humbled by the end of it all.
You tend to wonder whether it was a good idea to allow the elements of nature, like a dog to actually have a higher hand on them when it comes to basic survival, and also makes you wonder whether humans are actually as weak as the movie has depicted them as. Of course, the solitary sequence of humanity rising over the situation does have the necessary effect of exhilaration, but it does leave a bitter taste in your mouth. Read on to find out the Plot Summary:
The movie begins with the credits, and the artists in the crowd would actually like the font in which the name Cujo is written.
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| Does it not remind you of Coca Cola? |
The movie basically starts with a brief scenery of the nature, with a hare moving about in the forest to some happy and soulful music, who is then chased by the titular character, all to a slightly moving music, telling you, and the one and a half PETA members in the audience that this is life, this is how it works, this is how it is. The movie takes a sordid turn right then, when Cujo is bitten by a rabies infected bat,as he follows the hare into a harehole, setting the trend for the rest of the movie.
We are then introduced to the family, with the boy moving around the house checking if all the light switches work. We are shown that he is scared of the darkness, as he switches off the light and then runs to sleep. The spooks start right then, with a door opening in the similar creeky manner.Of course, one shriek gets the family up and we are introduced to the family:
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| Dress that guy up and it becomes a Post Card |
Well, its good to know that Scooby Doo was the children's favorite back in the '80s too, which the typical breakfast scene from movies shows. And that introduces us to Steve, apparently the handyman of the family. Well, you see that almost everyone is ready to kiss him, except the wife, who does not even give him the time of the day. Why? Well, we wouldn't know, would we? Of course, with this kind of a face, who'd hire him?
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| Would you hire him? |
We do not know who'd hire him, but we can tell you one thing. Whenever your wife looks at you like this when another guy is around, you know its trouble. I meant, like this:
The next scene basically shows us that she is having it with the Steve who just brought the horse for her son. Well, the next scene informs us that the family has a broken down car and they need it repaired, and to repair that car they have to go quite a long way, which they do. And that is where the boy meets Cujo for the first time. Cujo is introduced to the audience once again, making an entry that would put John Wayne to shame. You wish to see it? Well, you asked for it:
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| I told you |
Now, we know that the woman has some serious eye defects when she lays with Steve, but if she cannot see a dog who has rabid bite on his damn nose, you have to think about her mental state as well. I mean, come on people, she did not see this:
This brings us to the subplot where the product that Joe works for is said to be the reason for some kids falling sick, which was a false alarm scare as said in the news. What follows is a very interesting litany that Joe gives to his wife about having product responsibility. Seriously, if even ten percent of professionals in the ad and media world would have this kind of responsibility, the world would be a better place to live in.Well, Joe goes back to firefighting for his advertising campaign, while his wife goes back to screwing the beard guy, This movie does bring a lot of old memories back, with one person saying that "We lost the Sharp Account'. Now, when was the time when such a statement really meant something, without anyone turning back to you and saying, "We lost the what account?" - That's right, the '80s! Cujo meanwhile is showing signs of becoming rabid, while his owner pays no attention to him.
We are taken through a scene where the woman breaks up with the beard guy and she basically goes to his house to tell him off, and her husband sees them, and then they disappear before he can turn back and reach them. Inconsequential, for now. However, the lady goes and picks up her son from school. While going back, her car conks out but she finally reaches home, where she is confronted by her husband about the affair a lot subtly than many other men would. While this is going on, we are shown the metamorphosis of Cujo from a very healthy St Bernard to a rabies infested dog, like this:
Well, there are some plot points, like we find out that the car repairman is quite poor, and that Joe's wife finally tells him that she was having an affair with his best friend. Joe thinks the best way to let this blow over is by driving away for a while. This is where Cujo becomes completely inflicted by rabies, and runs away, when he is found by the car repairman's son. At the same time, Joe drives away from the house in the red Ferrari, leaving mother and son alone.
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| Seriously, think about it. |
This brings us to the subplot where the product that Joe works for is said to be the reason for some kids falling sick, which was a false alarm scare as said in the news. What follows is a very interesting litany that Joe gives to his wife about having product responsibility. Seriously, if even ten percent of professionals in the ad and media world would have this kind of responsibility, the world would be a better place to live in.Well, Joe goes back to firefighting for his advertising campaign, while his wife goes back to screwing the beard guy, This movie does bring a lot of old memories back, with one person saying that "We lost the Sharp Account'. Now, when was the time when such a statement really meant something, without anyone turning back to you and saying, "We lost the what account?" - That's right, the '80s! Cujo meanwhile is showing signs of becoming rabid, while his owner pays no attention to him.
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| Doggy Bad News |
We are taken through a scene where the woman breaks up with the beard guy and she basically goes to his house to tell him off, and her husband sees them, and then they disappear before he can turn back and reach them. Inconsequential, for now. However, the lady goes and picks up her son from school. While going back, her car conks out but she finally reaches home, where she is confronted by her husband about the affair a lot subtly than many other men would. While this is going on, we are shown the metamorphosis of Cujo from a very healthy St Bernard to a rabies infested dog, like this:
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| Very Bad News |
Well, there are some plot points, like we find out that the car repairman is quite poor, and that Joe's wife finally tells him that she was having an affair with his best friend. Joe thinks the best way to let this blow over is by driving away for a while. This is where Cujo becomes completely inflicted by rabies, and runs away, when he is found by the car repairman's son. At the same time, Joe drives away from the house in the red Ferrari, leaving mother and son alone.
Meanwhile, the owner of the dog too goes away for a while, leaving Cujo, the mother and the son alone in the sad town. Of course, the repairman's son wants to take him to the vet, but you know how inconsideration in horror movies actually make the movies work. Cujo begins his murderous spree, bu killing one of the neighbors after a very brutal snapping and biting, and a shooting spree, which does not succeed in getting anything done.
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| Baldie Dies! Baldie Dies! |
The dog's owner turns up at Baldie Gary's house, only to find him dead, almost completely mauled by Cujo, only thing that the dog's owner does not know who has killed Gary actually. He does a bit of a search around, and tries to call the police, when he sees his beloved Cujo - thusly.
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| Thats a Done Case |
Oh, and he kills his own owner.
As is wont to happen, Joe's wife and the son are stranded in the middle of nowhere in their shiny little yellow car, which stops just near the repairman's house. The wife gets out of the car which is not working guaranteed, and shouts out if anyone is around. Finding nobody around, and listening to her son's cries, she is in a position where she cannot shield her son, and she is attacked by Cujo. This makes for a pretty gory scene. I need to tell you, this was one of the greatest fights I have ever seen between human and animal.
In a single moment, the film turns from a broken family movie to a bare gritted survival between animal and dog. The long, protracted sequence speaks about a lot actually in that half an hour, how a woman is torn between her safety and her son's life, how almost anyone can be taken aback by situations and therefore, die, and how humans can finally get better than the situation that they are thrust in.
This basically leads to a sequence where the woman and the son are left in a car that is slowly heating up, causing breathlessness in the child, and a woman who is getting out of options very quickly. This finale is one of the most terrify, exhilarating and heartbreaking (in the novel) sequence that one will ever see in any movie. Because in the novel it is shown that the woman, after all her heroics cannot save her son. This was changed in the movie because the audience felt this was a depressing ending.
To make matters more graphic, here is a small collage that shows you the Cujo at the beginning of the movie, as compared to the Cujo we see at the end of the movie:
