Cujo - 1983

My mom taped this movie and I couldn't believe she actually had seen it before and wanted to see it again. She's usually not into the guts and gore I expect from Stephen King. It was only 90 mins, so I decided to check it out. Normally I love Stephen King movies, such as Dreamcatcher, The Green Mile, and Thinner. However sometimes I feel his books are better, such as Misery. Although I never read Cujo, I can almost guarantee the book would have been better!

Plot
Cujo, a big dog, gets bit by a bat. No big deal yet. He lives in this small town with a jerk who's always mean to his wife and probably couldn't care less about his son. Nearby we have a wife who cheats on her husband, but at least she cares about her son. The cheating wife is left alone for the weekend, at the same time the jerk's wife leaves town.

Long story short, Cujo's batty side starts to come out and he starts to attack! Somehow or other, the cheating wife and her kid will come across this crazy dog... can they avoid being eaten to death?? You'll have to see!

My Thoughts
I don't care to discuss the actors for this movie like I normally would because none of them stood out as great to me anyway. They were alright I guess. All they really did is scream and be weird so as to try and scare the audience.

I didn't get the cheating thing at all, why did that matter to the plot? I still have no idea. Why would her husband be worried about her when she doesn't answer the phone? Shouldn't he think "screw her, she cheated on me"?? This whole cheating storyline had absolutely nothing to do with the main plot - which was a crazy dog attacking people.

They took FOREVER to get to the point of this dog attacking people, it was ridiculous. Here the movie is only 90 mins, and 30 mins in the dog hasn't done a thing. My mom pointed out that Stephen King usually DOES drag it out and take time developing characters, however this movie was just too short for this. Most Stephen King movies I enjoy are at least 2 hours, which means there's more time for this plot development.

I know Stephen King always brings the guts and gore, but this dog was beyond gross for most of the movie. He was so slobbery and bloody that instead of being scared of him, I just thought he really need a bath. I kept hoping they'd have a scene where it would rain so that he'd get cleaned up. Gross!!!!

I thought the main character was pretty stupid in her attempts to escape the dog. It seemed like she tried to escape at dumb times (like when she had no idea where the dog was) instead of escaping at a smarter time (like when she saw the dog was at least 50 feet away). I guess I was putting myself in her position and I don't think I would have reacted quite like she did.

In the end, I'd advise against watching this movie. I imagine the book would be better as I'm sure Stephen King has more plot lines explained and more drama and thrills. This film was dull, gross, and not thrilling at all! I'll pass at ever seeing it again.