Hello fright fans! Slick Dungeon here, back to review another Stephen King film. This time we’re talking about the famous story about a rabid dog named Cujo. There will be spoilers for this film so if you haven’t seen it, get your car fixed, pet your dog, and go watch the film, and then come on back here to read the review.

Cujo Background

Cujo is an adaptation of the King novel of the same name. While both have the same premise, one is far more tragic and terrifying than the other. This is the second story to take place in Stephen King’s fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine.

The box office for the movie was only so so and it opened to mixed reviews. However, the film is a bit of a cult classic and certainly has its fans. Not to bury the lead here, I think if you’re interested in the story, the best version of it is the book, but the movie is entertaining and will leave you less depressed than the book.

A Good Boy

If you know anything about Cujo you know it’s story about a killer dog. But I’m here to tell you, Cujo is an innocent victim of circumstance, just like everyone else in the film. To put it bluntly, Cujo was a good boy, he just had a bad thing happen to him and lots of people suffered because of it.

The story starts with the enormous St. Bernard dog chasing a rabbit, as any dog does. Cujo gets his muzzle into the rabbit’s hole but unfortunately for everyone, he is bit by a rabid swarm of bats.

Cujo’s owner is mechanic Joe Cambers. Cambers is not a nice fellow. He’s got a wife and kid but he’s not real nice to them. His wife and kid are about to go on vacation and Joe decides he’s going to head out of town to have some fun without telling his wife.

Vic, Donna and Tad Trenton are a family unit of their own. They have a car in need of repair so they take it to the Cambers’ for repair. While there, Tad, the little Trenton boy, is afraid of Cujo who is just sitting there minding his own business. Everyone in the Cambers place tells Tad not to worry because Cujo might look scary, but he’s sweet and wouldn’t hurt anyone. Tad pets the dog and everything seems fine.

Marriage Troubles

Vic and Donna Trenton are in a rocky place in their marriage. Vic is an overworked ad executive and Donna is a stay at home mom. But, she’s also having an affair. She breaks things off with Steve Kemp, her ex-boyfriend. Vic finds out about this and is understandably upset and confused. But he’s got to go out of town for work.

In the middle of all the marital chaos, the car is still not working right. Vic takes the other family car and asks Donna to take the broken down Pinto back to Joe Cambers. This proves to be a fateful decision.

No One NOtices the Signs

The Cambers family doesn’t notice Cujo acting strangely. He’s super sensitive to loud noise, he’s barking randomly and just seems overall agitated. But the family doesn’t think too much of it. The wife and son leave, although there is a moment where it seems like Cujo might attack the son.

Once the wife and son are gone, Cujo does end up mauling to death both Joe Cambers and his alcoholic neighbor Gary. This means, the only person who will greet Donna and Tad Trenton is not a person at all but Cujo.

It’s all Out survival

Donna makes it out to the Cambers but the car is barely running and when she gets there a blood soaked St. Bernard lunges at her. She has no choice but to hide from the dog in the car with Tad.

From here on out the story is one of survival. Donna tries repeatedly to get out of the car but the dog is there every time. Tad is suffering from the intense heat and Donna’s barely better than he is. They can’t roll the windows down, and the dog does major damage to the car.

Vic, meanwhile has been calling his family home with no answer. It’s long enough he gets worried and comes back. He finds his place just trashed by Steve Kemp. Vic asks the police to question him. Kemp admits he trashed the house but has no idea where Donna and Tad are. They figure out she must be at the Cambers and send a Sheriff out to investigate.

The Sheriff is mauled to death by Cujo.

The Final Showdown

Donna realizes Tad is about to die from heatstroke. She manages to get out of the car and get a baseball bat. Cujo lunges at her but she hits him with the bat. He manages to get on top of her but the bat breaks and the dog impales himself on her. Donna finds the Sheriff’s gun and is about to shoot the dog but decides she needs to help Tad first. Cujo gives us his last jump and Donna kills him just before Vic arrives.

Cujo the Book vs. Cujo the Movie

I don’t want to give away the end of the novel but lets just say the movie ending is not the film ending. I think the book ending is far more impactful but in both versions, Cujo was just being a dog before he turned into what people call a monster.

In a lot of Stephen King books there is this malevolent evil to be found. Well, if it’s in this story, it’s just in the form of bad luck. If anything even slightly changes here, Donna and Tad would be safe. Or, If all of the Cambers stayed she would be safe. If Vic hadn’t been so upset over the affair, Cujo wouldn’t have attacked them because Vic would have gotten the car fixed. And if Cujo hadn’t chased that rabbit, none of this would have happened.

Cujo in Conclusion

All in all, I feel like this story is nothing but a tragedy. Everyone is a victim of things out of their control. And while not everyone here is a nice person, none of them deserve being mauled to death by a rabid Saint Bernard. Cujo doesn’t deserve to be dead either.

And this, in effect, is what makes this story truly horrific. This is actually something that could happen to anyone. You don’t have to be in a haunted hotel, no one needs to have psychic powers, there’s no vampires or other creatures of the night here. No, this is just a big dog out of control attacking people who don’t expect it and largely don’t have a way to defend themselves.

This is such a memorable story. I do enjoy the movie but the book, in my opinion, is a better story and totally worth reading. But, if you want a good movie about a monster dog, Cujo should be at the very top of your list.

Want More?

Want to see some of my other King reviews? Take a look here!

Looking for a good King read? Check out this one!

Do you prefer the book or the movie? Let me know in the comments!

Rabidly yours,

Slick Dungeon