Reviewer: Rhett Review Date: October 19, 2007 Released by: Lionsgate Release date: 09/18/2007 MSRP: $19.98 Region 1, NTSC Widescreen 1.85:1 | 16x9: Yes

The animal attack film has been one of the longest and most consistent sub-genres of horror. Over the decades it’s brought us such hits as The Birds, Jaws, Anaconda, Food of the Gods and Deep Blue Sea. As such a consistent staple for scares, it’s therefore no surprise that even horror’s most successful author would explore the tepid relationship between man and animal. Stephen King’s Cujo came out in his early eighties heyday, and despite good press and big box office when it came out, it’s name has largely been sullied as of late by poor, bargain bin DVD releases. Lionsgate is finally making a go to bring Cujo back to the top of the animal attack food chain with this new, anamorphic 25th anniversary edition. Is the disc worth it, and more importantly, is Stephen King’s take on the vicious animal genre a worthy one?


The Story

Cujo is an aged and friendly St. Bernard. He spends his days chasing rabbits on the farm, until one furry little creature leads him astray. Cujo finally traps a little bunny in a small little burrow, but can only fit his head inside to see him. He barks to try to startle the bunny into his mouth, but instead wakes a few sleeping bats above him. The barks aggravate the bats and one of them swoops down and take a chomp out of the canine’s nose. The bat had rabies, and soon enough Cujo will be nice no longer.

Meanwhile, little Tad Trenton (Who’s the Boss’ Danny Pintauro) is having trouble sleeping in his upper-middleclass home. He thinks there’s a monster in his closet, to which his father replies “monsters only exist in stories”. There may not be a monster in the closet, but behind closed doors his parents’ marriage is slowly coming apart. Although happy on the outside, Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace), is dealing with an infidelity with “local stud” Steve Kemp (Wallace’s real-life husband, the Howler himself, Christopher Stone) that she can’t really explain. Danny’s dad, Vic (Daniel Hugh-Kelly), meanwhile, is facing a major hurdle at his ad agency, when his most known commercial is forced to be reinvented after a health scandal. Both love each other and especially their son, yet they find external factors tearing them apart. Their relationship will take a true test though, when Donna and Tad head over to Cujo’s place.

Cujo’s been deteriorating since the bite, starting to froth at the mouth and puss from the eyes. He’s more irritable to sounds too, and eventually snaps when his owners go on an impromptu vacation and their neighbour makes too much racket dumping bottles. Cujo attacks, his rabid condition now reaching the furious stage. Donna and Tad go to repair her car, and not only do they not know their mechanic is out of town, but also that a snarling beast is waiting to ravage. Their car breaks down and Cujo starts to wreak havoc upon the two. They can’t leave the car, they can’t call for help, all they can do is wait. Water is running scarce though, and with Vic gone on business, their only option is to confront the rabid beast.

Cujo is an excellent story, one that is far les exploitative than the title and concept make it out to be. Although everyone remembers it for the dogs attack on Dee and Danny, that whole scenario doesn’t even begin until past the half-way mark. Instead, King and director Lewis Teague (who tackled the animal attack film first with Alligator), take great lengths at building up the characters, their relationships and their fears. This results in a film so much more than just man versus dog or good versus evil, since like the poster suggests, the film is filled with shades of grey.

Appearances are always more complex than they first seem, and while the Trenton family seems solid on the outside, the further King’s story probes, the more complex becomes. There’s no explanation why Donna cheats on her husband, indeed she doesn’t even seem to know why. It’s refreshing to see domestic problems that cannot simply be summed up in soliloquy. The guy she is cheating with isn’t even bad either, a far cry from the usual caricature adulterers are usually portrayed as. Everyone seems like good people, and Cujo even a good dog, yet somehow in the rot of domestic complacency, there is an evil.

Throughout the film, it’s clear that King is out to demythologize the monster, first by making the beast an immediately sympathetic character. He’s not some inexplicable cold-blooded killer like the gulls in The Birds or the shark in Jaws. He was your average house pet who became a victim. Even when he’s bit, King and Teague take the time to show his deterioration, making him more than just your usual villainous figurehead. You develop a sort of compassion for him. The shades of grey kick in when you start to wonder why you are rooting for an adulteress over a helpless animal. It’s here that King makes us question our idea of the soulless monster, and this whole conception is reinforced by Tad’s continual questioning of the monster in his closet. The real monster is humanity, prone to cheating or jealousy. Monsters are just our way of projecting our problems onto an easy target.

Although the dog in the film is largely humanized, there is still a slight sense that he’s the domestic dispute made manifest. His first signs of change from friendly house pet to vengeful beast are triggered by raised voices at his master’s table. The husband and wife get in an argument, and Cujo’s agitation is much similar to the audience’s or their children’s. Domestic disputes are a terrible thing, and whether Cujo’s setting his sights on his own family or the sinful Donna, there’s a slight sense he’s lashing out against the decay of the American family. Since the eighties were the height of the divorce, Cujo couldn’t be more topical, and it couldn’t be more against what casual horror fans would expect. Even twenty-five years later, this holds up as one of the most effective and important horror films of King’s oeuvre.


Image Quality

Imagine that a few months ago everyone was reporting that this was to be yet another ratty full frame transfer. How wrong they were! Cujo looks great here, cleaned and groomed for his 25th anniversary. Jan de Bont’s visuals are masterful as it is, and the removing of dust and debris and the correcting of colors really adds even more bite to this beautiful beast. There’s hardly a single spec to be found, and the colors effectively convey the parched summer color palette that de Bont strove for. There’s still a little grain to be found, but it’s not as distracting as it’s been in most of the vintage horror releases this year. Throw away those old discs, this upgrade is man’s best friend.

Sound

Remember back when every film would get the Dolby Digital 5.1 restoration? Now it seems the opposite, but as long as the mono track is included (and it is), then all is well. The track here sounds clean and without fault, with the dialogue audible and the effects and music never too domineering.

Supplemental Material

Alligator had some nice extras, and this one has even more. Lewis Teague is back for a commentary, but this time he’s solo. Yet even on his own he proves a delight to listen to, recalling tons of anecdotes about the making of the film, the audience’s reception, his doubts and his approach. He comes across as a professional and considerate man, and his researched observations on the genre and on conveying emotions are definitely something any prospective directors would want to hear. He even talks a bit about Cat’s Eye, in a funny comparison between the difference of working with dogs and cats.

Just as notable is the 45-minute “Dog Days: The Making of Cujo” featurette. Lionsgate went all out with this, bringing in the principal actors, the director, producer, cinematographer, composer and a few others to really give a broad perspective on all facets of the film. The actors talk about what it was like working with the dogs and how brutal it was sitting in a freezing car all day in the middle of fall. Jan de Bont, on the other hand, talks about how he made us believe it was actually summer, in addition to all the other visual innovations he brought to the film. Teague ties it all together, but manages to avoid repeating most of his stuff covered in the commentary. There’s also, of course, plenty of discussion about the dogs themselves, and the techniques that were done to make them look putrid and to make them act so violently. While there may be no other extras, not even a commentary, this featurette truly is all encompassing.


Final Thoughts

Cujo is a great film. It’s got it all, with sincere performances, stylish camerawork, mindful direction and a story that perceptively questions who the real villains are in modern society. It’s a fun creature feature on one hand, and a discerning drama on the other. Lionsgate has given the film its due treatment, with a beautifully restored transfer and some truly top notch extras. When this was released in 1983, its association with King and his previous masterpiece movies like The Shining, Carrie, The Dead Zone and Christine sort of dwarfed the dog’s cinematic worth. Now though, on it’s own, it certainly stands in the upper echelon of King’s work and even horror in general. Take this stray in, it deserves the love.

Rating

Movie - A
Image Quality - A-
Sound - B-
Supplements - A-


Technical Info.

• Color
• Running time - 1 hour 35 minutes
• Rated R
• 1 Disc
• Chapter Stops
• English mono
• English subtitles
• Spanish subtitles
• English closed captions

Supplements

• Audio commentary with Lewis Teague
• "Dog Days: The Making of Cujo" documentary

Other Pictures

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