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Cujo (1983)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 5.6/10
Reviews Counted: 27
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 11

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Release Date: Aug 12, 1983 Wide

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Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 51,578

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Movie Info

Based on a Stephen King novel, Cujo is not as menacing or as frightening as other film adaptations of King's popular stories and especially cannot compare to the 1976 Carrie. Cujo is a happy St. Bernard until he is bitten on the nose by a rabid bat and slowly begins manifesting the symptoms of his fatal illness. His condition deteriorates as he attacks people again and again, until finally, mom Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace) and her son Tad (Danny Pintauro) are trapped inside the family car with

R, 1 hr. 34 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Horror

Directed By: Lewis Teague

Written By: Stephen King, Don Carlos Dunaway

In Theaters: Aug 12, 1983 Wide

On DVD: Aug 21, 2001

Cast

Dee Wallace
Donna Trenton
Danny Pintauro
Tad Trenton
Daniel Hugh Kelly
Vic Trenton
Christopher Stone
Steve Kemp
Ed Lauter
Joe Camber
Kaiulani Lee
Charity Camber
Billy Jayne
Brett Camber
Mills Watson
Gary Pervier
Robert Behling
Fournier
Terence Donovan
Bob Elross
Meara
Jerry Hardin
Masen
Merritt Olsen
Professor
Arthur Rosenberg
Roger Breakstone
Sandy Ward
Bannerman
Daniel H. Blatt
Clare Nono
Lady Reporter

Critic Reviews for Cujo

All Critics (30) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (19) | Rotten (11) | DVD (9)

As thrilling and scary as Cujo can be, it's dreadful for long stretches.

November 1, 2007 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com

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Christopher Null

Filmcritic.com

Underrated, but nowhere near as much as the book. I'd personally rather rescue Christine and 'Salem's Lot from the King adaptations of ill repute.

October 28, 2007 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

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Eric Henderson

Slant Magazine

Directed by Lewis Teague with less cinematographic flair than even the TV miniseries for 'Salem's Lot, Cujo unfortunately demonstrates the difficulty in adapting King's shorter works.

October 28, 2007 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

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Eric Henderson

Slant Magazine

In all fairness, Cujo is yards better than many of the movies crafted out of King's immense catalog. Too bad it's not the terrifying tour de force everybody alleges.

October 4, 2007 Full Review Source: DVD Verdict

| Comment

Bill Gibron

DVD Verdict

...there's no denying that the sequences dealing with Cujo's assault on Wallace's cheap Pinto are extremely effective...

July 20, 2005 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Unrelenting terror throughout bulk of film

October 23, 2004 Comment

Steve Crum

Kansas City Kansan Source: Kansas City Kansan

Takes a bite out of the common horror flick...Very entertaining

March 4, 2004 Comment

Clint Morris

Moviehole

Not particularly suspenseful

January 11, 2004 Comment

James Sanford

Kalamazoo Gazette

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Audience Reviews for Cujo

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Vic Trenton: There are no real monsters.�Tad Trenton: Except for the one in my closet.�"Unleash the terror."Cujo isn't a terrible movie by any means and it isn't a bad adaption of the Stephen King book either. It's just that Cujo isn't anywhere near King's best work. It's one of his least terrifying, horror stories.

October 15, 2011

Melvin White

Super Reviewer

Based on the novel by Stephen King, CUJO is a poorly-adapted, pet-centric horror movie. It's frustrating watching a movie where some scenes look like exact copies as they appeared in the book, other scenes are barely faithful and move through way too quickly, and some memorable scenes from the book were scrapped from

September 8, 2011