Cujo

"Fuck you, dog."

- Donna Trenton

Cujo is an American horror film of the predatory animal subgenre. It is based on the 1981 novel Cujo by author Stephen King. The film was directed by Lewis Teague and produced by Daniel H. Blatt, Robert Singer and Neil A. Machlis for Warner Bros. Pictures. It was released theatrically in the United States on August 12th, 1983.

The plot of the film focuses on a St. Bernard dog named Cujo who becomes rabid after being bitten by a bat while chasing a rabbit into it's warren. As the movie advances, the dog grows progressively more savage, turning on his master, Joe Camber and killing several people in the town of Castle Rock, Maine. A woman named Donna Trenton and her ill son, Tad, become trapped inside of their car on the Camber's property while Cujo terrorizes them in the midst of a terrible heat wave.

Notes & Trivia

 * The tagline for this film is "Now there's a new name for terror...".


 * Cujo (1983) redirects to this page.


 * Production on Cujo began on October 6th, 1982.


 * Cujo was released theatrically in the UK on November 18th, 1983.


 * The 25th Anniversary edition of Cujo was released to DVD by Lions Gate Entertainment on September 25th, 2007. It was released on Blu-ray on November 24th, 2009.


 * Producer Robert Singer will go on to become one of the executive producers on the CW Network television series Supernatural.


 * In the film, Tad survives, but in the novel, he dies from heatstroke.


 * Actors Danny Pintauro and Daniel Hugh-Kelly not only share the same first name, but they were also both born in New Jersey.


 * Actor Jerry Hardin has been in dozens of films and television projects, but he is probably best known for playing the mysterious Deep Throat on season one of the Fox Network television series The X-Files.


 * Actors Dee Wallace and Christopher Stone were married during production of Cujo. This is their second film together. They also played a husband and wife in the 1981 horror movie The Howling. Coincidentally, the two characters have a contentious relationship with one another in both films.


 * Producer Daniel H. Blatt makes a cameo appearance in the film as Doctor Merkatz.


 * Robert Craighead is uncredited in the film for his portrayal of Joe MaGruder.


 * Veteran voice actor Frank Welker was credited for doing the vocal effects for Cujo.


 * As with most film adaptations, there are notable differences between the movie treatment and the original novel. One of the most radical departures from the novel is the fact that Tad survives the experience. In the novel, he eventually succumbed to heat stroke. The manner in which Cujo dies is also slightly different. In the novel, Donna Trenton beats Cujo to death with a baseball bat. In the film, she bludgeons him with the bat, but finishes him off by shooting him in the head.


 * This is the first horror film work for assistant camera man Alexander Witt.


 * Actress Clare Torao is credited as Claire Nono in this film.