I write this post out of curiosity and downright shock!!

Curiosity because I’m wondering how many other people have seen this movie and what they thought of it!

But also downright shock because I saw this movie as a kid of around 10-12 years old OMG!

I say this because I caught the last 20minutes of the movie on TV the other night!

It surprised me because I always remembered the dog as a Rottweiler!!!

Turns out it was actually a Saint Bernard, I realised this as soon as I saw the dog.

I’ve no idea why I thought it was a Rottweiler.

I was also shocked by the ferociousness of the dog.

I know Cujo was meant to have rabies, something we don’t have in Australia, which made him that way but OMG!

Remember!  This movie was made in 1983.

Back then this was pretty horrific.

Catching the end of this movie the other night, brought it all back to me.

We caught the bit where the dog was attacking the mother in the car, with her son in the back seat.

Dean’s words were, ‘JESUS that’s terrible, who would watch this?  That’s….OMG the kid is in the back seat……………why would you watch this?  This is horrific!’

And sitting there watching it a gazillion years later, I can’t say I blame him.

I love a good horror movie don’t get me wrong, but when it involves dogs………………….hmmmm it’s a whole different kettle of fish for me.

WHAT IS CUJO THE MOVIE ABOUT?

Cujo is based on the book written by the honourable Stephen King in 1981.

Which was later obviously turned into a movie in 1983.

It’s about a family, the Trentons, who move to Castle Rock, Maine.

The dad, Vic,  has to go on a business trip due to his failing business.  This leaves the mum, Donna and their 4 year old son, Tad at home alone.

Joe Camber is a mechanic, not a nice one at all.  He has a wife, Charity, and a 10 year old son, Brett. Charity takes Brett on a trip to visit her sister.

The Cambers’ dog Cujo, is a large, good-natured Saint Bernard dog.   Cujo happens to chase a rabbit in the bush and ends up sticking his headi in a small cave.

He’s barking his head off and it stirs the bats in the cave.  One of them bites him on the nose and infects him with rabies.   Cujo has obviously not been vaccinated for rabies.

Cujo then becomes lethargic and irritable.

Cujo ends up killing Joe and his mate Gary.

Donna’s car, Ford Pinto, is breaking down so she takes it to Joe’s in the hope he can fix it.

The car dies in their front yard, so Donna attempts to go find Joe, leaving Tad in the car.

Cujo attacks Donna, who gets back in the car.   Her and Tad become trapped in the car, because Cujo keeps attacking them – OMG not easy to watch.

In the height of summer the car gets extremely hot.    Donna becomes desperate in trying to escape the car, she gets bitten in the stomach and leg but somehow escapes.

OMG these attacks are not easy to watch let me tell you.  I kept thinking, how did I watch this as a kid???  I grew up with Stafford Shire Bull Terriers, none of them ever did this.

Then I remember, we don’t have rabies in Australia – thank god!

Tad becomes horrified with fear and begins to have seizures.  That is also hard to watch.

In a side story, Donna was having an affair with an old flame, Steve, but she breaks it off.  He goes to their house to attack Donna but she’s not there so he ransacks the house.

Vic’s failed attempt at contacting Donna sees him return home.  He contacts the local Sheriff after seeing his house is ransacked, who then heads out to the Cambers house.

But of course Cujo gets to him as well.

Donna’s inner mumma bear kicks in after seeing the attack on the Sheriff and realising her son might die in the car, she goes postal.

She battles with Cujo and ends up stabbing him with a broken baseball bat and then finally shoots him.

Vic finally arrives but all is too late, Tad has died of dehydration and heatstroke – freaking hard to watch as well.

Then it’s several months later, the Trenton and Camber families are trying to move on.

Donna completed her treatment for rabies and her injuries healed. The Trentons’ marriage has survived, as well as Vic’s business, and they mourn Tad together.

Charity, now working in order to support herself and Brett, gives her son a new, vaccinated puppy.

In postscript – It is said that the hole Cujo chased the rabbit into was never discovered, and the bats abandoned it.

It also reiterates to the reader that Cujo was a good dog who always tried to keep his owners happy, but the ravage of rabies drove him to violence.

WHAT MADE ME KEEP WATCHING?

Watching Cujo as a Dog Groomer, I kept thinking – ‘he needs a good bath!’

Then I thought, ‘I don’t think a muzzle would do!’

Stupid crap ran through my head!

I asked other Groomers if they had seen it and some even said they thought the dog was a Rottweiler until they re-watched it!

AND then I found out some of the scenes were actually done by a guy in a dog suit!

After the movie I looked up how Stephen King came up with the idea – very interesting.

I won’t cover it but to find out CLICK HERE!

Then as I always do in attack situations I ask, ‘how could this whole situation have been avoided?’

I did a quick overview and thought, ‘why didn’t the owners have Cujo vaccinated against rabies?’

He was a lovable dog who was great with kids, until he was bitten.

This was not his fault, he was being a dog in chasing a rabbit and barking at bats in a hole!

If he was vaccinated, none of this would’ve happened!!!!!!!!!

WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?

I’m curious, did you watch Cujo when it first came out, what did you think of it then?

Have you watched it recently, did your views change?

Do you blame Cujo for what he did, or his owners for not vaccinating him?

IN THE COMMENTS BELOW – BILLY WOULD LIKE TO KNOW – WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF CUJO?