Cujo (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Cujo |
| Original title | Cujo |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1983 |
| length | 91 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Lewis Teague |
| script |
Don Carlos Dunaway Lauren Currier |
| production | Daniel H. Blatt |
| music | Charles Bernstein |
| camera | Jan de Bont |
| cut | Neil Travis |
| occupation | |
| |
Cujo is the film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Stephen King . It was shot in 1983.
action
The friendly and child-loving Saint Bernard Cujo is bitten by a mad bat while hunting a rabbit . As the dog increasingly succumbs to the disease and changes its nature into a beast, the fate of two families is described. There is Cujo's owner, Joe Camber, whose wife Charity has just won the lottery. She gives him an important machine for his auto repair shop and wishes to visit her sister in Connecticut . Joe takes advantage of his wife's absence to hang out with his drinking buddies.
Vic Trenton, meanwhile, has other problems: The brand for which he is advertising falls into disrepute and then he also catches his wife Donna cheating with his tennis buddy. He is on a business trip when his wife's car breaks down and she and their six-year-old son Tad take it to Joe Cambers' workshop. But the Cambers estate is empty: Charity is on the way - and Joe is dead, killed by his own dog, in which rabies has prevailed.
When Donna arrives and wants to get out, Cujo attacks. She immediately flees back into the car - but it won't start again. Donna is trapped in the car with Tad on a hot day and also during the night and the next day. After all, she knows that she has to face the dog or her son will die of thirst in the heat. Seriously injured, she finally manages to overpower Cujo with a splintered baseball bat and revive little Tad in the Cambers' house. In the final scene the badly injured dog comes running through the window again and is shot by Donna.
criticism
“Horror shocker who does not gain horror from bloody effects, but increases the viewer's expectation of fear in a psychologically sensitive way. A film based on Stephen King, unusual for the genre, which takes a remarkable amount of space for drawing the background. "
Deviations from the novel
- King triggered a storm of protest when he let four-year-old Tad die of thirst in the car in the novel. He himself said that Tad died under his fingers (see also Cujo (novel)), but the readership was so outraged that Tad is allowed to survive in the film version.
- King dispenses with the usual in films the-dead-stands-up-again-effect - in the novel Cujo dies of the baseball bat attack.
- Rather, the novel emphasizes the direct connection between Cujo's suffering and the monster that Tad suspects in his closet, so the dog sometimes has ghostly features, which the beginning of the book already refers to, since Cujo is like a reincarnation of the woman killer Frank Dodd (from Dead Zone. The Assassination ) is introduced: 'The monster never dies. It came back to Castle Rock in the summer of 1980. '
- Some passages of the novel are written from the point of view of the sick dog; this was not implemented in the film.
occupation
- Donna Trenton's or Dee Wallace's fling is actually her husband, Christopher Stone.
- Little Tad is played by Danny Pintauro , known to many from the series Who's the Boss? .
- Jan de Bont was behind the camera for the film .
useful information
- King's inspiration for his novel came when he went to a remote workshop after a motorcycle breakdown and ran into a huge dog that snapped at him before his master whistled him back.
- Warner Bros. decided not to mention the dog in the trailer for the film; there is only ever talk of an "uncanny threat".
- Six St. Bernard dogs were used for the film, depending on what they were particularly good at (baring their teeth or walking impressively, etc.). But also a dummy dog on rails and a stuntman in dog costume were used.
- The main component of the dog's make-up was corn syrup, which the animals particularly liked; after a few minutes they had licked everything off again.
- The film is said to be set on hot days, so that Donna almost suffocates in the car with her son; but it rained almost all of the filming. Jan De Bont's post-processing deserves great recognition.
- This film is one of King's favorites when it comes to adapting his own works. He writes: "Cujo has some of the most terrifying moments that have ever been captured on film."
- There are two slightly different versions of the film; slight variations can be found in the representation of the illegitimate lovers.
- The film was in 1984 nominated by the 'Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films' for the best horror film, as well as Danny Pintauro was nominated for the 'Young Artist Award'; The film won the audience award in 1987 at Fantasporto .
- The uncut Laser Paradise Red Edition DVD has been available since 2013 with the old, original synchro , which was previously only available on VHS and bootlegs , with a longer running time of 94 minutes. New scenes were re-dubbed.
literature
The great Stephen King movie book. Bastei-Verlag, Bergisch Gladbach 1986, ISBN 3-404-28144-6 .
Web links
- Cujo in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Cujo at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Cujo at Metacritic (English)
- Cujo in the online film database
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cujo. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .