Cujo: 25th Anniversary (DVD)

When you say 'Cujo' just about everyone knows what you're talking about. But not many people really remember the movie all that well. Most vividly recall the dog attacking people and holding a mother and her child at bay inside a stalled car, but not how bloody long it takes to get to that point.

Cujo starts off by introducing the title character as he happily chases a cottontail through an idyllic meadow. The bunny dives into a hole, and Cujo tries to follow but only his head fits through. As it turns out, the 'hole' is an entrance to a bat cave and an angry — not to mention rabid — vampire bat bites Cujo right on the shnozola. Whimpering in pain, the dog beats a hasty retreat. Then we get into the family drama of Cujo's owners.

A good halfway through the movie, just when you’re dying for the filmmakers to throw you a bone, the rabid dog starts freaking out. Meanwhile, Dad’s (Daniel Hugh Kelly)  career troubles simmer; Mom’s (Dee Wallace) extramarital affair has her in a whirl; and the kid’s (Danny Pintauro) timidity makes him jump at every shadow.

There are some good dog attack scenes towards the end, but there are too many loose ends overall for me to heartily recommend Cujo for anyone except hardcore Stephen King fans [Excerpt from Animal Movies Guide]

It's the 25th Anniversary of the movie's big screen release, so some might feel that Lionsgate belongs in the doghouse after seeing just two measly featurettes on this disc. But actually, it's just enough info — there's really not an awful lot to say about the movie, but what is said, is interesting and informative.

Dog Days: The Making-of Cujo three-part documentary is pretty much all you'll need, as it clocks in at 45 minutes and covers everything from conception to completion. In the beginning of the doc, Stephen King biographer (nope, no participation of the master of horror on this disc) Douglas E. Winter talks about the name Cujo (apparently, it was just "invented" by King), how the book wasn't the best of sellers when compared with its writers other tomes, and so on. Then director Louis Teague comes on and talks about how he was approached to direct the film after another helmer was hired twice (same guy, two studios), then ultimately dropped out. Dee Wallace and Danny Pintauro also add their .02 (.04?), and there are some good behind the scenes still photos (a guy wearing a dog-suit is one of the better shots!). The documentary also goes into the cinematography, which is excellent, and offers up some new insights from DP Jan De Bont.

There's also an audio commentary with director Teague, and even though it's solo, he keeps the chatting up and enlightening at every turn. He begins by cautioning all of the "Type A's" to not try and multitask by watching the movie for the first time and listening to the commentary, states that Cujo is his favorite of all his films, and goes into some light technical detail (he and De Bont invented some camera dollys especially for the in-cave bat sequence).

Overall, I think Cujo is only a fair-to-middlin' Stephen King cinematic adaptation, but if you already like the movie you should definitely upgrade to the special edition.

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson