Cujo

"Now, there's a new name for terror."

1983 1h 33m EN

😐

6.2

MID

🍅

60%

FRESH

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.1

IMDB

★6.2TMDB · 1,179🍅60%Rotten Tomatoes●57Metacritic★6.1IMDB · 55,094

DramaHorror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A friendly St. Bernard named "Cujo" contracts rabies and conducts a reign of terror on a small American town.

“Now, there's a new name for terror.”

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Where to watch · US

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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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Lewis Teague
Writers: Don Carlos Dunaway, Barbara Turner
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.2× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

43 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Lewis Teague, shot by Jan de Bont. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Charles Bernstein. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Neil Travis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Dee Wallace and Danny Pintauro and Daniel Hugh Kelly carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Now, there's a new name for terror.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0085382 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Lewis Teague directs. Jan de Bont behind the camera. Charles Bernstein scores. Neil Travis cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 4.2× over at the box office.
243 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Lewis Teague, shot by Jan de Bont. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Charles Bernstein. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Neil Travis shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Dee Wallace and Danny Pintauro and Daniel Hugh Kelly carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Now, there's a new name for terror.".
8IMDB entry: tt0085382 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 16 themes, including "based on novel or book", "animal attack", "cadillac", "dam".

The technical file

Cinematography: Jan de Bont
Original score: Charles Bernstein
Editing: Neil Travis
Production design: Guy J. Comtois
Costume design: Jack Buehler
Makeup / hair: Robin L. Neal
Stunt coordinator: Conrad E. Palmisano
Runtime: 93 min · 1h 33m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $5,000,000
Box office: $21,200,000
Return: 424% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Cujo (1983)
Rotten Tomatoes: 60% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 57/100
IMDB rating: 6.1/10 · 55,094 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

1 win & 4 nominations total

Also by

Lewis Teague

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Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2014-10-19
★ 7/10
Barmy Bernard. Stephen King’s Cujo was brought to the screen and met with indifference back in 1983, yet it’s aged surprisingly well and comes out as one of the better “mad animal” movies that followed in the wake of Jaws. A big cuddly St. Bernard dog is bitten on the nose by a bat, cops a serious bout of Hydrophobia and then terrorises anyone in its path. Which spells bad news for Donna Trenton (Dee Wallace) and her young son Tad (Danny Pintauro), who have the misfortune to be stuck in a battered old Pinto that has broken down in Cujo’s territory. Lewis Teague directs with no little skill here, wringing out pot loads of tension and inserting genuine moments of terror as mother and son literally fight for their lives. There’s a school of thought that the film’s first half could have been trimmed, for this is the area that defines the Trenton’s as a family. Donna has been having an affair and her husband Vic (Daniel Hugh-Kelly) has found out, so for forty minutes we are investing in family strife and foundation building of the key characters. This is judged perfectly, because once Cujo is unleashed on Donna and Tad, it throws up a number of emotional connections to not only the humans, but also the dog as well. Wallace and Pintauro are excellent, providing the film with its beating heart as they prove to be a believable mother & son pairing. Teague meanwhile uses some invention with his camera work, though never to the detriment of claustrophobic terror. Elements of the source novel have been left out, while the ending – unfortunately in this viewer’s opinion – has been changed, but this is a tightly wound horror and it’s well due re-evaluation in this day and age of franchise sequels and remakes. Could have done with more of those bats though, they are awesome! 7/10
talisencrw2016-05-19
★ 8/10
This was solid and unexpectedly fulfilling--perhaps because I'm a cat enthusiast and am neutral towards dogs to begin with. My 13-year-old son and I enjoyed it very much. I haven't read the book yet, so it's unnecessary for enjoyment of the movie IMHO. Worth both a purchase and rewatching for genre aficionados.
Gimly2019-07-18
★ 5/10
God I forgot how fuckin' annoying that kids screaming is... Mad props to the titular Cujo, but I think this particular King adaptation maybe doesn't hold up as well as I thought it might. Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole.