6.5 | / 10 |
Users | 3.9 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.7 |
A friendly St. Bernard contracts rabies and conducts a reign of terror on a small town in New England. Based on the Stephen King novel.
Starring: Dee Wallace, Danny Pintauro, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Christopher Stone (I), Ed LauterHorror | 100% |
Thriller | 35% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono (224 kbps)
English, English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
If you graph out Stephen King’s film adaptations, you’ll find a statistical bell curve, with The Shining and The Shawshank Redemption on the “excellent” side of the quality scale and disposable tripe like Maximum Overdrive representing the low point on the other side of the spectrum. In between, there’s an arc of titles, from the not-so-hot, say, Dreamcatcher, to bona fide genre classics like Misery and Carrie. Somewhere in the middle is Cujo, a modestly thrilling but never outright scary tale of man’s best friend gone rabid. While many of King’s stories deal with some kind of supernatural adversary—an existential dream clown, New England vampires, or beasts from the beyond—Cujo is grounded in the much more mundane fear of a skulking, frothy mouthed canine. In one sense, this might seem to work to the film’s advantage. The nemesis is identifiable, commonplace, even likely to be prowling our own homes, sleeping next to our beds, playing with our kids. But here, familiarity doesn’t breed fear, or even contempt; it just makes us feel sorry for Cujo, a doe-eyed St. Bernard who had the misfortune of getting bitten by a rabid bat.
The saddest dog in the world...
Cujo stalks onto Blu-ray with a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Considering the film's age and budget, it looks quite good here thanks to a print that's been more than sufficiently cleaned up, leaving only a few intermittent white specks. Cujo has never been the sharpest film—portions look like they were shot with some sort of diffusion filter— but it definitely benefits from the upgrade to high definition. Overall clarity is greatly improved; you'll be able to make out the finest beads of glycerin sweat on Dee Wallace's upper lip, and you'll probably gag a little when confronted with the slobbery, shiny globs of mucous that daub Cujo's snout and seep from his big dolorous eyes. Longer shots have a tendency to go a little soft— never distractingly so—but close-ups display plenty of texture and fine detail. Color saturation is also strong throughout, and the combination of bold primaries, adequately deep black levels, and well-balanced contrast gives the image some unexpected depth. The film's grain structure hasn't been tampered with—I don't see any evidence of DNR or edge enhancement—and noise levels only spike during some of the darker scenes. You will notice a distinct drop in picture quality during the "spinning" shot inside the car—a fuzzier look, with heavy grain—but this is because cinematographer Jan De Bont used a periscopic lens that inadvertently softened the image. Overall, I was pleased with this transfer, and this is certainly the best that Cujo has looked since its release.
I can't really say that Cujo's soundtrack growls, and you'd be barking up the wrong tree if you expect an immersive soundstage, but I'll stop with the puns and get to the audio analysis. For this release, the film's original monaural presentation has been expanded into a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track that does its best with the dated source material. The boxy sound effects definitely show their age—especially Cujo's snarls and barks—but the audio here is about as good as could be expected. Dialogue is mostly clear—I'd even say that Danny Pintauro's screams are too piercing—and the voices are balanced nicely in the mix, requiring no mid-film volume adjustments. The surround channels are mostly used to accommodate Charles Bernstein's score, which is surprisingly full, even if it does get repetitive at times. You'll hear a car pass through the rear speakers, a radio humming in the distance, and a lone dog howling somewhere behind you, but that's about it in terms of ambience. There's not much to get excited about, but the expansion into a lossless 5.1 track certainly does the film's audio a few favors. For those who want to compare, the disc also includes a monaural Dolby Digital version of the film's original audio track.
Audio Commentary by Director Lewis Teague
Though he keeps mentioning that Cujo is "the most accomplished" of his films, this track
by Lewis Teague—who also helmed the horror-parody Alligator—is thoughtful and
engaging for most of its duration. Teague gives a lot of background about his involvement with
the project, discusses how certain scenes were filmed—particularly regarding his collaboration
with cinematographer Jans De Bont—and dissects what he sees as the film's theme: real vs.
imaginary fear.
Dog Days: The Making of Cujo (SD, 42:48)
Fans of the film will slobber all over this excellent three-part making-of retrospective, which was
produced by acclaimed special features documentarian Laurent Bouzereau. Part one follows the
story's journey from novel to script to screen, with interviews from all of the key players—with
the notable exception of Stephen King. Part two covers the challenges of working with 6 to 10
dogs—no one can agree on the number—and focuses on the performances and Jan De Bont's
cinematography. Part three keys in on the editing, scoring, and sound effects. Whether you rent
or buy Cujo, this documentary is certainly worth watching if you enjoy the film.
Cujo is a mid-tier Stephen King adaptation that offers a few slight scares to punctuate an otherwise pedestrian family drama. There's not much to be frightened by here, as Cujo's sad eyes inspire more pity than terror. Maybe if he was a German shepherd, but a St. Bernard? Really? I picture him galloping through a field, his jowls swinging happily as he brings Donna some brandy. This Blu-ray edition carries over all the special features from the 2007 25th anniversary DVD, so if you're a fan and you don't have that version, this is a great place to start, especially in light of the better-than-expected picture quality. For newcomers to King's canine tale, however, I'd suggest a rental first.
2015
1995
The Woods
2015
2016
2008
2016
1988
1968
Collector's Edition
1986
Collector's Edition
1982
Collector's Edition
1992
Stephen King's Cat's Eye
1985
40th Anniversary Edition
1974
2005
1987
Collector's Edition
2003
1997
2015
1984
Unrated Director's Cut
2006