I believe Cujo was more about coke than booze, according to later statements by SK. He was so out of it to be fair, it could by either or both. I do know he said Coke was a huge part though.
Watched both Cujo and Beethoven as a child and thought Beethoven was the life Cujo would have lived if he never got bit. I read the book as a teenager and cried because Cujo just wanted to be a good boy.
King is my favorite all time author. He brought to life all the dark things his mind conjured up. The Stephen King Book Club brings interesting insight to these cherished classics. Cujo is a difficult read, but this analysis may surprise you. I am always surprised by the direction of the commentary. Can’t wait to watch this video tonight!
The book Cujo goes so much further than the story of a rabid dog. Domestic violence also plays an important role in the story. The boy suspects that Cujo is ill, but his mother does not allow him to say anything because she is afraid that her husband will use any excuse not to let them visit her sister. Later he can call his father to inquire about the dog. But then Cujo has already bitten the father to death.
True story, the 3 dogs used in the movie had to have their tails taped down because they kept wagging and ruining the shot. They also had to use a man in a dog costume for the vicious scenes because the dogs couldn’t convincingly portray it. They were so sweet they just wanted to love everyone. Gotta love St. Bernards!
For me Cujo is distinctly about the horror we face as women. The whole book is about trapped women trying to save themselves and their families. The pull between being a wife, mother, and just yourself. The fear of housewife boredom, losing yourself, of being left behind by the busy husband, of being irrelevant once the children grow up, abusive husbands, judgement from family, what kind of man your son might grow up to be. And finally Cujo himself is a physical threat we cant physically defend against. Interestingly the wife is punished for worrying so much about her own identity when she loses Tad.
Having watched Cujo as a young child I appreciate that Tad didn’t die. The movie was already intense and that probably would’ve scarred me! Now as an adult the book’s ending makes way more sense. I work in the medical field and now know that their is no way a small child could survive that long without food and water in an unventilated hot car. Cars essentially become ovens in the summer when they just sit in the hot sun 😔😣 Stephen King’s ending as devastating as it is, is just more in line with reality.
I’d read this book several times before becoming a mother. I tried to read again when my son was Tad’s age and noped out about halfway through. It wasn’t his final fate, but the terror and pain he experienced. It makes me physically ill to imagine that happening to my son. King does that a lot. Pet Sematary did the same.
@@13fyrefli The amazing thing about King is that he writes 'adult' horror, true real fear. Your small child dying and you're helpless to save them. The Shining is about a man slowly becoming his alcoholic abusive father, and hurting his family in the process. Firetstarter is a father watching his daughter grow up and unable to protect her from the bad people in the world. That stuff really sticks with you. For me Cujo is distinctly about the horror we face as women. The pull between being a wife, mother, and just yourself. The fear of affairs, of being left behind by the busy husband, of being irrelevant once the children grow up, abusive husbands, what kind of man your son might grow up to be, and finally a physical threat we cant physically defend against.
I think the 70s and 80s were a unique time in history where horror was realized and recognized. We had the video of the vietnam war showing everyone the horror that the soldiers experienced, we had the PTSD of WW2, Korea, and Vietnam in all its spectrum. We had the horror of the cold war, instant annihilation, we had the AIDs pandemic and with the rapid improvement in computers and medicine all the horrors of science. We had social horrors of kids being completely unsupervised, of new drugs, the prevalence of serial killers and kidnappers. The rise of school shootings. These kinds of horrors were there in the past before the 70s and 80s, but those decades brought that stuff to every home in every corner of the US. King wrote about what we saw all around, and that is what made his stories so terrifying, he took the stories out of the TV, from across town, or down the street, and put it in our bedrooms with us.
as a kid i always grew up with dog's both raising them and unfortunately burying them. I was a teenager when I saw Cujo, and it really grabbed me as a movie. the scenery, the family, and of course Cujo. I didn't read the book until highschool, along with Carrie and Firestarter. I personally love both the movie and book, I love the book because how dark and well... realistic way it ends. But same with the movie, it's Really Good!!
Reality is often more horrifying than our imaginations. Rabies is a terrifyingly efficient virus so much so that the vast majority of fictional viruses use it as their primary base. There is an amazing book about rabies “Rabid” - Bill Wasik & Monica Murphy
Cujo breaks my heart with his internal POV wanting so badly to not be a BAD DOG. The description from his POV going mad with thirst from his hydrophobia is gut-wrenching. He was such a good boy. Same feels as poor Prince from Gerald’s Game. He knows eating MAN is bad and feels guilt despite being mistreated but he’s so desperately starving with no survival skills. Also, love the Beholder ❤
I always thought that Cujo was possessed by Frank Dodds via the bat. The book and movie are very well done, glad for the 2 endings. A mashup of the 2 stories would be awesome. Or perhaps season 3 of Castle Rock? And my parents also had a Pinto lol!
I had a beautiful St Bernard. She was gentle as could be and weighed a mere 135 pounds but people still reacted like "That's a BIG dog!". But she was more often compared to Beethoven than Cujo.
Awwww! I love dogs and big fluffy breeds like Hovawarts, Shiloh Shepherds, and Great Danes steal my heart every time with how friendly they are. I bet you miss your sweet girl. Have you thought of getting another Bernard?
This story never quite managed to get me. Perhaps because I've never seen/heard of how rabid dogs behave. If it was that hot, why didn't the dog succumbed to heat stroke from exhaustion? I was overthinking it, perhaps :) See - "The girl who loved Tom Gordon" took my breath away. Again - super relatable scenario for a girl that gets lost in the woods. But the paranormal string of this whole story is terrifying! Lovely video, as always! Thank you for making them!
Rabies causes extreme light sensitivity, so someone suffering the final stages would not be able to tolerate direct light. It would be like spikes to the brain. It also causes irrationality, including in humans. Paranoid psychosis and bouts of rage are also symptoms of disease progression.
the issue of the heat was more dangerous for the humans because they were stuck in the car with no ventilation. The inside of a car will easily heat up to over 100 degrees when it's only in the 80's outside. especially if it's in direct sunlight. the threat of Cujo made it so they couldn't even roll down the windows because windows are strongest when they're rolled all the way up, and i think that cujo slammed his head into the door enough that he probably broke the mechanics responsible for rolling the window, so they wouldn't be able to even if they tried. anyway, the dog had access to shade in the barn. the people were inside a toaster oven.
i've known so many people over the years who have named their dog "cujo". i also found it funny that donna trent was cheating on her movie husband with her real husband
The book and the movie just tore me to shreds like a rabid dog. The only thing that claws at my heart more than books or movies where the dog dies, is when the kid dies.
I like the movie ending of Cujo for the same reason I prefer the book ending of The Mist. Give me hope, thin, sharp as a knife and bitterly cold as a winter's morning at times, perhaps, but let it end in hope.
OMG This is my most favorite King book. It is the most frightening and tragic thing I think I’ve ever read. Cujo is also probably the most unique story I’ve read. Most amazing, King doesn’t even remember writing this masterpiece.
What the movie didn't show us is that Tad suffered from severe brain damage or kidney damage or fill-in-the-bank after the heat stroke. Oh, wait -- it had a happy ending.
I don't know if you've already covered it but I like Dr. Sleep I know people are spit on it but I was always curious about what happened to Danny, Wendy and Hallorann I thought that it was a good read but the movie was disappointing
It didn’t work with them either, they had a man in a dog suit for those scenes. None of the dogs would stop wagging, even the tailless Rottweilers. I love dogs! They have a video of the man in the dog suit interacting with the dogs, they clearly thought he was crazy.
Another fantastic video Stephen King Book Club! I have some questions, Do you think Tad had The Shine? And Secondly, Could the Ad Works Company be an affiliate of The Sombra Corporation?
Isn’t that almost always the case? I’m struggling to think of films that do their written origins justice; The Green Mile , Shawshank Redemption, maybe Stand by Me? Nominations from outside Uncle Steve’s world are welcome, and now I’m REALLY struggling 😂Help!
The book ending was really tragic, but I preferred it to the movie. It made it a more emotional experience to watch it, and to experience the pain of a mother's loss of her child and being powerless to help. I have children of my own. I didn't enjoy the ending, exactly, the way you enjoy it when the bad guy gets it, but it was more moving and powerful.
14:06 Wow, it seems I'm in the minority; maybe I'm a sucker for happy endings, but I much prefer the version where Tad survives rather than the one where he dies.
I love your content but can’t ever face this book again. Cujo was a good dog. I feel his voice went on thru wolf in the talisman and Tom Cullen, m.o.o.n. that spells good old Tom Cullen.See ya next time matey ❤
"Yes, a man in a dog suit was used to play Cujo in the 1983 movie Cujo. Stuntman Gary Morgan wore a large dog costume to play the rabid dog in some scenes. In addition to the man in the suit, the movie also used: Five Saint Bernards A mechanical head replica A black Labrador-Great Dane mix in a St. Bernard costume A mechanical dog for some more dangerous scenes To make the St. Bernards attack the car, trainers put the dog's favorite toys inside the car so the dogs would try to get them. The foam around Cujo's mouth was made of a concoction of egg whites and sugar." Lol Featured snippet from the web Five St. Bernards were used, one mechanical head and a man in a dog costume. To make the St. Trivia - Cujo (1983) - IMDb  IMDb In some shots, stuntman Gary Morgan played Cujo while wearing a large dog costume. Karl Miller was the trainer for the dogs in Cujo.
I appreciate the book's ending more- and also that it implies Donna is doomed as well. She's bitten/mauled by Cujo a few times, and in the final paragraphs, it's mentioned that she bites EMTs who have to get rabies treatments. Of course, anyone with a base knowledge of rabies knows that by the time symptoms appear, the person is as good as dead....
I was in my early 20s when I read Cujo for the first time.I cried at the end, but it didn't particularly bother me. After I had a child of my own, I tried to re-read the book and couldn't get through it.
Poor Cujo was an innocent bystander in this story. He was bitten by a rabid bat and driven insane. The real villains were the human adults whose careless behavior facilitated Cujo's rampage.real villains
I don't think Cujo is particularly good. It does however have one FANTASTIC line about Cujo wanting to follow every smell to it's source and tear it to pieces..not the exact quote, but close. I too, by the way, was EXTREMELY invested in the Sharpe cereal account! Oh and yeah, killing the kid was the only realistic ending...
I love your channel. Thank you so much. So many answers to give. A) don't care if the writer was drunk, the beginning of a novel is typically the most difficult, so starting from his last one is ok with me. B) i honestly think Dee could have struck Cujo so hard he ran off and died. Rabies only takes 10 days to kill the host after onset of symptoms. C) i don't care if the kid dies. I understand its a movie and he was on who's the boss. Apparently the writer wanted him gone. Which actually makes sense in a way because of the mothers infidelity. Lose everything. D) overall a sad tale but just one "shining" example of the talented writing's of Stephen King ❤
I prefer the ending to the book, people who only saw the movie got a slightly different story the plot of Cujo getting rabies is there, but the book went into more details like how Vic told Donna not to go to Camber's because he was afraid the car would break down in the middle of nowhere and to call the place they bought it from to pick it up and give them a loner until it was fixed. The book also had it sond like the affair was going on longer then in the movie.
Donna’s affair seems to trigger the events in Cujo, with Tad’s death as a harsh consequence. King might be exploring how fate or God balances the scales, punishing Donna while also freeing Charity Camber from her abusive husband. It’s as if fate used this tragedy to change lives in different ways.
Oh wow...ok so the plot of Cujo was absolutely nothing like I had thought it was all these years 😅 Somehow I'd gotten it into my head it was a story about a dog who'd been abused and ultimately killed, then came back as an avenging hell-dog that killed anyone who got in the way of its vengeance against its abusive owner...which I guess is 100% not the case 😅
I found the subplot with the struggling ad company very boring and it just felt like filler to pad out the book. Most of the scenes detailing their efforts to maintain their contract with the Sharp cereal company I just ended up skipping so I could get back to Donna & Tad. That's how uninterested I was.
Actually, the rabid Cujo,' make up was egg whites and corn syrup dyed red. They had a helluva time keeping the various dogs from eating their delicious makeup! LOL!!!
I hesitate to watch this because it's the only King book I'm sorry i read..... but i adore your channel so...... but im not surprised this is one of the books King claims he doesnt remember writing...... Peace Y'all
I always took it as a given that, since in the movie Donna was bitten by Cujo during the struggle, her days are therefore numbered due to rabies. This means that she gave her life to protect her son, and is a much more realistic outcome.
Humans that are exposed to rabies often can survive if they receive treatment soon enough. It's not exactly pleasant - usually involving a series of vaccinations. Once the symptoms have developed there is usually no treatment though.
🙏🙏PLEASE cover Needful Things! This is still my FAVORITE King. I believe it is severely underrated and a truly powerful novel exploring horrific truths in human nature. Also, I absolutely NEED to know WHO Leland Gaunt really is, and if he isn't in RF's "family" then I need answers
I forget what kind of dog Cujo was in the book, but he wasn't a St. Bernard. I heard that the boy playing Tad was scared of the real dog, so they went with a St. Bernard instead.
See I have a personal problem that affects how I feel about Cujo, especially the book, but it's an entirely different one. I feel bad for him. Hes just a good dog that's in a lot of pain and doesn't really know why he is the way that he is really. And bad things happening to animals really hits me especially hard. So the whole time I'm more horrified at wanting him to get better while I know he can't. It's a blinding sort of upset, so distracting that I don't care about what happens to anyone else in it. I don't care if they get out. I don't care if they get eaten. I'm so wrapped up in feeling bad for and the horror of Cujo's situation I don't care about anything else. And I realize on some level that's horrible at the very least because there's a kid involved, but I can't make myself care. But I've directly seen bad things happen to animals, and not so much to humans. Not in such a direct way and as horrible as what I've seen happen to animals. I can watch/read a thousand people die in horror and not bat an eye, but animals getting hurt messes me up. For some reason it's fake doesn't extend to how my brain processes things happening to animals so well.
There's a story in the book about what happened when Judd buried his dog there. It's how he knew about the properties of the pet cemetery to begin with - and it should have taught him never to mess with it again but it didn't...
Poor Cujo. He was the goodest boy. It wasn't his fault he got sick. Rabies is a hideous disease. So glad it's not something we need to worry about in Australia...so far
Dee Wallace gave a tour de force performance. Donna is not the perfect winsome final girl. She's flawed and hysterical and ferocious. A shame the "serious" film critics dismissed an amazing role because it was from the horror genre.
This was a book is real I'm so many levels. This book is not a fairytale. This book is a worthy read. #TipForFree Read book before the film - similar but different
The book ending is my preferred ending, but the reason is messed up. I feel that actions should have consequences, and the movie ending doesn't carry the weight of the mother's actions, unfortunately the sequence of events leading to her son's death would weigh far more on her and her family. Mom is the true villain of the story imo.
I honestly didn't give a crap about the kid, I felt so sorry for the dog. You can tell I'm a dog person. the poem at the start and end of the book made me cry.
Was Stephen King blacked out when writing Tommyknockers? Because I am not a fan. It's the only book of his that I read that I went NOPE after finishing😅
Shoulda been two books: one about a cereal ad, one about a murderous dog. Also, just gonna be That Guy and say that locking the mom and son in the pinto for half the book was a mistake. Just not interesting enough.
Son of Cujo! -- where he gets rabies, kills people, dies, is buried in the Pet Sematary and comes back as evil-zombie-rabid Cujo and is adopted by a certain clown/eldritch being that we all know!
I love your content bro. But I had to pause for a moment. How is the dude the wife is cheating on her husband with somehow more deserving of punishment than she is? He’s not married nor does he have kids as far as I can remember. It would seem to me that if anyone in this story deserves to get mauled (and I don’t personally think any of them deserves that), then it would have to be the cheating wife.
That's a fair question -- and keep in mind, like you, when it comes to real life, I don't wish anyone a violent end. When I watch a scary movie or read a book of fiction, there are certain characters I root for, and certain characters I "Boo!" For me, that's just part of the fun. In the book, the cheating wife receives the worst punishment -- her child dies. The dude she cheats with (to me at least) comes across as a total hot-headed loser... and because King usually give these type of characters an unpleasant ending, I expected the same would happen with CUJO.
Agreed. He was a scumbag, aggressive and violent to a degree as I remember. I would have preferred him to be set upon by Cujo as well. For me it’s just difficult to be sympathetic to her as she invited this menace into her family life. At the end of the day it’s just opinions on fiction. I’m very grateful for the civilized discourse as well. Reinforces my faith in your integrity as a content creator 🙏 thank you so much 👍
I so didn’t like Cujo. Yes, it was frightening to think these people were being hunted by a rabid dog, but that nasty foam frothing from the animals mouth made me more nauseous than scared! Like, now that I’m thinking about it again I’ve lost my appetite for breakfast!🤢🤮
poor cujo. poor pup. lazy owner. never read the book again. i cared more about the dog more than the people. two stupid, neglectful fathers who just didn't care.
Damn.. I hated the the artisan entertainment cover of the Cujo movie that features the dog's snarling face so much as a child.. the one at 2:21 / 17:08 that has no title. I don't even think the artist who did the image even saw the fim It looks nothing like Cujo heck it barely resembles a real dog at all let alone a saint bernard and what is up with those hideous vampire teeth?.
Wish I could write something as memorble as Cujo when blackout drunk. SK is a master.
I believe Cujo was more about coke than booze, according to later statements by SK. He was so out of it to be fair, it could by either or both. I do know he said Coke was a huge part though.
My favorite author for 5 decades now
Watched both Cujo and Beethoven as a child and thought Beethoven was the life Cujo would have lived if he never got bit. I read the book as a teenager and cried because Cujo just wanted to be a good boy.
I know... poor Cujo!
This was amazing!I remember reading Cujo's thoughts as a child & understanding - it's not his fault. 👍 From Australia 🦘
King is my favorite all time author. He brought to life all the dark things his mind conjured up. The Stephen King Book Club brings interesting insight to these cherished classics. Cujo is a difficult read, but this analysis may surprise you. I am always surprised by the direction of the commentary. Can’t wait to watch this video tonight!
All time favorite author. Just helping your grammar. No offense intended. ❤
The book Cujo goes so much further than the story of a rabid dog. Domestic violence also plays an important role in the story.
The boy suspects that Cujo is ill, but his mother does not allow him to say anything because she is afraid that her husband will use any excuse not to let them visit her sister.
Later he can call his father to inquire about the dog. But then Cujo has already bitten the father to death.
Well technically possession as well-- Frank Dodd is far too much of an active presence to not also be the added influence he's heavily implied to be.
The book is very intense. The book is a very good read. I cannot rewatch the movie it is just too much.
True story, the 3 dogs used in the movie had to have their tails taped down because they kept wagging and ruining the shot. They also had to use a man in a dog costume for the vicious scenes because the dogs couldn’t convincingly portray it. They were so sweet they just wanted to love everyone. Gotta love St. Bernards!
@@pamelacurl8342 Movie's actually a snore outside of the dog scenes themselves, but I can't ever read the BOOK again.
For me Cujo is distinctly about the horror we face as women. The whole book is about trapped women trying to save themselves and their families. The pull between being a wife, mother, and just yourself. The fear of housewife boredom, losing yourself, of being left behind by the busy husband, of being irrelevant once the children grow up, abusive husbands, judgement from family, what kind of man your son might grow up to be.
And finally Cujo himself is a physical threat we cant physically defend against. Interestingly the wife is punished for worrying so much about her own identity when she loses Tad.
Having watched Cujo as a young child I appreciate that Tad didn’t die. The movie was already intense and that probably would’ve scarred me! Now as an adult the book’s ending makes way more sense. I work in the medical field and now know that their is no way a small child could survive that long without food and water in an unventilated hot car. Cars essentially become ovens in the summer when they just sit in the hot sun 😔😣 Stephen King’s ending as devastating as it is, is just more in line with reality.
I’d read this book several times before becoming a mother. I tried to read again when my son was Tad’s age and noped out about halfway through. It wasn’t his final fate, but the terror and pain he experienced. It makes me physically ill to imagine that happening to my son. King does that a lot. Pet Sematary did the same.
@@13fyrefli The amazing thing about King is that he writes 'adult' horror, true real fear. Your small child dying and you're helpless to save them. The Shining is about a man slowly becoming his alcoholic abusive father, and hurting his family in the process. Firetstarter is a father watching his daughter grow up and unable to protect her from the bad people in the world. That stuff really sticks with you.
For me Cujo is distinctly about the horror we face as women. The pull between being a wife, mother, and just yourself. The fear of affairs, of being left behind by the busy husband, of being irrelevant once the children grow up, abusive husbands, what kind of man your son might grow up to be, and finally a physical threat we cant physically defend against.
What about Thinner, 1408, or Secret Window? Could Stephen King Book Club do a video on one or all three of listed above topics?
Love all of those... and we are definitely building up to a 1408 episode!
If you would ever consider doing something on The Tommyknockers I'd be delighted.
I think the 70s and 80s were a unique time in history where horror was realized and recognized. We had the video of the vietnam war showing everyone the horror that the soldiers experienced, we had the PTSD of WW2, Korea, and Vietnam in all its spectrum. We had the horror of the cold war, instant annihilation, we had the AIDs pandemic and with the rapid improvement in computers and medicine all the horrors of science. We had social horrors of kids being completely unsupervised, of new drugs, the prevalence of serial killers and kidnappers. The rise of school shootings. These kinds of horrors were there in the past before the 70s and 80s, but those decades brought that stuff to every home in every corner of the US. King wrote about what we saw all around, and that is what made his stories so terrifying, he took the stories out of the TV, from across town, or down the street, and put it in our bedrooms with us.
as a kid i always grew up with dog's both raising them and unfortunately burying them. I was a teenager when I saw Cujo, and it really grabbed me as a movie. the scenery, the family, and of course Cujo. I didn't read the book until highschool, along with Carrie and Firestarter. I personally love both the movie and book, I love the book because how dark and well... realistic way it ends. But same with the movie, it's Really Good!!
Read these incredible books and saw this incredible movie 😄🇨🇦🇺🇸
Poor Cujo! He was a good boy 😢
He really was. Whenever I say this, I can tell who's read the book and who hasn't. Cujo was a very good boy who got sick.
One of the best things about Cujo is that this can happen in real life
That’s a terrible thought, yet somehow completely correct.
😂😂Oh you're crazy. That's fun❤
Reality is often more horrifying than our imaginations. Rabies is a terrifyingly efficient virus so much so that the vast majority of fictional viruses use it as their primary base. There is an amazing book about rabies “Rabid” - Bill Wasik & Monica Murphy
The best thing about Cujo is Popov Vodka!!!!!! One third of the price ALL OF THE HANGOVER!!!!!!! Shout of Gary Pervers!!!!!!!!!!!
Especially with chimps. 😮 they beat AND eat you
I think 'From a Buick 8' could be interesting, especially if told by the police officers. Or Duma Key and it's history.
"the platypus" hahaha
Cujo breaks my heart with his internal POV wanting so badly to not be a BAD DOG. The description from his POV going mad with thirst from his hydrophobia is gut-wrenching. He was such a good boy.
Same feels as poor Prince from Gerald’s Game. He knows eating MAN is bad and feels guilt despite being mistreated but he’s so desperately starving with no survival skills.
Also, love the Beholder ❤
same. cujo's POV haunted me extremely when i first read it many years ago and i'm afraid to read it again
I always thought that Cujo was possessed by Frank Dodds via the bat. The book and movie are very well done, glad for the 2 endings. A mashup of the 2 stories would be awesome. Or perhaps season 3 of Castle Rock? And my parents also had a Pinto lol!
I had a beautiful St Bernard. She was gentle as could be and weighed a mere 135 pounds but people still reacted like "That's a BIG dog!". But she was more often compared to Beethoven than Cujo.
Awwww! I love dogs and big fluffy breeds like Hovawarts, Shiloh Shepherds, and Great Danes steal my heart every time with how friendly they are. I bet you miss your sweet girl. Have you thought of getting another Bernard?
Excellent channel as always!
Any chance of a video dedicated about The Shop?
🙂👍❤️
Lot sure if you've seen it yet, but there's a lot of Shop material in the Firestarter video. :)
This was such a good discussion on a most terrifying tale.
This story never quite managed to get me. Perhaps because I've never seen/heard of how rabid dogs behave. If it was that hot, why didn't the dog succumbed to heat stroke from exhaustion? I was overthinking it, perhaps :) See - "The girl who loved Tom Gordon" took my breath away. Again - super relatable scenario for a girl that gets lost in the woods. But the paranormal string of this whole story is terrifying! Lovely video, as always! Thank you for making them!
Rabies causes extreme light sensitivity, so someone suffering the final stages would not be able to tolerate direct light. It would be like spikes to the brain. It also causes irrationality, including in humans. Paranoid psychosis and bouts of rage are also symptoms of disease progression.
the issue of the heat was more dangerous for the humans because they were stuck in the car with no ventilation. The inside of a car will easily heat up to over 100 degrees when it's only in the 80's outside. especially if it's in direct sunlight.
the threat of Cujo made it so they couldn't even roll down the windows because windows are strongest when they're rolled all the way up, and i think that cujo slammed his head into the door enough that he probably broke the mechanics responsible for rolling the window, so they wouldn't be able to even if they tried.
anyway, the dog had access to shade in the barn. the people were inside a toaster oven.
Cujo wasn't trapped in a Pinto.
@@Catmom-gl5nt Also, you can't drink water, the sound of a pin drop is like cymbals crashing.
@@Catmom-gl5nt Thank you, that sounds excruciating.
i've known so many people over the years who have named their dog "cujo". i also found it funny that donna trent was cheating on her movie husband with her real husband
The book and the movie just tore me to shreds like a rabid dog. The only thing that claws at my heart more than books or movies where the dog dies, is when the kid dies.
I like the movie ending of Cujo for the same reason I prefer the book ending of The Mist. Give me hope, thin, sharp as a knife and bitterly cold as a winter's morning at times, perhaps, but let it end in hope.
He definitely needs to do the Cujo/Pet Cemetery mash-up!!!
OMG This is my most favorite King book. It is the most frightening and tragic thing I think I’ve ever read. Cujo is also probably the most unique story I’ve read. Most amazing, King doesn’t even remember writing this masterpiece.
What the movie didn't show us is that Tad suffered from severe brain damage or kidney damage or fill-in-the-bank after the heat stroke. Oh, wait -- it had a happy ending.
Lol, "cujo knows what im taking about "
Thats funny
RIP Cuju- before you got bit you were a good boy 🐶
I don't know if you've already covered it but I like Dr. Sleep I know people are spit on it but I was always curious about what happened to Danny, Wendy and Hallorann I thought that it was a good read but the movie was disappointing
they also used rottweilers to play cujo in scenes where he acts aggressive because the st. bernards were too friendly.
It didn’t work with them either, they had a man in a dog suit for those scenes. None of the dogs would stop wagging, even the tailless Rottweilers. I love dogs! They have a video of the man in the dog suit interacting with the dogs, they clearly thought he was crazy.
Another fantastic video Stephen King Book Club! I have some questions, Do you think Tad had The Shine? And Secondly, Could the Ad Works Company be an affiliate of The Sombra Corporation?
The book is ahead of the film in many ways.
Isn’t that almost always the case? I’m struggling to think of films that do their written origins justice; The Green Mile , Shawshank Redemption, maybe Stand by Me? Nominations from outside Uncle Steve’s world are welcome, and now I’m REALLY struggling 😂Help!
@@heathermoulds73Misery is right up there
Steve Kemp was played, by Dee Wallace's late husband Christopher Stone.
The book ending was really tragic, but I preferred it to the movie. It made it a more emotional experience to watch it, and to experience the pain of a mother's loss of her child and being powerless to help. I have children of my own. I didn't enjoy the ending, exactly, the way you enjoy it when the bad guy gets it, but it was more moving and powerful.
I read the book years after seeing the movie, and Nic asking Donna when Tad died just destroyed me.
On this day Poe wrote The Raven.
A wonderful American writer.
👍❤️
I remembered when I saw 1408 it had an alternative ending, I actually liked both, I know it was based off a short story though
Evening and howdy all. I've always felt bad for cujo and all involved.
I want King to do a tv series about Castle Rock. There's so much weird there, and so many characters, the possibilities would be endless.
14:06 Wow, it seems I'm in the minority; maybe I'm a sucker for happy endings, but I much prefer the version where Tad survives rather than the one where he dies.
I would love to see you tackle Full Dark No Stars someday especially the bonus story from the Hardback Entitled Under The Weather.
Thanks for mentioning this... I don't think I've read Under the Weather yet!
I love your content but can’t ever face this book again. Cujo was a good dog. I feel his voice went on thru wolf in the talisman and Tom Cullen, m.o.o.n. that spells good old Tom Cullen.See ya next time matey ❤
Ive read more than half of his books but this is one that I’m never going to read. I can’t. Poor Cujo
Also Kojak in "The Stand" - I always think of my dogs' voices that way
Thank you introducing me to this story, I have not read this book or scene this movie I need to correct this
I've only seen Cujo once or twice! Thanks for pointing out the make of the car! Pinto's will always be hilarious to people of our age! 🤣
Loved the "Top Secret" reerence
"Yes, a man in a dog suit was used to play Cujo in the 1983 movie Cujo.
Stuntman Gary Morgan wore a large dog costume to play the rabid dog in some scenes.
In addition to the man in the suit, the movie also used:
Five Saint Bernards
A mechanical head replica
A black Labrador-Great Dane mix in a St. Bernard costume
A mechanical dog for some more dangerous scenes
To make the St. Bernards attack the car, trainers put the dog's favorite toys inside the car so the dogs would try to get them. The foam around Cujo's mouth was made of a concoction of egg whites and sugar." Lol
Featured snippet from the web
Five St. Bernards were used, one mechanical head and a man in a dog costume. To make the St.
Trivia - Cujo (1983) - IMDb

IMDb
In some shots, stuntman Gary Morgan played Cujo while wearing a large dog costume. Karl Miller was the trainer for the dogs in Cujo.
I appreciate the book's ending more- and also that it implies Donna is doomed as well. She's bitten/mauled by Cujo a few times, and in the final paragraphs, it's mentioned that she bites EMTs who have to get rabies treatments. Of course, anyone with a base knowledge of rabies knows that by the time symptoms appear, the person is as good as dead....
That scene of the ambulance in Cocaine Bear was horrible but so funny because of the song used.
Very sell done!
Sorry, but Cujo can't be taken to the pet-cemetary. The book makes it clear he was cremated.
I was in my early 20s when I read Cujo for the first time.I cried at the end, but it didn't particularly bother me. After I had a child of my own, I tried to re-read the book and couldn't get through it.
Poor Cujo was an innocent bystander in this story. He was bitten by a rabid bat and driven insane. The real villains were the human adults whose careless behavior facilitated Cujo's rampage.real villains
I don't think Cujo is particularly good. It does however have one FANTASTIC line about Cujo wanting to follow every smell to it's source and tear it to pieces..not the exact quote, but close. I too, by the way, was EXTREMELY invested in the Sharpe cereal account! Oh and yeah, killing the kid was the only realistic ending...
I love your channel. Thank you so much. So many answers to give. A) don't care if the writer was drunk, the beginning of a novel is typically the most difficult, so starting from his last one is ok with me. B) i honestly think Dee could have struck Cujo so hard he ran off and died. Rabies only takes 10 days to kill the host after onset of symptoms. C) i don't care if the kid dies. I understand its a movie and he was on who's the boss. Apparently the writer wanted him gone. Which actually makes sense in a way because of the mothers infidelity. Lose everything. D) overall a sad tale but just one "shining" example of the talented writing's of Stephen King ❤
The best thing about Cujo is Popov Vodka!!!!!! One third of the price ALL OF THE HANGOVER!!!!!!! Shout of Gary Pervers!!!!!!!!!!!
the cure for Cujo`s rabies... that cereal.
The cure for rabies is Popov Vodka!!!!!! One third of the price ALL OF THE HANGOVER!!!!!!! Shout of Gary Pervers!!!!!!!!!!!
I prefer the ending to the book, people who only saw the movie got a slightly different story the plot of Cujo getting rabies is there, but the book went into more details like how Vic told Donna not to go to Camber's because he was afraid the car would break down in the middle of nowhere and to call the place they bought it from to pick it up and give them a loner until it was fixed. The book also had it sond like the affair was going on longer then in the movie.
Donna’s affair seems to trigger the events in Cujo, with Tad’s death as a harsh consequence. King might be exploring how fate or God balances the scales, punishing Donna while also freeing Charity Camber from her abusive husband. It’s as if fate used this tragedy to change lives in different ways.
you might say when it comes to Cujo we're talkin' shop
LOL!
Oh wow...ok so the plot of Cujo was absolutely nothing like I had thought it was all these years 😅 Somehow I'd gotten it into my head it was a story about a dog who'd been abused and ultimately killed, then came back as an avenging hell-dog that killed anyone who got in the way of its vengeance against its abusive owner...which I guess is 100% not the case 😅
i'd read that
You really must do THE MIST!
I found the subplot with the struggling ad company very boring and it just felt like filler to pad out the book. Most of the scenes detailing their efforts to maintain their contract with the Sharp cereal company I just ended up skipping so I could get back to Donna & Tad. That's how uninterested I was.
There is an inherent evil, supernatural force in Castle Rock. Frank Dodd and all the the other nightmares are its manifestation.
The Cujo movie made me laugh. Just a big fluffy dog with pizza on his face having the time of his life. That's what I saw.
There were 3 St Bernards playing the role and they had to tape their wagging tails down. They were the best of good boys.
Actually, the rabid Cujo,' make up was egg whites and corn syrup dyed red. They had a helluva time keeping the various dogs from eating their delicious makeup! LOL!!!
As far as a scary dog movie, this definitely did no work for me and probably any other dog lover out there.
I hesitate to watch this because it's the only King book I'm sorry i read..... but i adore your channel so...... but im not surprised this is one of the books King claims he doesnt remember writing...... Peace Y'all
I always took it as a given that, since in the movie Donna was bitten by Cujo during the struggle, her days are therefore numbered due to rabies. This means that she gave her life to protect her son, and is a much more realistic outcome.
Humans that are exposed to rabies often can survive if they receive treatment soon enough. It's not exactly pleasant - usually involving a series of vaccinations. Once the symptoms have developed there is usually no treatment though.
The evil monster in Cujo is the virus rabies.
It is a sad, tragic story.
Following the corse of the illness from the dogs point of view.
Great read, thank you 😊
Glad you enjoyed it!
@@stephenkingbookclub1054 always enjoy your readings, very enjoyable
🙏🙏PLEASE cover Needful Things!
This is still my FAVORITE King. I believe it is severely underrated and a truly powerful novel exploring horrific truths in human nature.
Also, I absolutely NEED to know WHO Leland Gaunt really is, and if he isn't in RF's "family" then I need answers
Poor Cujo’s suffered enough. He doesn’t need to be brought back.
I forget what kind of dog Cujo was in the book, but he wasn't a St. Bernard. I heard that the boy playing Tad was scared of the real dog, so they went with a St. Bernard instead.
Yes, Cujo was a st Bernard in the book
I bet King purposely chose a dog that's known for being gentle and saving people to make the transformation more tragic.
I think you're right... and it was certainly successful in the tragedy department.
Think you could analyze the story "Everything's Eventual"?
See I have a personal problem that affects how I feel about Cujo, especially the book, but it's an entirely different one.
I feel bad for him. Hes just a good dog that's in a lot of pain and doesn't really know why he is the way that he is really. And bad things happening to animals really hits me especially hard.
So the whole time I'm more horrified at wanting him to get better while I know he can't.
It's a blinding sort of upset, so distracting that I don't care about what happens to anyone else in it. I don't care if they get out. I don't care if they get eaten. I'm so wrapped up in feeling bad for and the horror of Cujo's situation I don't care about anything else.
And I realize on some level that's horrible at the very least because there's a kid involved, but I can't make myself care.
But I've directly seen bad things happen to animals, and not so much to humans. Not in such a direct way and as horrible as what I've seen happen to animals.
I can watch/read a thousand people die in horror and not bat an eye, but animals getting hurt messes me up. For some reason it's fake doesn't extend to how my brain processes things happening to animals so well.
it seems a lot of commenters haven't seen Pet Sematary 2. it's basically what if you buried your dog there. It's not a great movie, but it exists.
There's a story in the book about what happened when Judd buried his dog there. It's how he knew about the properties of the pet cemetery to begin with - and it should have taught him never to mess with it again but it didn't...
Poor Cujo. He was the goodest boy. It wasn't his fault he got sick.
Rabies is a hideous disease. So glad it's not something we need to worry about in Australia...so far
I know! He was a good boy!
I felt very sad that Cujo got rabies. I was angry at the infidelity issue and not caring about Cujo's injury.
I definitely could've done without Steve's angry jerk-off scene.
Dee Wallace gave a tour de force performance. Donna is not the perfect winsome final girl. She's flawed and hysterical and ferocious.
A shame the "serious" film critics dismissed an amazing role because it was from the horror genre.
I saw old yeller before I ever saw or read cujo. So, for me, cujo was always a sad story/movie, not really scary.
Cujo x Pet Cemetery??
That town would be DEMOLISHED by zombie Cujo!
This was a book is real I'm so many levels. This book is not a fairytale. This book is a worthy read.
#TipForFree Read book before the film - similar but different
The book ending is my preferred ending, but the reason is messed up.
I feel that actions should have consequences, and the movie ending doesn't carry the weight of the mother's actions, unfortunately the sequence of events leading to her son's death would weigh far more on her and her family.
Mom is the true villain of the story imo.
I honestly didn't give a crap about the kid, I felt so sorry for the dog. You can tell I'm a dog person. the poem at the start and end of the book made me cry.
😮agasp🎉
Was Stephen King blacked out when writing Tommyknockers? Because I am not a fan. It's the only book of his that I read that I went NOPE after finishing😅
LOL -- I don't know if he was blacked out, but I have read that Tommyknockers was at the height of his drug / alcohol addiction.
@@stephenkingbookclub1054 and there it is! 😂😂
Shoulda been two books: one about a cereal ad, one about a murderous dog.
Also, just gonna be That Guy and say that locking the mom and son in the pinto for half the book was a mistake. Just not interesting enough.
Son of Cujo! -- where he gets rabies, kills people, dies, is buried in the Pet Sematary and comes back as evil-zombie-rabid Cujo and is adopted by a certain clown/eldritch being that we all know!
Cujo could've just bumped into the back of the Pinto and they all would have gone up 😅😅😅JK
LOL!
What’s everyone’s favorite Steven king movie
In terms of spooky Stephen King movies: THE MIST... But I also love his dramas: Stand By Me, The Green Mile, and The Shawshank Redemption!
I love your content bro. But I had to pause for a moment. How is the dude the wife is cheating on her husband with somehow more deserving of punishment than she is? He’s not married nor does he have kids as far as I can remember. It would seem to me that if anyone in this story deserves to get mauled (and I don’t personally think any of them deserves that), then it would have to be the cheating wife.
That's a fair question -- and keep in mind, like you, when it comes to real life, I don't wish anyone a violent end. When I watch a scary movie or read a book of fiction, there are certain characters I root for, and certain characters I "Boo!" For me, that's just part of the fun. In the book, the cheating wife receives the worst punishment -- her child dies. The dude she cheats with (to me at least) comes across as a total hot-headed loser... and because King usually give these type of characters an unpleasant ending, I expected the same would happen with CUJO.
Agreed. He was a scumbag, aggressive and violent to a degree as I remember. I would have preferred him to be set upon by Cujo as well. For me it’s just difficult to be sympathetic to her as she invited this menace into her family life. At the end of the day it’s just opinions on fiction. I’m very grateful for the civilized discourse as well. Reinforces my faith in your integrity as a content creator 🙏 thank you so much 👍
I so didn’t like Cujo. Yes, it was frightening to think these people were being hunted by a rabid dog, but that nasty foam frothing from the animals mouth made me more nauseous than scared! Like, now that I’m thinking about it again I’ve lost my appetite for breakfast!🤢🤮
The book is a hell of a lot better than the movie, the movie sucked, the book was scary.
A Cujo, Pet Sematary cross over seems like a great mix to me.
Cheers.
iPopov Vodka!!!!!! One third of the price ALL OF THE HANGOVER!!!!!!! Shout of Gary Pervers!!!!!!!!!!! Cheers!!!!!!!
I alway root for Cujo!
poor cujo. poor pup. lazy owner. never read the book again. i cared more about the dog more than the people.
two stupid, neglectful fathers who just didn't care.
Damn.. I hated the the artisan entertainment cover of the
Cujo movie that features the dog's snarling face
so much as a child.. the one at 2:21 / 17:08 that has no title.
I don't even think the artist who did the image even saw the fim
It looks nothing like Cujo
heck it barely resembles a real dog at all let alone a saint bernard
and what is up with those hideous vampire teeth?.
LOL, true! It's way too over the top... and part of the terror of CUJO is that he begins as a lovable dog who wouldn't hurt anybody.
pet sematary sucks
Um....i waa rooting for Cujo
LOL!
An analysis of Revival would be cool.