Summary
- Netflix's Cujo remake must stay true to the original book's tragic ending for a dark and powerful story.
- A higher kill count for Cujo will make it more frightening, like a classic Stephen King villain.
- The tone of the new Cujo should be a true horror movie to avoid becoming campy or cheesy.
Stephen King's 1981 novel Cujo told a dark story about a dog that becomes violent, and it's definitely one of his more memorable tales. The 1983 adaptation follows parents Vic (Daniel Hugh Kelly) and Donna (Dee Wallace) and their young son Tad (Danny Pintauro), who are shocked by the terrifying behavior of the Camber family's Saint Bernard. Now Netflix is making another Cujo movie, which is exciting news for King fans.
Cujo is the latest in a list of remakes of King's work, including The Running Man and Mike Flanagan's upcoming Prime Carrie series. But while it's always a good idea to revisit one of King's excellent movies and update the story for contemporary times, Netflix's Cujo remake should stay true to the book's original ending.
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Netflix's Cujo Remake Needs To Use The Book's Sad Ending
In Stephen King's 1981 novel Cujo, Vic and Donna Trenton's son Tad dies from heatstroke and being dehydrated. Then, readers find out that Vic and Donna are still married and going on with their lives, although of course they're still grieving Tad's passing. The explanation is that Cujo got rabies and became wild and dangerous. Although the overall feeling is that the Cambers family loved their dog and still thinks fondly of the way he used to be, the fact that Vic and Donna have to live without Tad is devastating.
Several Stephen King adaptations changed the endings, and the same thing happened with the 1983 adaptation of Cujo. Instead of Tad dying, Donna kills Cujo, ensures Tad's survival, and audiences see Donna, Vic, and Tad together. Although some could argue that the first Cujo movie was right to omit this tragic ending, that wouldn't be the right move for the Netflix Cujo remake. Osgood Perkins's The Monkey has brutal kills and is a grim take on his novella. Cujo could follow in The Monkey's footsteps and tell a dark story, which would be the right move. After all, King tells sci-fi and horror stories, and his characters are always in terrifying scenarios where they question what they thought was real. It doesn't make sense for the Trenton family to all survive Cujo's rampage.
If Cujo doesn't cause harm to the Trenton family, he doesn't feel as powerful, dangerous, and horrifying as he should. Cujo needs to feel like a true Stephen King villain, like Pennywise the Dancing Clown in IT. Pennywise is so scary because he claims many victims. If he didn't, he would be a lesser threat, and it wouldn't be the same. Of course, Pennywise does feel like a figment of each member of the Losers Club's imagination at times since he's so dreamlike. But he's also very real. There's also a case to be made for the new Cujo movie having a higher kill count than the original since that would also make it more frightening. And although The Monkey changed a lot from King's novella, Cujo shouldn't move too far away from its memorable source material.
The Netflix Cujo remake also needs to use the book's ending because, otherwise, it runs the risk of being campy and corny. While there are scary moments in the 1983 Cujo, the tone of the film feels cheesy at times. Netflix's Cujo should be a true horror movie. While many slashers have somewhat happy endings where the final girl wins against the masked killer, a story like Cujo is inherently sad and bleak, and the conclusion needs to reflect that.
What Did Stephen King Say About The 1983 Cujo Movie?
Some of Stephen King's adaptations are underrated, like Netflix's 1922, and others, like Misery and The Shining, have been talked about for several decades. Fans and critics don't talk about the 1983 Cujo movie as much as the others, but what does King think about it?
In 2022, King mentioned Cujo in an interview with Netflix.tudum.com and the author praised Dee Wallace's performance. He said:
"The one that people don’t talk about a lot is Cujo. And I always thought that movie didn’t get the attention it deserved. Certainly not for Dee Wallace, who should’ve got an Oscar nomination."
King has been connected to the world of Cujo for a long time. In 2022, he said on the podcast Losers Club by Bloody Disgusting:
“I just wrote a long story called Rattlesnakes. And it involves, at one part, twins who are only four years old… falling into a rattlesnake pit. And the snakes get ’em. It’s a terrible scene. This novella that I’ve just written, Rattlesnakes… is actually a sequel to Cujo.”
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