Who doesnt love dogs? Cynophobics, thats who. Fear of mans best friend is a surprisingly common phobia, right up there with spiders and public speaking. Some breeds are scarier than others, of course, which is why Pitbulls, Dobermans and German Shepherds are breeds of choice for most movie villains (though statistically, Cocker Spaniels bite people just as often). But cynophobics are generally terrified of all dogs, making Cujo, based on Stephen Kings bestselling novel, an especially scary film which confirms their worst fear: all dogs may indeed go to heaven, but not before trying to send us there first. Throughout his career, King has often turned seemingly innocuous objects (cars, toys, steam irons) into terrifying killing machines. Despite their size, few dogs are less intimidating than the St. Bernard, an animal we usually see rescuing folks in cartoons with a keg of whiskey under its chin. As the title creature, Cujo is a rabid, drooling, 300-pound monster hell-bent on killing a helpless mother and child trapped in their car. The book isnt one of Kings best, and the film doesnt improve on it, perhaps because most of us find St. Bernards only slightly scarier than the giant rabbits in Night Of The Lepus, no matter how much rabid foam you slather on their fuzzy jowls. However, Cujo is to cynophobics what Jaws was to everyone else the neighbors dog as a mindless, rampaging killing machine.
D.M. Anderson works and lives in Portland Oregon. He is the author of two young adult novels (Killer Cows & Shaken) and a collection of dark tales (With the Wicked). He has also published several short stories which have appeared (or will appear) in various anthologies and magazines such as 69 Flavors of Paranoia, Night Terrors, Trembles, Encounters, Implosion, Strange Fucking Stories, Perpetual Motion Machine. He documents his adventures in the dark on on his movie site, Free Kittens Movie Guide
