11. Cujo (1983)
Donna is having marital problems when her husband finds out she is having an affair. Brett is the son of Joe - a mechanic - and his only friend is a big St Bernard dog called Cujo who gets bitten by a rabid bat. Brett's mother whisks him away to Connecticut. Cujo eats Joe and one of his neighbours. Donna and her son Tad drive up to the house but Cujo attacks them. They cannot get away because the car won't start. Trapped in the car with a blazing sun and the threat of dehydration and heat stroke, Donna knows they cannot stay in the car and she must do something to stop this intolerable situation. Escapes are prevented by the relentless assaults from Cujo. The town sheriff comes along and gets killed. Donna knows she has to get out of the car but when she does, Cujo bites her. They end up in a struggle with Donna tackling Cujo with a baseball bat. Meanwhile Donna's hubby Vic is back in town and wondering where his wife and child are. Donna is embroiled in an epic battle with Cujo. She manages to impale him on the end of what used to be a baseball bat and she grabs the sheriff's gun, smashes the car window and retrieves Tad who has passed out from the heat. She takes him into the house to revive him. Will Cujo make a last effort to kill them and can Vic get to his little family in time? Cujo is a simple concept - dog menaces woman and child stuck in their car - but the film manages to bring this concept to life in an extremely vivid and terrifying way. You can feel the searing hit and discomfort inside the car and you also know that Donna MUST face Cujo at some point. He has been a prolific killer, how on earth will Donna survive the onslaught? All of these thoughts bubble up in your head upon watching Cujo. The film does an adequate job of bringing King's book alive, but Cujo the movie is not going to rank up high on the best Stephen King book to movie adaptations. It is moderately scary, particularly in the last half an hour or so, but it lacks the depth of Misery, Carrie or The Shining. It could not be named a 'great film' like the latter three movies. However, it is not a bad way to pass 90 minutes if you have time on your hands.