Cujo
Reception

Cujo (1983)

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External reception

6.1
5 platform(s) · 7 ratings 58,044 votes
6.2/10 1,830 votes Synced 2026-07-28
6.1/10 54,998 votes Synced 2026-08-20
Audience 6.8/10 49 votes Synced 2026-07-19
Critics 5.7/10 Synced 2026-07-19
Audience 4.6/10 Synced 2026-07-17
Critics 6.0/10 Synced 2026-07-17
6.2/10 1,167 votes Synced 2026-09-16

External reviews

Staff (Not Credited) · Time Out London 50.00/100.00

For all its ingenuity, Cujo does lose an awful lot of ground from the fact that rabid St Bernards tend to evoke pity rather than terror.

synced 2026-07-19
Staff (Not Credited) · TV Guide Magazine 40.00/100.00

CUJO suffers from universally unsympathetic characters, and the dog is just not scary enough to maintain any interest. Significantly, the picture also lacks the sly humor that made ALLIGATOR so appealing.

synced 2026-07-19
Janet Maslin · The New York Times 80.00/100.00

As directed by Lewis Teague, Cujo is by no means a horror classic, but it's suspenseful and scary. The performances are simple and effective, particularly Miss Wallace's. And Danny Pintauro does a good job as the frightened child.

synced 2026-07-19
Eric Henderson · Slant Magazine 50.00/100.00

To be blunt, because there was just barely enough material in the source text to pad out the film, the filmmakers also used a lot of the stuff that worked in novel form but came off as stultifying on the screen.

synced 2026-07-19
Staff (Not Credited) · Variety 30.00/100.00

Although well-made, this screen adaptation of Stephen King's Cujo emerges as a dull, uneventful entry in the horror genre. Novel about a mad dog on the rampage occupies a low place in the King canon, which is understandable if the film's stupefying predictability is an accurate reflection of the book.

synced 2026-07-19
Gary Arnold · Washington Post 30.00/100.00

Although the material is conventionally manipulated to provoke terror by exploiting Cujo as a mad dog--a four-footed Jaws as a shameless matter of fact--moviegoers are likely to feel too appalled at the way a sick animal is systematically neglected.

synced 2026-07-19

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