I'm on about page 125 of Stephen King's "Cujo", but surprisingly, Cujo is in very little of it. It's mostly about the guys job and an affair his wife is having. I heard Stephen King was an alcoholic at the time and doesn't remember writing most of it. Is this just not one of his best, or do a lot of his books drift way off topic? Anybody know?
Posted by Nostalgic for the '80's (Member # 37454) on :
Being a huge horror fan, I've read many of Steven King's books - everything he wrote in the '70's & '80's, and even through the early '90's. Most of his novels were incredibly good, i.e. Salem's Lot, Pet Semetary, The Shining, Carrie, and one of the best books ever written, the great post-apocalyptic novel The Stand.
Conversely, "Cujo" is not only SK's worst book, but one of the worst books I've ever read. Very boring for the most part - the confrontation with the rabid dog Cujo is only a small portion of the book. I remember very little else about this, other than the fact that it dragged.
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
As I recall, in this part memoirs, part writing instructional manual, King himself, who was addicted to booze and cocaine at the time, says that he doesn't even remember writing it.
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
They still made a damn good movie based on the novel Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
I remember when Cujo was released back in the day. I saw the ad matte in the newspaper, but there were no screenings for the critics and hence no reviews. I walked into a screening opening day, knowing next to nothing about the film and not expecting much. Was I surprised! It's very suspenseful and well done, though coming from director Lewis Teague, a master of B-movie goodness, I shouldn't have been so surprised. He's super underrated. I'm sure that everyone likes at least one or more of his films that I like: The Lady in Red, Alligator, Fighting Back, Cujo, and Cat's Eye.
Posted by aTomiK (Member # 6575) on :
I own all of those you mentioned and would like to add Wedlock and especially Navy Seals to the list. This man knows why people buy tickets, they want to be entertained.
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
Exactly my thinking! There's an expression I've heard over my years reading film criticism called "economy of direction." There are some directors and some films that come to mind where that expression just sticks out: where a film has pace and doesn't waste any scenes or time. If I were looking at genre pictures, Teague's films fit right in. Look at Cujo. There's no long exposition. The poor farm dog is rabid--and extremely dangerous. We get that right up front. In Alligator, we know practically right after the opening credits where we are going with the film. This baby alligator got flushed into the sewers years ago. Bad. LOL A couple of other Roger Corman films are also masterful examples of efficiently directed pieces of entertainment: Jackson County Jail directed by Michael Miller and Paul Bartel's Death Race 2000. Jack Sholder directed The Hidden at a torrid pace. I don't know many movies that move as fast as that one does. There's an alien who likes fast cars and loud music who is killing people by taking over their bodies. Bam! We're off! And on a larger scale, Andrew Davis's Oscar-nominated The Fugitive has outstanding "economy of direction." Before the credits are done, the plot wheels are in motion: Harrison Ford has been wrongly convicted of murdering his wife. No talky courtroom scenes, no wasted setup, just a few short moments treating the audience as having intelligence.
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